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974.2 

Ml3c 

1159759 


GfeNECALOGY  COLLECTION 


ALLEN  COUNTY  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


3  1833  01085  8642 


^  ^   ^  y  ^ 


Colony 


^tatc 


1623- I S88 


HISTORY   OF 


NEW    HAMPSHIRE 


BY 


JOHN   N.  MCCLINTOCK 


BOSTON 
B.  B.  RUSSELL,  Cornhill 

1889 


Coi'VRUillT.     iSSb, 

Bv  Jons  N.   McClintocic 


.llOOiiqUni  pir^tf,  Cotton. 


1159759 


To 

HIS  EXCELLENCY  CHARLES  H.  SAWYER^ 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire, 
Tkis  work  is  respectfully   dedicated  by   the 

AUTHOR. 


ERRATA. 


Page  21.     For  "  Mohegan"  7'ead  "  Monhegan." 

"    39.     For  "  Cape  Anne  "  read  "Cape  Ann." 

'  40.  For  "  Rev.  William  Burdet "  read  "  Rev.  George 
Burdet." 

'  58.  Title  of  illustration  should  read  *'  House  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Century." 

'    69.     For  "  George"  read  "  Governor." 

'  71.  For  "Rev.  James  Langdon"  read  "Rev.  Samuel 
Langdon." 

'  76.  Illustration,  "  First  Fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscata- 
qua,"  was  omitted. 

'  91.  Illustration,  "The  Bell  House,  New  Castle,"  was 
omitted. 

'  108.     Illustration,  "Our  Alley,"  was  omitted. 


PREFACE. 


The  Author  and  Compiler  of  this  work  desired  to  produce  a 
book    of   reference   for   the    home,  for   the    office,  and  for  the 
pubhc  library,  which  would  be  available  for  the  student  and  of 
interest   to   the   general  reader.     For  his    facts  he  has  drawn 
liberally  upon    Rev.    Dr.    Jeremy    Belknap's    History    of    New 
Hampshire,  George  Barstow's  History,  John  M.  Whiton's  His- 
tory, Prof.  E.   D.   Sanborn's  History ;  the  ten  volumes  of   the 
Provincial  and  State  Papers,  edited  by  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Bou- 
ton  ;  the   six  volumes  edited  by  Isaac  W.  Hammond,  A.  M.  ; 
the  eight  volumes   issued   by   the   New    Hampshire    Historical 
Society ;  the  three  volumes,  published  by  Farmer  and  Moore  ; 
the  five  volumes  of  the  Adjutant-General's  Reports,  1865,  1866, 
and    1868;  Major  Otis   F.  R.  Waite's   New  Hampshire  in   the 
Rebellion  ;  the  Life  of  William  Plumer  ;  the   Life  of   Jeremiah 
Mason  ;  the  works  of  John  Scribner  Jenness ;   the  many  town 
histories,  county  histories,  and  registers  ;  Manuscript  Records 
in  the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  ;  Official  Succession,  by 
Hosea  B.   Carter ;  the  Author's  unpublished  History  of    Pem- 
broke ;  and  the  eleven  volumes  of  the  Granite  Monthly.     F"rom 
the  last  he  has  taken  bodily  many  sentences,  paragraphs,  and 
whole  articles,  which  he  considered  especially  worthy  of  repro. 
duction,  from  the  pen  of  ex-Governor  Charles  H.  Bell,  LL.  D.  ; 
Samuel  C.  Bartlett,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Dartmouth  College ; 
ex-Chief  Justice  J.  Everett  Sargent,  LL.  D.  ;  ex-Judge  George  W. 
Nesmith,  LL.  D.  ;  Hon.  Joseph  B.  Walker ;  Hon.  Charles  Levi 
Woodbury ;    Mr.    George   Wadleigh  ;    General    George    Stark  ; 
Rev.  Dr.  Alonzo  H.  Quint ;  Mr.  John  Albee  ;  L.  A.  Morrison, 
A.  M.  ;  Mr.   Fred    Myron  Colby  ;  Mr.   C.   S.   Spaulding ;    Rev. 
Dr.    F.    D.   Ayer;    Joan   M.    Shirley,    Esq.;    Rev.    Dr.    C.    W. 
Wallace  ;  Mr.  Asa  McFarland  ;  Mr.  C.  C.   Lord  ;  Dr.   William 


O  PREFACE. 

G.  Carter;  Rev.  Daniel  Rollins;  Mr.  W.  F.  Whitcher ;  Mr.'L. 
W.  Dodge  ;  and  many  others, —  proper  credit  to  whom  is  given 
in  footnotes. 

By  an  oversight,  several  corrections  were  not  made  as  marked 
in  the  proof,  and  errors  have  been  printed  in  the  whole  edition 
but  are  noted  among  the  Errata. 

Necessarily  many  facts  and  events  of  interest  in  New  Hamp- 
shire history  have  been  omitted  ;  many  have  simply  been 
alluded  to  which  would  require  many  pages  for  their  proper 
recital.  There  is  enough  history  connected  with  every  town 
in  the  State  to  require  a  large  volume  to  contain  it.  A  history 
of  every  regimental  organization  during  the  Rebellion  should 
be,  and  is  to  be,  printed.  Hon.  Charles  H.  Bell  is  preparing  a 
History  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  New  Hampshire  ;  and  Dr. 
Irving  A.  Watson  is  to  issue  an  account  of  the  doctors  and 
the  medical  profession  of  the  State. 

This  work,  such  as  it  is,  is  submitted  to  the  Pubhc  with  the 
hope,  on  the  Author's  part,  that  it  will  be  kindly  received,  and 
awaken  an  interest  in  historical  research  and  in  the  preservation 
of  the  history  of  New  Hampshire. 

J.  N.  M. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
Discovery  and  Settlemknts,  1623-1641. 


Pago 


Introduction  —  Description  —  Early  Voyagers  —  Martin  Pring  —  Cap- 
tain John  Smith  —  Winter  Fisheries  —  Aborigines  —  Virginia  —  Coun- 
cil of  Plymouth —  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  —  Captain  John  Mason  — 
Mariana  —  Maine  —  David  Thomson  —  The  Hiltons  —  First  Settle- 
ment—  Little  Harbor  —  Dover  Neck  —  Landing — Character  —  Pro- 
gress—  Thomas  Morton — Massachusetts  Charter — New  Hampshire 
Grant — Laconia  —  Hilton's  Patent — Isles  of  Shoals  —  Piscataqua 
Grant — Walter  Neal  —  White  Mountains  —  Dixy  Bull — Division  of 
Patent  —  Death  of  Mason  —  Thomas  Wiggin  —  Dover  —  Captain 
John  Underbill  —  Rev.  John  Wheelwright  —  Exeter — Rev.  Stephen 
Batchelor — Hampton  —  Union  with  Massachusetts      .  '7 

CHAPTER  II. 

Union  with  Massachusetts;,  1641-1679. 

Laws  —  Courts  —  Judges  —  Masonian    Claim  —  Deputies  —  Magistrates 

—  Dover  —  Norfolk  County  —  Town  Lines  —  Roads  —  Portsmouth  — 
Survey  of  Northern  Boundary  —  Endicott  Rock  —  Market  —  Dun- 
stable—  Witchcraft  —  Quakers  —  Kmg's  Commissioners  —  Corbet  — 
Masts — Sabbath  Laws  —  Harvard  College — Oyster  River  —  Indian 
War  —  Effect  of  Union  —  Church  History:  Hampton  —  Exeter  — 
Dover —  Portsmouth  —  Massachusetts  Governors  —  Magistrates  and 
Deputies 49 

CHAPTER   in. 

Kii  (,  Philip's  War,   1675-1678. 

Long  Peace  —  Character  of  Indians  —  Edward  Randolph  —  French  — 
Dutch — New  York  —  Mohawks — Causes  of  War  —  Indian  Vices  — 
Sachem  Philip  —  Mount  Hope  —  Rum  —  Indian  Shortcomings  —  Lic- 
ensing the  Sale  of  Arms  —  Loss  to  the  Colonies —  Loss  to  the  Indians 

—  Philip's    Straits  —  Terms  of  Peace — French    Estimate   of  Indian 


CONTENTS. 


I^'ag* 


Character  —  Kindness  to  Qj.iakers  —  Injustice  to  Indians — Indian 
Youth  anxious  for  War — Squando  —  Insult  to  Squaw — Attitude  of 
Penacooks  and  Cochecos — Praying  Indians  —  Their  Loss  —  Murder 
of  their  Old  People  —  Indian  Depredations  in  New  Hampshire  — 
Peace  —  Death  of  Philip  —  Simon,  Andrew,  and  Peter — War  in 
Maine — Treachery  at  Major  Waldron's  Garrison  —  Expedition  to 
Ossipee  —  Mohawks  warring  on  Friendly  Indians — Defeat  at  Black 
Point — Major  Andros  and  Peace  —  Independence  of  the  Colonists  — 
St.  Castine 77 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Royal  Province,  1680-1692. 

Condition  of  affairs  —  John  Cutt  —  Council  —  Assembly  —  Laws  — 
Capital   Offences  —  Penal  Offences  —  Grants  Confirmed  —  Randolph 

—  Barefoote  —  Mason  — •  Richard  Waldron  —  Tax-Payers  in  New 
Hampshire  —  Cranfield  —  Edward  Gove's  Rebellion  —  Lawsuits  — 
Appeal  to  King  —  Riots — Joshua  Moodey  —  Dudley  —  Andros  —  Re- 
volution—  Union  with  Massachusetts — •  King  William's  War      .         .       92 

CHAPTER   V. 

King  William's  and  Queen  Anne's  Wars,   16S9-1713. 

Causes  —  St.  Castine  —  Grievances  —  Richard  Waldron's  Death  — 
Dover  —  Oyster  River  —  Salmon  Falls  —  Newington  —  Lamprey 
River  —  Wheelwright's  Pond  —  Sandy  Beach  —  Portsmouth  —  Ran- 
gers—  Durham  Massacre  —  Widow  Cutt  —  Breakfast  Hill  —  Return 
of  Captives  —Treatment  of  Captives  —  Qiieen  Anne's  War  —  Peace 
at  Pemaquid  —  Eastern  Settlements  ravaged  —  Hampton  —  Kingston 

—  Removal  of  Indians   to  Canada — Dunstable  —  Death  of  Colonel 
Winthrop  Hilton  —  Peace  —  Condition  of  Parties        ....     109 

CHAPTER   VL 
Royal  Province,  1692-17 15. 

Samuel  Allen — John  Usher  —  New  Council  —  Small  Pox  —  Post  Office 

—  New  Castle  incorporated  —  Kingston  incorporated  —  William  Part- 
ridge—  Piscataqua  Rebellion — Earl  of  Bellomont  —  Governor  Allen 
— John  Usher — Mutilation  of  Records — New  Trial  of  Claim- 
Appeal  to  King  —  Joseph  Dudley  —  Decision  of  English  Courts  — 
Nashua  — Offers  of  Compromise  — Death  of  Allen —Renewal  of 
Suit  — New  Trial  — Death  of  Thomas  Allen  —  Hampton  Falls  — 
Newington 121 


CONTENTS. 

CIIAPTICR    VII. 
Royal  Provinck,   1715-1722. 


I'.ige 


Introduction  —  George   Vaughan — Samuel    Shute — John   Wentwortli 

—  Commerce  —  Two-Mile  Slip  —  Scotch-Irish  —  Londonderry  —  Earl  v 
Settlers  —  Chester 1^6 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

KoYAL  Province,   1722-1740. 

Lieutenant-Governor  John  Wentworth  —  Governor  Samuel  Shute  — 
Fourth  Indian,  or  Lovewell's  War  —  Indian  Grievances  —  Depreda- 
tions in  New  Hampshire  —  Attack  on  Nashua — John  Lovewell's  Three 
Expeditions  —  Suncook  —  Peace  —  Penacook  —  Rye  —  Rumford  — 
Timothy  Walker  —  First  Ciiurch  of  Concord — Mollis  — Bow  —  Sun- 
cook  Settled — Other  Settlements  —  Newmarket  —  William  Burnet  — 
Jonathan  Belcher  —  Death  of  Wentworth  —  Character  —  David  Dun- 
bar —  Durham  —  Amherst  —  Boscawen  —  Charlestown  —  Riot  at  Exe- 
ter—  Commerce — Episcopal  Chapel  —  Throat  Distemper  —  Suncook 

—  Boundary  Line  adjusted — Massachusetts  Documents  —  Windham 

—  Retirement  of  Belcher         .........     151 

CHAPTER   IX. 

Royal  Provinxe,   1741-1760. 

Governor  Benning  Wentworth  —  Wentworth  Hall — Martha  Hilton  — 
A  Cold  Winter  —  Epping  —  Windham  —  Brentwood  —  French  and 
Indian  War —  Louisburg — SirWilliam  Pepperrell  —  Pepperrell  House 

—  William  Vaughan  —  Number  Four  —  Incorporation  of  various 
Towns  —  Rumford  (Concord) — Wrestling  Matches  —  Old  Style  and 
New  Style  — The  Bow  Case  — Coos  County  — The  "Seven  Years' 
War"  —  Rogers' Rangers  —  Rev.  John  Houston — An  Audacious  Re- 
connaissance—  A  Fierce  Fight  in  the  Woods — John  Stark  —  Con- 
quest of  Canada  —  Saint  Francis  Indians  —  Quebec  and  Montreal  — 
Pontiac  and  Major  Rogers  —  Rogers  House 189 

CHAPTER  X. 

Royal  Province,  1760-1775. 

Hampshire  Grants  —  Taxation  by  Parliament  —  Stamp  Act  —  Its  Re- 
peal—  Resignation  of  Governor  Benning  Wentworth  —  Governor 
John  Wentworth  —  His  Popularity — Early  Settlers  —  Their  Customs 

—  Gilmanton  —  Marlboro  —  Canaan  —  Enfield  —  Lyme  —  Orford  — 
Bath  —  Lebanon  —  Hanover  —  Goffstov.n  —  Newport  —  Plainfield 


lO  CONTENTS. 


P^e 


Danville  —  Peterborough  —  Bow  Controversy  —  Suncook  —  Candia 
-^  Wilton  —  New  Ipswich  —  Lisbon  —  Gilsum —  Lancaster  —  Clare- 
mont  —  Wentworth  —  Salisbury —  Milan  —  Berlin  —  Hillsborough  — 
Fitzwilliam — Annals  of  Portsmouth  —  Paul  Revere  —  Capture  of 
Fort  William  and  Mary  —  Holderness  and  the  Livermores  —  White- 
field —  White  Mountain  Notch  —  Colonial  Laws 251 


CHAPTER   XL 

The  Revolution,   1775-1783. 

Lexington  —  Portsmouth  Fortified — Bunker  Hill  —  General  Stark  — 
General  Reed  —  Nottingham  —  Meshech  Weare  —  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives—  Gov.  John  Wentworth  —  Gen.  John  Sullivan  —  Siege  of 
Boston  —  Exeter  in  1776  —  Committee  of  Safety  —  Bennington  — 
Stillwater  —  Saratoga  —  First  Schoolmasters  —  Keene  Raid  —  Free- 
will Baptists  —  Samuel  Livermore  and  Family  —  Slavery  —  North- 
field —  Shakers  —  Canterbury  —  General  Stark 314 


CHAPTER   XH. 

State  under  First  Constitution,   1784-1792. 

Constitution  of  1784— First  Legislature — First  President  —  Council 
—  Senate  —  House  of  Representatives  —  Lawlessness  —  Trouble  at 
Keene  —  Mock  Convention  at  Concord  —  John  Langdon — John 
Sullivan  —  Mob  at  Exeter  —  Federal  Constitution  —  Littleton  — 
United  States  Constitutional  Convention  —  Election  under  Constitu- 
tion —  Members  of  the  Continental  Congress  —  Officials  at  Ports- 
mouth —  Josiah  Bartlett  —  Town  of  Bartlett  —  Orange  —  Revision 
of  Statutes  —  Constitutional  Convention  —  Ancient  Singing      .        .     401 


CHAPTER   XHL 

State  Government,   i  793-181 2. 

John  Taylor  Oilman  —  Walpole  —  Mr.  West  ^-  Milford  —  Turnpikes  — 
Portsmouth  —  Methodists  —  Centre  Harbor  —  Tithing  Men  —  Death 
of  Washington  —  Second  New  Hampshire  Turnpike  —  ]5anks  — 
Laws  — Judge  Smith  —  Middlesex  Canal  — Judge  Pickering  —  Fed- 
eral Judges  —  Fourth  New  Hampshire  Turnpike  —  Republicans  — 
Post-Offices  —  Daniel  Webster  —  Burnham  —  Navigation  on  the 
Merrimack  —  Embargo  —  Patriots  —  Governor  Jeremiah  Smith  — 
Crow  Bill —William  Plumer 444 


CONTENTS.  1 1 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

War  oi-   iSij  —  1S12-1S1';. 

Page 
Causes  of  the  War  —  Right  of  Search  —  Orders  in  Council  —  Declara- 
tion of  War  —  Governor  William  Plumer  —  State  Militia  —  Daniel 
Webster  —  Governor  John  Tavlor  Gilman  —  Federalists  restored  to 
Power  —  Change  of  the  Judiciary — Jeremiah  Mason  —  Defence  of 
Portsmouth  —  False  Alarms  —  Hartford  Convention  —  Peace    .         .     4S7 

CHAPTER   XV. 

Struggle  for  Toleration,   1815-1819. 

The  Federalists  disband  as  a  Party  —  Dartmouth  College  —  September 
Storm  —  Middlesex    Canal  —  Dartmouth    University  —  State  House 

—  Chief  Justice  Richardson  —  Daniel  Webster  —  Baptist  Denomina- 
tion —  President  Monroe's  Visit  —  Governor  Samuel  Bell  —  Bristol 

—  The  Town  House  —  The  Toleration  Act  —  Colonial  Laws  for  the 
Support  of  the  Ministry  and  Public  Schools  .....     507 

CHAPTER   XVI. 
Era  of  Good  Will,   1819-182S. 

Power-Loom  at  Amoskeag  —  Shelburne  —  New    Hampton    Hurricane 

—  Levi  Woodbury  —  David  L.  Morril  —  Great  Freshet  —  Militia  — 
General  Lafayette's  Visit  —  The  Farmer  —  Governor  Benjamin 
Pierce  and  Family — John  Bell  —  Franklin -30 

CH.\PTER   XVII. 

Turnpikes    Canals,  Railroads,   1828-1840. 

lourney  from  New  Hampshire  to  Philadelphia — War  against  Turn- 
pikes —  Matthew  Harvey  —  Concord  —  Canal  and  River  Navigation 

—  Samuel  Dinsmoor  —  Visit  of  Andrew  Jackson  —  Murder  in  Pem- 
broke—  New  Hampshire  Asylum  for  the  Insane  —  William    Badger 

—  Nathaniel  P.  Rogers  —  Parker  Pillsbury  — Railroads  —  Isaac  Hill 

—  Surplus    Revenue — Judge   Boswell    Stevens   — End  of  Turnpikes 

—  John  Page  —  Edmund  Burke  —  James  Wilson  —  Eastern  Railroad      556 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Anti-slavery  Agit.\tion,   1841-1860. 

Stephen  S.  Foster — Harry  Hubbard  —  Pittsburg  —  Indian  Stream 
War  —  John  H.  Steele — John  P.  Hale  —  Anthony  Colby  —  Man- 
chester —  Jared  W.  Williams  —  Samuel  Dinsmoor,  Jr.  —  Dr.  Noah 
Martin  — Franklin  Pierce  —  Kansas  —  Countess  Rumford  —  Nathan- 
iel B.    Baker  — Ralph    Metcalf— Daniel   Clark  —  William  W.  Haile 

—  Ichabod  Goodwin  —  Reminiscences.         ......     ^82 


12  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

War  of  the  Rebellion,  1861-1865. 

Page 
Election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  —  Seceding  States  —  Firing  on   Sumter 

—  First  Regiment  —  Mason  W.  Tappan  —  Old  Militia  —  Governor's 
Horse  Guards  —  Thomas  L.  Tullock  —  Second  Regiment  —  Gilman 
Marston  — J.  N.  Patterson  —  Nathaniel  S.  Berry  —  Third  Regiment 

—  Enoch  Q.  Fellows  — John  H.  Jackson — John  Bedel  —  Fourth 
Regiment —  Thomas  J.  Whipple  —  Louis  Bell  —  Fifth  Regiment  — 
Edward  E.  Cross  —  Charles  E.  Hapgood  —  Edward  E.  Sturtevant  — 
Sixth  Regiment  —  Simon  G.  Griffin  —  Henry  H.  Pearson  —  Seventh, 
Eighth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth, 
Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Regiments  —  Colonel  Henry 
O.  Kent  —  Joseph  A.  Gilmore  —  Eighteenth  Regiment  —  Cavalry, 
Artillery,  and    Sharpshooters  —  Summary  of  Number  of  Volunteers 

—  E.  H.  Durell  —  George  Hamilton  Perkins 611 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Irish  in  New  Hampshire. 

Early  Irish  Settlers  —  Soldiers  in  Indian  Wars  —  At  Louisburg  —  Con- 
quest of  Canada — Revolution  —  Emigration  of  1840-60 — Ship 
Fever  —  Terrors  of  the  Plague  —  Hawthorne's  Description  —  Mob  in 
Manchester  —  Rebellion  —  Growth  of  Catholic  "  Church  —  Bishop 
Bradley 631 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

Since  the  Rebellion,   1S65-18S8. 

Frederick  Smyth  —  Sylvester  Marsh  —  Provincial  Papers  —  Rev.  Dr. 
Bouton  —  Walter  Harriman  —  Public  Instruction  —  Academies  and 
High  Schools — John  B.  Clark — J.  C.  Moore  —  People  —  News- 
papers —  Onslow  Stearns  — James  A.  Weston  —  Bishop  Baker  —  E. 
A.  Straw  —  Asa  Fowler — J.  E.  Sargent  —  Charles  H.  Burns — P. 
C.  Cheney  —  Phillips  Exeter  Academy   — Constitutional  Convention 

B.  F.  Prescott  —  J.   F.    Briggs  —  White    Mountains  —  Natt    Head 

Charles   H.   Bell  —  Frank   Jones  —  Ossian    Ray  —  S.  W.  Hale  — 

C.  H.  Bartlett  —  J.  H.  Gallinger  — Moody  Currier  —  C  H.  Sawyer  — 
Jonathan  Sawyer  —  Joseph  Wentworth — Jonathan  Kittredge  — W. 
E.  Chandler— Harry  Bingham  —  Railroads —J.  W.  White  —Dr. 
Edward  Spalding  —  Summer  Resorts—  Manufacturing  —  George  H. 
Emery ^h6 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Seal  of  Province      .... 

Seal  of  State  .... 

Old  Langdon  Farmstead   . 

White  Mountain  Range,  from  Milan 

Great  Bay    ..... 

Scene  in  White  Hills 

Summit  of  the  Ravine.  White  Mountains 

Farmhouse  of  Seventeenth  Century 

Governor  John  Winthrop 

The  First  Fort  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Piscataqua 

An  Indian  visiting  the  Settlers     . 

Garrison  House,  built  about  1645 

Treaty  of  Peace  between  the  Indians  and  the  Settlers 

Death  of  King  Philip 

The  Conflict  .... 

The  Bell  House,  Newcastle 

Our  Alley  .... 

Garrison  House  in  King  William's  War 

Hannah  Dustin  at  the  Massacre    . 

The  Well      ..... 

Rev.  John  Emerson 

Portion  of  Old  Province  House    . 

Old  Church,  New  Castle  . 

Autograph  and  Seal  of  Theodore  Atkinson 

Seal  of  Richard  Jose 

Map  of  New  Castle 

Cape  Road,  New  Castle 

New  Castle  Fishermen 

First  Congregational  Church  at  Concord 

Plan  of  Eastern  Part  of  Suncook,  or  Lovewell's  Township 

Rural  Scene 

Piscataqua  Gundalow 

Old  Wentworth  House,  Rye 

Mantel,  Old  Wentworth  House 

Frontier  Block  House,  174C 

White  Mountain  Scene 

Scene  in  Coos  County 

New  Hampshire  Farm  Scene 


Title  Page 


14 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Lancaster 

Warren 

Plymouth 

View  from  Bridge  in  Berlin 

Governor  John  Wentworth's  House,  Portsmouth 

Paul  Revere's  First  Ride 

Notch  of  White  Mountains 

Battle  of  Lexington 

Post  Rider  of  the  Revolution 

Jaffrey  Cottage,  New  Castle 

Governor  John  Taylor  Oilman's  House,  Exetei 

Town  House,  Exeter 

Residence  of  Mr.  Joseph  B.  Walker,  Concord 

Littleton       ..... 

View  of  Portsmouth  Harbor 

Giant  Stairs,  Bartlett 

Old  Blodgett  Mansion,  Amoskeag  Canal,  Manchester 

With  Wind  and  Current    . 

Boat  entering  Locks 

Tow-path  of  the  Canal 

Mending  Lobster  Nets 

Fort  McClary 

On  the  Beach 

Whaleback  Light    . 

Walbach  Tower 

Daniel  Webster 

Gateway  of  Fort  Constitution 

Shot  of  Lumber  coming  out  of  a  Lock 

Pushing  against  the  Current 

State  House,  Concord 

Squam  Lake  and  Mount  Chocorua 

New  Hampton  Institute 

Residence  of  Prof  A.  B.  Meservey 

Mount  Carter,  from  Gorham 

New  Hampshire  Asylum  for  the  Insane 

Railroad  Cut 

View  near  Meredith  Village 

Mount  Washington  Railroad 

Phillips  Exeter  Academy- 

Echo  Lake,  Franconia  Notch 

Castellated  Ridge  of  Mount  Jefferson 

Governor  Charles  H.  Bell 

Hooksett 

Concord  Depot 

Laconia 

George  H.  Emery 

Pembroke  Academy 


LIST    OF    STEKL    ENGRAVINGS. 


Governor  Charles  H.  Sawyer 

Chief  Justice  Jeremiah  Smith 

Hon.  John  P.  Hale 

Hon.  Abraham  P.  Olzendam 

General  Oilman  Marston  . 

Hon.  Thomas  L.  Tullock 

Colonel  Henry  O.  Kent 

Judge  Edward  H.  Durell    . 

Right  Rev.  Dennis  M.  Bradley,  Bishop 

Governor  Frederick  Smyth 

Colonel  John  B.  Clarke 

Hon.  Joseph  C.  Moore 

Governor  Onslow  Stearns 

Governor  Jaines  A.  Weston 

Chief  Justice  J.  Everett  Sargent 

Hon.  Charles  H.  Burns 

Governor  Person  C.  Cheney 

Hon.  Daniel  M.  Christie   . 

Hon.  James  F.  Briggs 

Hon.  Aretas  Blood 

Hon.   Frank  Jones 

Hon.  Virgil  C.  Gilman 

Hon.  Ossian  Ray    . 

Governor  Samuel  W.  Hale 

Hon.  Charles  H.  Bartlett 

Hon.  Jacob  H.  Gallinger  . 

Governor  Moody  Currier 

Mr.  Jonathan  Sawyer 

Colonel  Joseph  Wentworth 

Hon.  William  E.  Chandler 

Hon.  Harry  Bingham 

Mr.  Jeremiah  W.  White 

Hon.  Edward  Spalding 


of  Manchester 


Hage 
Frontispiece. 

481 

597 
611 
614 
628 
630 
631 
646 
654 
65s 
656 

657 
660 
661 
662 
667 
668 
674 
676 
677 
678 
67S 
679 
680 
681 
682 
685 
686 
68v 
692 
693 


•01^  LancjduqTarmiitea^' 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DISCOVERY  AND  SETTLEMENTS,  1623-1641. 

Introduction  —  Description  —  Early  Voyagers  —  Martin  Pring  —  Cap- 
tain John  Smith  —  Winter  Fisheries —  Aborigines  —  Virginia — • 
Council  of  Ply-mouth  —  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  —  Captain  John 
Mason  —  Mariana  —  Maine — David  Thomson — The  Hiltons  —  First 
Settlement  —  Little  Harbor  —  Dover  Neck — Landing  —Character 

—  Progress  —  Thomas  Morton  —  Massachusetts  Charter  —  New 
Hampshire  Grant  —  Laconia  —  Hilton's  Patent  —  Isles  of  Shoals 

—  PiscATAQUA  Grant  — Walter  Neal  —  White  Mountains  —  Dixy 
Bull  —  Division  of  Patent  —  Death  of  Mason — Thomas  Wiggin  — 
Dover  —  Captain  John  Undermill  —  Rev.  John  Wheelwright  — 
Exeter  —  Rev.  Stephen  Batchelor  —  Hampton  —  Union  with  Massa- 
chusetts. 

npHE  history  of  New  Hampshire  involves  an  account  of  the 
first  settlements  at  the  mouth  of  the  Fiscataqua  and  on  the 
shores  of  Great  Bay,  their  growth  into  towns  and  their  union 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  ;  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Royal  Province  of  New  Hampshire ;  the  woful 
conflict  with  the  Indians  and  with  the  French  ;  the  inroad  into 
the  province  of  the  Scotch-Irish  and  the  spread  of  Massachusetts 
settlers  up  the  valleys  of  the  Merrimack  and  Connecticut  rivers  ; 
the  contest  of  the  inhabitants  with  the  Masonian  proprietors  ; 
the  part  taken  by  the  people  of  the  province  in  achieving  national 
independence  ;  the  formation  of  an  independent  State  govern- 
ment ;  the  compact  settlement  of  the  State  and  the  growth  of 


l8  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^S~3 

manufactures,  railroads,  and  cities  ;  the  share  taken  in  the 
Great  Rebellion  ;  the  changes  in  the  laws,  habits  and  customs 
of  the  people  ;  together  with  some  account  of  those  men  who, 
in  the  different  generations,  have  guided  and  directed  the 
destinies  of  the  people  in  church,  state  and  municipal  affairs. 
It  is  the  story  of  the  evolution  of  a  settlement  of  poor,  unedu- 
cated, bigoted  and  brave  people,  fresh  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
laws  of  the  old  world,  and  imbued  with  the  prejudices  of  their 
time,  into  a  sovereign  state,  a  liberal  and  enlightened  common- 
wealth, one  of  the  partners  in  the  great  Republic,  the  United 
States  of  America. 

New  Hampshire,  one  of  the  New  England  States  and  one  of 
the  original  thirteen  colonies  which  formed  the  American 
Union,  lies  between  70°  37'  and  72°  37'  west  longitude,  and 
between  42°  40'  and  45°  18'  33"  north  latitude,  and  has  an 
area  of  9,336  square  miles.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  b}/  ine 
Province  of  Quebec,  the  line  following  Hall's  stream  to  its 
source  and  the  watershed  between  the  valley  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  the  Atlantic  coast ;  it  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the 
state  of  Maine  and  the  ocean,  the  Salmon  Falls  and  Piscataqua 
rivers  forming  a  part  of  the  boundary ;  it  is  bounded  on  the 
south  by  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  the  line  running  north  of, 
parallel  with,  and  generally  three  miles  from,  the  Merrimack 
river,  from  its  mouth  to  where  the  course  of  the  river  is  south, 
thence  due  west  by  compass  to  the  Connecticut  river;  and 
it  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  State  of  Vermont,  the  west 
bank  of  the  Connecticut  river  being  the  boundary  line.  The 
general  shape  of  the  State  is  that  of  a  triangle,  with  a  base  of 
one  hundred  miles  and  a  length  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
miles.  It  is  drained  on  the  west  by  the  Connecticut  river,  on 
the  east  by  the  Androscoggin,  the  Saco  and  the  Piscataqua 
rivers,  while  the  central  and  southern  part  of  the  State  is 
drained  by  the  Merrimack  river  and  its  tributaries.  Between 
the  Merrimack  and  Connecticut  rivers  there  is  a  high  ridge, 
frequently  rising  to  lofty  elevations,  extending  from  the  Massa- 
chusetts line  to  the  Franconia  and  White  Mountain  ranges,  the 
loftiest    summits    on    the    Atlantic    seaboard.       The    northern 


20  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l542 

section  of  the  State  is  very  mountainous.  In  the  central  part 
there  are  many  large  ponds  and  lakes,  the  grandest  of  which  is 
Lake  Winnipiseogee,  with  an  area  of  seventy  square  miles, 
elevated  five  hundred  feet  above  the  ocean.  The  height  of 
Mount  Washington  is  6,293  feet,  and  the  mountainous  tract  of 
which  it  is  the  highest  elevation  occupies  a  territory  of  fourteen 
hundred  square  miles,  sometimes  called  the  Switzerland  of 
America.  The  average  elevation  of  the  State  above  the  sea  is 
estimated  to  be  twelve  hundred  feet.^ 

Soon  after  the  discovery  of  land  beyond  the  Western  Ocean 
by  Christopher  Columbus,  in  1492,  adventurous  sailors  from 
Spain,  Portugal,  France,  Holland  and  England  hastened  to 
imitate  the  great  discoverer  and  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  search 
of  fame  and  fortune.  As  early  as  1523,  Verazzano,  an  Italian 
captain  in.  the  employ  of  the  French  government,  sailed  from 
Europe  and  struck  America  south  of  Cape  Hatteras  ;  thence 
he  followed  the  shore  northward.  From  his  accurate  descrip- 
tion of  the  prominent  landmarks,  he  probably  landed,  the  fol- 
lowing summer,  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua  river, 
and  traded  with  the  natives.  He  stated  that  the  Portuguese  had 
been  before  him  in  these  parts.  It  was  admitted  by  contem- 
porary writers  that  for  half  a  century,  from  as  early  as  1504, 
the  Basques  were  whaling  and  fishing  on  the  American  coast. 
The  patent  authorizing  a  settlement  in  Newfoundland,  in  1610, 
says  that  the  coast  had  been  used  for  more  than  fifty  years  for 
the  fishery  by  the  English.  In  1527,  John  Rut,  sent  by  Henry 
VIII  to  explore,  reported  that  he  saw  in  the  harbor  of  St. 
Johns  "eleven  sail  of  Normands,  one  Breton  and  two  Portu- 
guese barks,  all  a  fishing."  A  French  fisherman  rescued  his 
party  from  starvation.  Jacques  Cartier,  in  1534  and  1535, 
explored  the  gulf  and  river  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  reported  that 
he  met  many  ships  of  France  and  Brittany.  Robeval,  in  1542, 
found  "seventeen  ships  of  fishers"  at  St.  Johns. 

The  official  explorers  found  on  their  voyages  fleets  of  fisher- 
men already  practical  pilots  of  the  coasts  and  harbors.^ 

Martin  Pring,  with  two  small  ships,  sailed  into  the  Piscataqua 

»  Prof.  C.  H.  Hitchcock.  «  Charles  Levi  Woodbury. 


1614]  DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENTS.  21 

in  111110,1603.  The  French  discoverer,  De  Champlain,  visited 
the  river  in  July,  1605,  and  chiimed  the  discovery  of  the  Isles  of 
Shoals.^ 

Of  the  voyagers  who  visited  the  northern  coast  of  America, 
for  the  sake  of  its  furs  and  fish,  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
was  Captain  John  Smith,  who  ranged  the  shore  from  Penobscot 
to  Cape  Cod,  in  1614,  and,  in  his  route,  discovered  the  river 
Piscataqua,  which  he  found  to  be  a  safe  harbor  with  a  rocky 
shore. 2  He  states  that,  prior  to  this  voyage,  he  had  procured 
seven  or  eight  charts  from  the  fishermen  and  traders,  who  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  frociuenting  the  coastof  New  I'2ngland,  and 
that  he  did  not  enter  the  Merrimack  river  because  two  French 
ships  were  lying  there.  The  French  had  traded  with  the 
natives  in  the  vicinity  for  several  years.^ 

The  map  which  Captain  Smith  made  was  presented  to 
v'rince  Charles,  who  gave  to  the  whole  country  the  name  of 
New  England. 

Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  discovered  that  fish- 
.ng  along  the  New  P^ngland  coast  was  more  profitable  in  winter 
'^^han  in  summer,  a  fact  which  soon  led  to  permanent  settle- 
ments, not  only  at  the  Isles  of  Shoals  and  at  Little  Harbor, 
but  at  Dover  Point,  York,  Portland,  Pemacjuid  and  Mohegan, 
and  at  other  points  to  the  eastward.  In  fact,  voyagers  coming 
west  attempted  to  make  their  landfalls  at  Mohegan  and  the  Isles 
of  Shoals,  and  took  their  departure  from  them,  when  returning 
to  luirope.'^ 

Before  the  advent  of  the  first  white  settlers,  there  were  living 
within  the  present  limits  of  New  Hampshire  a  powerful  tribe 
of  Indians.  I-^m-  how  many  generations  they  had  occupied  the 
country  and  who  were  their  predecessors,  are  unsettled  ques- 
tions. There  are  few  or  no  traces  of  a  more  civilized  race 
having  lived  here  before  the  Penacook  Indians,  a  tribe  of  the 
Algonquin  family.  Their  chief  rendezvous  was  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Concord,  where  they  rudely  cultivated  the  Indian  corn. 
They  subsisted  chiefly  on  fish  and  game,  and  made  annual 
migrations  from  the  interior  to  the  seaboard.      In  prehistoric 

'  John  K.  Lord.  =  John  Farmer%  Belknar,  P-  2.  3  Ch.irles  Levi  Woodbury. 


22  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIKE.  [l630 

times  there  is  a  tradition  that  a  fierce  battle  occurred  between 
them  and  their  enemies,  the  Mohawks  of  the  west,  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Merrimack,  near  the  village  of  East  Concord.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  their  number  is  said 
to  have  been  greatly  reduced  by  a  plague.  One  of  their  favorite 
haunts  was  about  the  shores  of  Lake  Winnipiseogee,  where  many 
traces  of  them  may  yet  be  found.  The  names  they  gave  to  the 
lakes  and  streams  and  mountains  have  been  adopted  by  those 
who  came  after  them.  They  continued  to  live  within  the 
limits  of  the  State  for  a  hundred  years  after  the  first  settlement 
by  Europeans,  and  their  history  is  closely  linked  with  that  of 
the  settlers,  until  the  remnant,  left  after  many  disastrous  wars, 
withdrew  and  joined  their  people  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence. In  the  main  they  were  friendly  to  the  colonists,  but 
seem  to  have  been  drawn  into  hostilities  by  neighboring  tribes, 
under  the  influence  of  the  French. 

The  importance  of  effecting  permanent  settlements  on  the 
coast  having  become  apparent.  King  James,  in  1606,^  granted 
a  patent  limiting  the  dominion  of  Virginia  from  the  thirty-fourth 
to  the  forty-fourth  degree  of  northern  latitude.  This  territory 
was  subdivided  into  North  and  South  Virginia  ;  South  Virginia 
was  assigned  to  certain  noblemen,  knights  and  gentlemen  of 
London  ;  North  Virginia  was  granted  to  others  of  Bristol,  Exeter, 
and  Plymouth.^ 

In-i620,'5  the  King,  by  his  sole  authority,  constituted  a  council 
of  forty,  by  the  name  of  "  The  council  established  at  Plymouth, 
in  the  county  of  Devon,  for  the  planting,  ruling  and  governing 
of  New  England,  in  America."'* 

They  were  a  corporation  with  perpetual  succession,  by  election 
of  the  majority,  and  their  territories  extended  from  the  fortieth 
to  the  forty-eighth  degree  of  northern  latitude.  This  patent,  or 
charter,  is  the  foundation  of  all  the  grants  that  were  made  of 
the  country  of  New  England.  For  some  unexplained  reason, 
their  affairs  were  transacted  in  a  confused  manner  from  the 
beginning,  and  the  grants  which  they  made  were  so  inaccurately 

'  April  10.  2  Farmer's  Belknan. 

■5  November  3.  *  Hazard's  Collection,   103-118. 


l62l]  DISCOVEKV    AND    SETTLEMENTS.  23 

clescribed  and  interfered  so  much  with  each  other  as  to  occasion 
difficulties  and  controversies  of  a  serious  character.^ 

Two  of  the  most  active  members  of  this  council  were  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges  and  Captain  John  Mason.  The  former 
had  been  an  officer  in  the  navy  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  intimately- 
connected  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  had  been  appointed  by 
King  James  governor  of  the  fort  and  island  of  Plymouth.  While 
he  resided  there,  Captain  Weymouth  brought  from  Pemaquid 
into  the  harbor  of  Plymouth  five  American  Indians,  whom  he 
had  treacherously  kidnapped.^  Three  of  these  Gorges  retained' 
in  his  service  several  years,  treated  them  kindly,  won  their 
affection,  and  learned  from  them  the  character  of  New  England. 
He  became  very  enthusiastic  about  the  new  world,  fitted  out 
several  expeditions  to  visit  this  coast,  and  upon  the  formation 
of  the  Plymouth  Council  was  elected  its  president.  Captain 
John  Mason  was  a  merchant  of  London,  who  became  a  sailor 
and  was  appointed  governor  of  Newfoundland.  While  there  he 
befriended  two  Indians,  who  had  been  forcibly  abducted  from 
New  England  and  sold  into  slavery  by  Thomas  Hunt,  a  lieuten- 
ant of  Captain  John  Smith,  and  won  their  good  will  by  sending 
them  to  their  homes. 

W^hile  in  Newfoundland  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  America, 
it  being  asserted  by  late  writers  that,  in  company  with  his  friend 
Gorges,  he  personally  explored  the  coast  of  his  future  province, 
and  upon  his  return  to  England,  receiving  the  appointment  of 
governor  of  Portsmouth  in  Hampshire,  he  became  interested  in 
the  Plymouth  Council.  A  vacancy  occurring  he  was  elected  a 
member  and  became  the  secretary.  He  procured  a  grant  from 
the  council,  in  1621,^  of  all  the  land  from  the  river  Naumkeag, 
now  Salem,  round  Cape  Ann  to  the  river  Merrimack,  and  all 
land  embraced  by  these  two  rivers  to  their  heads,  and  all  out- 
lying islands  within  three  miles  of  the  shore.  The  district  was 
called  Mariana,  and  was  granted  on  the  supposition  that  the  two 
rivers  forming  its  bounds  flowed  directly  east  from  their  source 
to  their  outlet.     The  following  year^  Gorges  and  Mason  received 

■   Farmer's  Belknap.  *  J.  C.  A.  Abbott. 

3  March  9,  1622.     Palfrey,  204.  *  .August  10,  1622. 


24  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [162I 

jointly  the  grant  of  territory,  which  included  all  the  land  between 
the  Merrimack  and  the  Sagadahock  rivers,  from  the  ocean  to  the 
great  lakes  and  rivers  of  Canada.^ 

The  grant  of  that  date  in  the  New  Hampshire  Provincial  Pa- 
pers^ gives  the  name  The  Province  of  Maine  to  the  territory,, 
which  is  thus  described  :  "  All  that  part  of  the  main  land  in  New 
England  lying  upon  the  sea-coast  betwixt  ye  rivers  of  Merrimack 
and  Sagadahock,  and  to  the  furthest  heads  of  the  said  rivers,  and 
soe  forwards  up  into  the  land  westward  until  three-score  miles 
be  finished  from  ye  first  entrance  of  the  aforesaid  rivers,  and 
half  vv^ay  over :  that  is  to  say,  to  the  midst  of  the  said  two  rivers." 

Under  the  authority  of  this  grant.  Gorges  and  Mason,  who 
united  with  them  several  merchants  of  London,  Bristol,  Exeter, 
Plymouth,  Shrewsbury  and  Dorchester,  attempted  the  establish- 
ment of  a  colony  and  fishery  at  the  river  Piscataqua. 

■'  The  time  when,  the  manner  in  which,  and  the  individuals  bj  whom  the 
first  settlements  were  made  bv  Europeans  at  Little  Harbor  and  Dover  Point,^ 
where,  it  is  generally  acknowledged,  the  original  "  planting"  of  New  Hamp- 
shire was  commenced,  are  so  obscure,  and  have  been  so  frequently  a  matter 
of  controversy,  that  historians  gladly  welcome  all  attempts  which  are  made 
to  elucidate  them. 

For  more  than  two  hundred  years,  on  the  authority  of  Hubbard,  Prince, 
and  other  early  historians,  followed  by  Belknap,  the  facts  in  relation  to 
these  settlements,  briefly  stated  and  generally  accepted,  were,  that  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges  and  Capt.  John  Mason,  having  obtained  from  the 
Council  constituted  by  the  King  of  Kngland,  "  for  the  planting,  ruling  and 
governing  of  New  England,"  a  grant  of  all  the  land  between  the  rivers 
Merrimack  and  Sagadahock,  extending  back  to  the  great  lakes  and  river  of 
Canada,  formed  a  company  with  several  merchants  of  London  and  other 
cities,  and  styling  themselves  "  The  Company  of  Laconia,"  attempted  the 
establishment  of  a  colony  and  fishery  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua  river. 
For  this  purpose,  in  the  spring  of  1623,  they  sent  out  David  Thomson  and 
Edward  and  William  Hilton,  who  had  been  fishmongers  in  London,  with  a 
number  of  other  people,  in  two  divisions,  furnished  with  all  the  necessaries 
for  carrying  out  the  design.  Thomson  landed  at  the  river's  mouth,  at  a 
place  which  he  called  Little  Harbor,  where  he  built  a  house,  afterwards 
known  as  "  Mason  Hall,"  erected  saltworks,  and  made  other  preparations 
for  carrying  on  his  business,  but  the  Hiltons  set  up  their  fishing  stages  eight 
miles  further  up  the  river,  on  a  neck  of  land  which  the  Indians  called  Winni- 
chahannet,  but  they  named  it  Northam  and  afterwards  Dover.      Thomson, 

'  Palfrey  and  Belknap.  ^  Provincial  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  10.  3  George  Wadleigh. 


l62l]  DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENTS.  25, 

not  being  pleased  with  his  company  or  situation,  removed  the  next  spring, 
or  a  short  time  after,  to  an  island  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  where  he  lived  and 
soon  after  died,  while  the  Hiltons  and  their  associates  remaincti  and  made  a 
permanent  settlement  at  Dover. 

All  efforts  to  ascertain  the  precise  date  of  their  arrival,  or  the  ship  in 
which  they  came,  had  proved  unavailing.  The  da\'  of  the  month  and  the 
month  were  unknown.  In  iS::3,  at  the  celebration  of  the  200th  anniversary 
of  the  settlement  of  the  State,  at  Portsmouth,  when  it  was  considered  desir- 
able to  fix  upon  the  day  of  their  arrival,  if  possible,  for  the  purpose  of  suit- 
ably observing  it,  all  efforts  to  do  so  were  found  to  be  in  vain.  It  was  then 
declared  that  "  Prince,  the  most  laborious  of  all  antiquaries  in  New  England, 
in  1736,  could  give  no  precise  date,  and  no  discovery  of  documents  since  has 
made  it  more  definite"  than  that  they  arrived  in  the  spring  of  the  year. 
From  the  fact  that  no  vessel  was  known  to  h:ne  arrived  from  England  in 
that  year  until  about  June  i,  it  was  conjectured  that  the  colonists  might 
have  been  landed  at  the  Piscataqua  late  in  May,  and  May  23  was  accord- 
ingly selected  for  the  celebration. 

These  statements  remained  imquestioned  and  were  incorporated  in  all  our 
histories  and  school  books,  until  a  document  found  among  the  ancient 
papers  of  Gov.  Winthrop*  gave  a  different  reading  to  our  early  history. 
This  document  is  an  indenture,  dated  Dec.  14,  I622,  between  David  Thomson 
on  the  one  part,  and  three  merchants,  Abraham  Colmer,  Nicholas  Sherwill 
and  Leonard  Pomroy,  all  of  Plymouth,  England,  on  the  other  part. 

The  indenture  recites  that  the  Council  for  New  England  had  granted  to 
Thomson  (Oct.  16,  1622)  six  thousand  acres  of  land  and  one  island  in  New 
England,  and  that  Thomson  had  conveyed  one  quarter  part  of  the  island  to 
the  three  merchants  named  and  agreed  also  to  convey  to  them  one  quarter 
part  of  the  six  thousand  acres,  on  these  conditions  : — 

1.  That  the  three  merchants,  at  their  own  charge,  should  pro%ide  and 
send  that  present  year  two  men  with  Thomson,  in  the  ship  Jonathan  of 
Plymouth,  to  New  England,  with  such  victuals,  provisions,  &c.,  as  shall 
suffice  them  till  they  are  landed. 

2.  The  three  merchants,  at  their  own  charge,  were  also  to  provide  and 
send  the  same  year  three  additional  men  in  the  ship  Providence  of  Plvmoutli, 
if  they  could  so  soon  be  gotten,  or  in  some  other  ship,  to  New  England;  the 
charges  of  these  three  men  to  be  borne  equally  by  all  the  parties. 

3.  Two  other  men  were  also  to  be  sent  the  same  vear  in  the  Jonathan  ; 
the  charges  to  be  borne  by  all  the  parties  equally. 

4.  Thomson,  with  the  seven  men,  as  soon  as  landed,  was  to  find  a  fit 
place  and  make  choice  of  six  thousand  acres  of  land  and  a  fit  place  to  settle 
and  erect  buildings. 

Further  provision  was  made  for  dividing  the  property  at  the  end  of  five 
years  agreeably  to  the  indentures,  three  fourths  to  Thomson  and  one  fourths 

'  Now  in  the  possession  of  his  descendant,  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop.  \  copy  of  it  has  beei» 
oublished  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  with  notes  by  Charles 
Deane,  Esq. 


26  HISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [162I 

to  the  other  three.  Three  fourths  of  the  charge  for  planting,  building, 
,&c.,  was  to  be  borne  by  Thomson,  and  one  fourth  by  the  others.  All 
the  profits  from  fishing,  trading.  Sic,  were  to  be  divided  equally,  the 
three  merchants  having  liberty  to  employ  the  ships  to  fish,  at  their  own 
charge,  if  Thomson  did  not  choose  to  bear  his  share  of  such  charge. 

From  this  agreement  it  appears  reasonably  certain  that  Thomson  did 
come  over  as  stipulated,  arriving  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua  sometime 
in  the  spring  of  1623,  as  Hubbard  has  recorded.  By  the  indenture  he  was  to 
proceed  "this  present  year"  (1622).  By  the  method  of  reckoning  at  that 
time,  the  year  ended  on  the  24th  of  March  following.  It  is  equally  certain, 
however,  that  he  did  not  come  out  as  the  agent  of  the  Company  of  Laconia, 
for  that  company  was  not  then  in  existence,  not  having  been  formed  until 
1631.  This  error  appears  to  have  originated  with  Dr.  Belknap,  who  knew 
that  Mason  and  Gorges  had  a  grant  (Aug.  10,  1622)  embracing  the  terri- 
tory between  the  Merrimack  and  Sagadahock,  which  they  intended  to  call 
the  Province  of  Maine,  but  of  which  they  never  made  any  use,  as  the  council 
iifterwards  made  other  grants  covering  the  same  territory.  Dr.  Belknap 
also  knew  that  Mason  and  Gorges,  with  other  persons,  were  members  of  the 
Company-  of  Laconia.  From  this  and  some  statements  of  Hubbard,  he 
<loubtless  concluded  that  the  grant  of  1622  was  the  Laconia  grant,  and  that 
the  associates,  under  the  name  of  the  Company  of  Laconia,  began  the  settle- 
ment at  Little  Harbor  and  Hilton's  Point  in  1623.  It  is  now  known  that  the 
Laconia  Patent  was  not  issued  until  Nov.  17,  1629,  and  the  company  was 
formed  soon  after. 

There  is  no  direct  evidence  in  the  indentures,  that  the  Hiltons  were 
associated  with  Thomson  in  the  enterprise,  either  as  partners  or  servants. 
From  this  fact  and  other  considerations  drawn  from  contemporaneous 
history,  Mr.  Jenness,  in  his  "Notes  on  the  First  Planting  of  New  Hamp- 
shire," discredits  the  statement  of  Hubbard,  and  claims  that  the  Hiltons 
never  saw  Dover  Point  until  five  or  six  years  after  Thomson  and  his  party 
landed  at  Little  Harbor,  or  at  least  that  no  settlement  could  have  been  made 
there  in  1623,  as  has  been  generally  believed. 

To  establish  this  position  he  quotes  the  early  historians  to  show  that  no 
«uch  place  was  known  to,  or  once  spoken  of,  by  any  of  the  visitors  of  Thom- 
.son,  of  whom  there  were  several,  during  the  years  1623  and  1624;  that  it  is 
absurd  to  suppose  that  Edward  Hilton,  without  any  colony  to  assist  him, 
should  have  gone  so  far  from  the  succor  of  his  friends,  into  the  wilderness, 
in  the  midst  of  treacherous  and  cruel  savages,  when  the  whole  country 
practically  lav  open  before  him,  to  go  in  and  occupy  where  he  would;  that 
the  "stages,"  which  it  is  alleged  were  set  up  at  the  Point,  were  "large  and 
expensive  structures  "  intended  for  use  in  the  fishing  business,  and  that  "  no 
•experienced  fisherman  would  have  selected  such  a  site  for  a  fishing  estab- 
lishment, five  or  six  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua,  a  stream  of 
■such  rapidity  that  it  is  often  impossible  for  a  boat  to  contend  against  it, 
■while  the  great  cod  fisheries  are  several  miles  out  at  sea,  which  a  fisherman. 
leaving  Hilton's  Point  at  the  very  turn  of  the  ebb  tide,  could  not  reach  and 
return  from  the  saire  day,  if  he  stopped  to  cast  his  hook." 


i6ji]  discovkkv  and  sktti.kmkxts.  27 

As  to  the  fact  of  priority  of  settlement,  if  a  mere  fishing  and  trading  post 
is  to  be  regarded  as  sucii.  we  niav  as  well  admit  that  at  Little  Harbor  (now 
in  the  town  of  Rve)  the  first  planting  of  New  Hampshire  was  commenced. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  Thomson  and  his  men  first  disembarked,  at  or  near 
that  place,  and  pitched  their  tents  or  erected  such  liuts  as  were  requisite  for 
shelter.  Its  site  is  now  known  as  Odiorne's  Point,  and  was  well  chosen  for 
defence  against  the  attacks  of  an  enemy.  Seven  men  were  to  be  furnished  to 
iissist  him.  Four  were  to  come  over  in  the  Jonathan,  and  three  more  were 
to  be  provided  the  same  year. 

It  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  Edward  Hilton  may  have  come  over  from 
l^igland  in  one  of  the  vessels  which  brought  David  Thomson  and  his  men  to 
th.'  Piscataqua,  on  his  own  account,  if  not  as  an  assistant  of  Thomson,  as 
Hiil)bard  asserts.  David  Thomson  is  described  by  Thomas  Morton,  in  "The 
New  England  Canaan,"  as  -'a  Scottish  gentleman  that  was  conversant  witli 
those  people  (the  natives),  a  scholar,  and  a  traveller  that  was  diligent  in 
taking  notice  of  these  things,  as  a  man  of  good  judgment."  The  Hiltons 
had  been  tishmongers  in  London,  and  were  acquainted  with  at  least  one 
br.inch  of  the  business  in  wliicli  Thomson  was  to  engage.  They  were  just 
the  men  who  would  be  selected  to  assist  in  the  enterprise.  William  Hilton 
had  previously  been  in  America.  He  came  to  Plymouth  in  1621,  and  his 
wife  and  two  children  came  over  in  1623.  He  may  have  gone  back  and 
returned  with  them,  or  they  may  have  come  over  to  join  him  here.  Hubbard, 
who  wrote  in  16S0,  is  supposed  to  have  been  personally  acquainted  with  the 
Hiltons.  and  must  have  had  some  knowledge  of  their  history  and  movements. 
William  Hilton  had  a  grant  of  land  in  Plymouth  in  1623,  but  he  left  tiiat 
place  soon  after,  apparently  on  account  of  some  disagreement  in  relation  to 
church  matters,  and  is  found  ne.\t  at  Piscataqua  with  his  brother. 

.\s  the  business  of  Thomson  and  his  assistants  was  to  be  fishing,  and 
trading  with  the  Indians,  it  is  not  probable  that  they  would  all  remain 
permanently  in  the  same  place.  The  Hiltons,  with  one  or  more  ofthe  party, 
after  seeing  the  others  safely  established  at  the  mouth  ofthe  river,  may  have 
come  up  to  the  Point,  as  Hubbard  records.  Or,  as  the  party  is  said  to  have 
come  over  in  "  two  divisions,"  it  is  more  probable  that  they  did  not  arrive 
until  after  Thomson  and  the  four  men  who  came  in  the  Jonathan  had  estab- 
lished themselves  at  Little  Harbor.  Ofthe  other  three  who  were  to  be 
provided  and  sent  over  in  the  Providence,  the  Hiltons  may  have  been  two. 
The  tradition  has  alwavs  been  that  Thomas  Roberts  was  one  of  the  original 
emigrants  with  them.  If  he  was,  this  would  complete  the  number  which  was 
to  be  provided. 

The  distance  between  Little  Harbor  and  the  Point  was  but  six  or  seven 
miles,  and  the  location  at  the  Point  was  doubtless  at  first  selected  for  the 
convenience  of  trading  with  the  Indians  about  the  falls  of  the  Cochecho,  a 
favorite  resort  with  them.  It  was  also  in  the  vicinity  of  good  fishing 
ground,  for  the  various  branches  of  the  Piscataqua,  up  to  their  first  falls, 
must  at  that  day  fas  they  did  long  after  and  do  now  at  some  seasons)  have 
swarmed  with  fish,  and  there  was  no  need  of  going  far  to  cast  the  hook  and 
obtain  them. 


28  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [162I 

It  is  not  supposed  that  a  party  of  three  men,  at  the  most,  would  go  miles 
at  sea  to  the  great  fishing  grounds,  to  obtain  fish,  when  there  was  an  abun- 
dance offish  so  near  them,  or  that  large  and  expensive  stages  were  required 
for  curing  them.  By  the  terms  of  the  indenture,  the  owners  of  the  Jonathan 
were  to  pursue  the  fishing  business  independently  of  Thomson  and  his  men,, 
if  he  did  not  choose  to  bear  part  of  the  charge.  It  is  probable  that  the 
vessels  from  England  attended  to  the  deep  sea  fishing,  while  ths  parties  on 
shore  confined  their  operations  to  the  harbor  and  rivers. 

If  the  Hiltons  were  never  mentioned  by  visitors  to  Little  Harbor  in  1623 
and  1624,  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  other  men  who  were  with  Thomson. 
The  name  of  no  man  who  was  with  him  —  and  there  were  seven  — is  known, 
unless  we  accept  the  statement  of  Hubbard. 

It  may  have  been  that  the  fishing  and  trading  post  at  the  Point  was  at  the 
outset  regarded  rather  as  a  temporary  than  permanent  settlement — a  place 
to  which  at  first  they  resorted  only  during  the  day,  returning  at  night  to  the 
common  rendezvous  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  But  its  advantages  must 
have  been  soon  seen  and  appreciated.  The  "  whole  countrj'  was  open  before 
them,  to  go  in  and  occupy  where  they  would,"  and  they  could  hardly  have 
found  a  more  inviting  place  than  the  Point,  either  for  fishing,  planting,  or 
trading  with  the  Indians  —  exchanging  such  articles  as  they  brought  with 
them  from  England  for  the  beaver  skins  and  other  peltries  of  the  Indians. 
For  safety,  no  resort  could  have  been  better  than  this  narrow  neck  of  land^ 
and  from  which,  by  their  boats,  there  were  such  immediate  ineans  of  escape, 
if  escape  was  at  an}'  time  necessary.  For  planting,  also,  in  which  they  were 
to  engage,  so  far  at  least  as  they  could  contribute  to  their  own  wants,  the 
Point  was  of  all  places  the  spot  which  they  would  select,  and  was  far  prefer- 
able to  any  land  nearer  to  Little  Harbor. 

Thomson's  enterprise,  it  appears,  was  not  a  success.  He  abandoned  it 
after  about  three  years'  residence  (by  some  accounts  "the  next  year")  and 
removed  to  Massachusetts,  Hubbard  says,  "  out  of  dislike  either  to  the  place 
or  his  employers."  His  son  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  white  child  born 
in  New  Hampshire.  He  never  set  up  any  claim  afterwards  to  the  patent,  nor 
does  it  appear  that  his  partners  in  England  reaped  any  advantages  from 
it.  Thomson's  men  are  supposed  to  have  remained  at  Little  Harbor  after 
his  departure,  but  even  this  is  uncertain.  The  only  evidence  that  it  was  occu- 
pied is  that  there  was  a  settlement  somewhere  at  "  Piscataquack,"  besides 
Hiltons'  in  162S,  and  that  such  a  settlement  paid  £2  :  10  as  its  contribution 
for  expelling  Morton  from  Merry  Mount.  What  is  there  more  probable  than 
that  the  Hiltons  may  have  remained  at  the  Point  or  in  its  vicinity,  with 
some  of  the  other  men  of  the  company,  after  Thomson  left  ? 

If,  as  it  is  alleged,  there  is  no  authentic  information  of  Edward  Hilton's 
being  in  this  vicinty  previous  to  1627  or  162S,  the  information  which  we  get 
of  him  at  that  time  is  sufficient  to  show  that  he  must  have  been  settled  here 
for  some  years  and  that  he  had  a  considerable  stake  in  the  country.  In  162S, 
as  recorded  by  Bradford,  he  was  assessed  £1  toward  the  expense  of  the  war 
upon  Morton  of  Merry  Mount,  already  alluded  to,  the  whole  expense  of  the 


1 


1623]  DISCOVERV    AXD    SKTTLEMKXTS.  29 

campaign  being  £12  :  07,  of  which  the  Plymouth  colony  paid  £2  :  10,  or  but 
little  more  than  twice  the  amount  contributed  by  Hilton.  It  is  also  evident 
that  the  Ililtons  must  have  been  among  the  men  which  the  partners  of 
Thomson  provided  and  sent  over  in  16^3,  from  tlie  fact  that  they  settled  so 
near  to  Little  Harbor,  on  territory  \\hich  must  have  been  included  within 
that  which  Thomson's  patent  covered,  where  they  would  not  liave  been,  by 
anv  right,  had  they  not  been  connected  with  Thomson's  company,  and  that 
when  in  1630  Edward  Hilton  obtained  a  patent  from  the  council  of  Plymouth 
of  the  land  upon  which  he  had  settled  he  had  been  for  some  considerable  time 
established  thereon,  so  long,  in  fact,  that  the  place  had  come  to  be  known 
by  his  name,  for  his  patent  included  "all  that  part  of  the  river  Piscataqua 
called  or  kno~VH  bv  the  name  of  Hilton  s^  Point,  with  the  south  side  of  said 
river,  up  to  the  falls  of  Squamscott  and  three  miles  into  the  main  land  for 
breadth,"  and  it  sets  forth  that  Hilton  and  his  associates  had  "transported 
thither  servants,  built  houses  and  planted  corn,  and  intended  the  further  in- 
crease and  advancement  of  the  plantation." 

It  cannot  be  believed  that  Hilton  founded  a  plantation  at  Hilton's  Point  in 
16^3,  seven  years  before  he  got  a  deed  of  the  land.  If  he  came  out  with  or 
soon  after  Thomson,  it  is  seen  for  what  purpose  he  came.  He  was  one  of  the 
men  sent  out  by  Thomson's  partners,  the  merchants  in. England,  to  assist  in 
the  enterprise,  and  as  a  representative  of  their  interest  in  it.  He  had  no  legal 
claim  to  the  sell  under  the  patent.  Thomson  gave  up  his  claim  and  went  off 
before  the  expiration  of  the  five  years,  when  the  profits  of  the  enterprise  as 
■well  as  the  land  were  to  be  divided  between  the  parties.  The  patent  granted 
■was  evidently  regarded  by  him  as  of  little  value,  because  neither  he  or  his 
heirs,  or  his  partners,  ever  afterwards  set  up  any  claim  to  it.  All  the  interest 
which  they  possessed  at  Little  Harbor  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Laconia 
Company,  of  which  Gorges  and  Mason  were  chiefs,  under  a  new  grant  from 
thecouncil,  when  Edward  Hilton,  for  his  own  security,  finding  himself  aban- 
doned by  Thomson  and  the  company  by  which  he  had  been  employed,  ob- 
tained, in  1630.  a  patent  for  the  settlement  at  the  Point.  This  patent  he  after- 
wards sold  in  part  to  other  parties,  who  appointed  Captain  Thomas  Wiggin 
their  agent,  by  whom,  in  1633,  a  considerable  acquisition  was  obtained  to  the 
popu  lation. 

The  Laconia  Company,  in  the  meantime,  having  obtained  possession  of  the 
lands  granted  to  Thomson  at  Little  Harbor,  appointed  Captain  Neal  as  their 
agent,  not  for  the  settlement  of  a  colony,  but  for  the  management  of  a  fish- 
ing and  tradiiig  company,  a  speculation  similar  to  that  in  which  Thomson 
had  been  engaged.  In  a  few  years  this  company  broke  up  and  the  servants 
were  discharged;  the  whole  scheme  proving  a  failure.  On  a  division  of  the 
property  Mason  bought  the  shares  of  some  of  his  associates  and  sent  over  a 
new  supply  of  men,  set  up  saw-mills,  and  soon  after  died. 

The  Thomson  house  erected  at  Little  Harbor  in  16.23,  though  built  of  stone, 
could  have  been  no  such  substantial  structure  as  is  imagined.  It  is  not 
probable  that  "it  presented  the  general  appearance  of  the  dwelling 
houses  of  the  time  of  James  I.,  vast  numbers  of  which  still  remain  in  good 


\ 

30  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1625 

preservation  all  over  the  old  country,"  as  Mr.  Jenness  states.  Had  it  been  of 
this  character  it  would  hardly  have  been  reduced  to  the  dilapidated  condition 
in  which  it  was  found  by  Hubbard  in  16S0,  less  than  fifty  years  after  its  erec- 
tion, when  only  "  the  chimney  and  some  parts  of  the  stone  wall  were  stand- 
ing." It  is  probable  that,  as  it  must  have  been  hastily  built,  it  only  sufficed 
for  the  immediate  needs  of  Thomson  and  his  little  party,  as  a  shelter  from  the 
elements.  Such  as  it  was  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mason's  men,  and  was 
sometimes  called  his  "  stone-house,''  though  it  is  nowconceded  that  the  term 
"  Mason  Hall"  was  never, as  has  been  popularly  supposed,  applied  to  it. 

Further  researches,  which  will  undoubtedly  be  made  by  those  who  feel  an 
interest  in  the  early  history  of  the  State,  may  remove  any  doubts  which  now 
exist  in  relation  to  its  first  settlement.  In  England  there  are  in  all  proba- 
bility records  which  would  throw  lighten  the  subject.  Until  this  investigation 
is  made  Little  Harbor  is  entitled  to  the  monument  which  it  is  proposed  to 
erect  "  in  commemoration  of  the  first  settlement  of  Nevv  Hampshire,"  be- 
cause it  is  the  place  where  Thomson,  the  leader  in  the  enterprise,  and  his  as- 
sociates, first  touched  its  soil  ;  and  Dover  Neck,  the  site  of  the  first  meeting- 
house erected  in  the  State,  is  also  entitled  .to  a  monument  in  commemoration 
of  that  fact  as  well  as  that  contemporaneous  with  the  settlement  at  Little 
Harbor,  or  ver\'  soon  ^hereafter,  a  portion  of  the  same  company  established 
themselves  in  that  \icinity. 

Under  the  lead  of  David  Thomson,  this  little  band  of  ad- 
venturers, evidence  to  the  contrary  not  being  obtainable,  prob- 
ably arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua  sometime  in  the 
early  summer  of  1623  ;  and  as  their  little  vessel,  with  its  high 
stern  and  antique  prow,  floated  into  the  land-locked  harbor 
of  Portsmouth,  with  its  islands  decked  to  the  water's  edge 
with  verdure,  and  on  every  side  the  lofty  pines,  the  stately 
oaks,  and  the  flowering  shrubs  of  the  primeval  forest  indicat- 
ing a  generous  soil,  the  change  from  a  long  sea  voyage,  with 
its  storms  and  fogs  and  terrors,  to  a  peaceful  haven, — more 
enchanting  then  in  its  wild  and  picturesque  beauty  than  now, 
with  its  navy  yard,  coal  pockets,  spile-bridge,  and  evidences  of 
thrift  and  commerce,  —  must  have  been  welcome.  Their  not 
leaving  on  record  an  account  of  their  hardships  is  evidence 
that  they  arrived  at  an  auspicious  time.  They  must  have  been 
delighted  with  the  prospect.  Here  they  and  their  children  were 
to  found  a  State. 

It  was  a  goodly  scene.      Fair  islands  lay. 
In  virgin  beauty,  greening  to  their  marge, 


j5i4l  DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENTS.  31 

Enfolded  in  the  atmosphere  of  June. 
The  birds  sang  welcome  to  the  stranger  ships, 
And  from  their  coverts  timid  deer  looked  out 
To  shvly  scan  the  unfamiliar  sight. 

Far  swept  the  coast,  marked  by  its  piny  fringe, 
And  there  upon  the  near  horizon's  verge 
Rose  gentle  isles,  with  verdure  clad,  that  seemed 
Fair  satellites  of  the  majestic  main, 
Resting,  like  emerald  bubbles,  on  the  sea. 
And  all  was  wonderful  and  new  and  grand! 

It  is  probable  that  before  disembarking  their  goods  they  met 
the  grave  and  friendly  natives  in  council,  and  in  return  for 
knives,  fish-hooks,  gaudy  beads,  and  such  commodities,  obtained 
the  good  will  of  the  lords  of  the  soil,  permission  to  start  their 
settlement,  and  the  right  to  all  the  land  they  could  use  for  years 
to  come. 

The  Hilton  brothers,  who  afterwards  became  so  prominent  in 
the  plantations,  probably  explored  the  river  and  Great  Bay  and 
located  their  infant  colony  with  reference  to  the  future  agricul- 
tural prospects  of  the  region  round  about.  They  may  have 
bought  of  the  Indians  a  deserted  corn  field, —  cleared  land  being 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  those  early  comers, —  but  the  sea 
afforded  a  never-failing  supply  of  cod-fish ;  salmon  and  trout 
were  in  the  river  and  brooks  ;  clams  were  on  the  shore ;  game 
was  in  the  woods,  and  birds  were  flying  overhead  or  feeding  in 
the  marshes. 

Any  land  about  Great  Bay,  with  its  islands,  creeks,  and  sinu- 
osities, like  a  section  of  a  park  in  the  domain  of  some  mighty 
monarch,  must  have  seemed  good  to  these  Englishmen.  All 
their  lives  they  had  been  cramped  for  room  on  the  estate  of 
some  landowner  of  the  old  world,  who  valued  his  game  and  his 
trees  more  than  the  lives  of  his  tenants.  Here  they  could  have 
land  for  the  taking ;  its  value  would  depend  on  the  labor  ex- 
pended. Here  they  could  grow,  and  their  children  in  coming  gen- 
erations would  rival,  in  store  of  worldly  goods  and  breadth  of 
mental  culture,  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  nobility  of  Europe. 

•  By  B.  P.  Shillaber,  a  native  of  Portsmouth. 


.32 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1620 


They  were  fishermen,  farmers,  laborers  and  servants.  Some  of 
Ihem  ignorant  of  tlie  learning  of  the  schools,  superstitious,  imbued 
with  the  prejudices  of  the  time  ;  some  of  the  Established  Church, 
some  Puritans,  but  all  pious  after  a  fashion;  the  most  of  them 
honest,  believing  in  fair  play  and  scorning  treachery  and  hypoc- 
risy. They  were  self-reliant  and  law-abiding,  and  being  left  in 
a  few  years  without  lawful  authority  over  them  were  competent 
to  establish  a  little  State  of  their  own.  Without  a  lawfully  consti- 
tuted ruler,  they  did  not  lapse  into  anarchy,  but  accepted  of  tlieir 
own  will  the  strong  government  and  stern  justiceof  their  ascetic 
neighbors  of  the  Bay  colony. 


GREAT    BAY. 


The  scattered  settlements  from  Plymouth  to  the  Piscataqua, 
made  during  these  years,  maintained  a  neighborly  intercourse, 
following  their  respective  employments  of  fishing,  trading  and 
planting,  until,  in  1628,  they  were  united  in  a  common  alarm  by 
the  course  pursued  by  Thomas  Morton,  who,  from  his  station  at 
Mount  Wollaston  or  Merry  Mount,  was  charged  with  furnishing 
arms  and  ammunition  to  the  Indians.  Eight  settlements  along 
the  coast  shared  the  expense  of  arresting  Morton  and  sending 


1632]  DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENTS.  33 

him  to  England  for  trial.  The  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Piscataqua  paid  towards  the  e.xpense  the  same  as  the  colony  at 
Plymouth,  and  over  twice  as  much  as  that  at  Dover,  showing 
their  relative  importance.^ 

Morton  is  said  to  have  returned  to  New  England  and  is  re- 
ported to  have  died  at  one  of  the  Piscataqua  settlements. 

To  understand  the  early  history  of  New  Hampshire  it  becomes 
necessary  to  consider  the  various  grants  issued  by  the  Plymouth 
Council,  for  these  grants  led  to  a  conflict  of  interests  and  a  strug- 
gle which  lasted  for  over  a  hundred  years  and  was  not  finally 
settled  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution.  The  grant  to 
Gorges  and  Mason  of  1622  was  not  perfected,  nor  was  the  earlier 
one  to  Mason  of  Mariana,  for  we  learn  from  a  grant  by  the 
Plymouth  Council  to  Sir  Henry  Roswell,  dated  March  19,  1627-8, 
that  he  and  his  associates  were  entitled  to  all  lands  embraced 
between  the  Charles  river  and  the  Merrimack  river,  and  also 
all  lands  "which  lie  *  *  within  the  space  of  three  English 
miles  to  the  northward  *  *  of  the  Merrimack  or  to  the  north- 
ward of  any  and  every  part  thereof."  The  following  year'-^  King 
James  I  chartered  the  Massachusetts  Company,  confirming  to 
them  the  early  grant  to  Roswell. 

November  7,  1629,  the  Plymouth  Council,  "upon  mature  de- 
liberation, thought  fit,  for  the  better  furnishing  and  furtherance 
of  the  plantations  in  those  parts,  to  appropriate  and  allot  to 
several  and  particular  persons  divers  parcels  of  land  within  the 
precincts  of  the  aforesaid  granted  premises,"  and  deeded  to 
Captain  John  Mason  "all  that  part  of  the  mainland  in  New  Eng- 
land lying  upon  the  sea-coast,  beginning  from  the  middle  part  of 
the  Merrimack  river,  and  from  thence  to  proceed  northwards 
along  the  sea-coast  to  Piscataqua  river,  and  so  forwards  up  with- 
in the  said  river  and  to  the  furtherest  head  thereof,  and  from 
thence  north-westward  until  three  score  miles  be  finished  from 
the  first  entrance  of  Piscataqua  river;  also  from  Merrimack 
through  the  said  river  and  to  the  furtherest  head  thereof,  and  so 
forwards  up  into  the  lands  westwards,  until  three  score  miles  be 
finished  ;  and  from  thence  to  cross  overland  to  the  three  score 

'  John  Farmer  *  March  4,  :628-9. 


34  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [-632 

miles  end  accompted  from  Piscataqua  river;  *  *  which  said 
portions  of  land,  *  *  the  said  Captain  John  Mason,  with 
the  consent  of  the  President  and  Council,  intends  to  name  New 
Hampshire."^ 

It  would  seem  that  Mason  had  the  earliest  claim  to  the  three- 
mile  strip  north  of  the  Merrimack  river  from  previous  grants;, 
but  his  claim  was  never  sustained,  and  the  land,  so  far  up  the 
river  as  Pawtucket  Falls,  went  into  the  undisputed  possession  of 
the  Massachusetts  Company  and  remained  there  ever  after. 

Captain  John  Mason  died  in  November  or  December,  1635, ^  ^^^^ 
left  his  title  to  lands  in  New  England  to  be  a  source  of  litiga- 
tion to  his  heirs  for  several  generations,  as  will  hereafter  appear.^ 

In  the  spring  of  163 1,  Edward  Hilton  and  his  associates 
received  from  the  Plymouth  Council  the  grant  of  Dover  Neck. 

After  his  grant  of  1629  had  been  confirmed  to  him.  Captain 
Mason  was  especially  active  in  advancing  the  interests  of  his 
manor  in  New  Hampshire.  He  sent  over  eight  Danes  to  build 
mills,  saw  timber,  and  make  potash,  and  forwarded  twenty-two 
women  to  the  colony.  At  Newichwannock  he  built  the  first 
saw-mill  and  corn-mill  in  New  England,  and  a  large  house,  well 
fortified.  The  "  great  house,"  so-called,  was  at  Piscataqua,  or 
Strawberry  Bank.  He  imported  a  large  number  of  cattle,  from 
which  descended  the  so-called  native  cattle  of  New  Hampshire 
and  Maine.  At  about  this  time,  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  which, 
while  one  of  the  earliest,  was  one  of  the  most  important  fishing 
stations  on  the  coast,  was  divided  between  Gorges  and  Mason, 
the  southern  section,  in  after  years,  becoming  incorporated  as  a 
New  Hampshire  town  by  the  name  of  Gosport. 

After  the  grant  to  Hilton,  Captain  John  Mason  and  his  asso- 
ciate adventurers  obtained  a  further  grant  from  the  Plymouth 
Council  of  "that  part  of  their  patent  on  which  the  building  and 
salt-works  were  erected,  situate  on  both  sides  the  harbor  and 
river  Piscataqua,  to  the  extent  of  five  miles  westward  by  the 
sea-coast,  then  to  cross  over  towards  the  other  plantation  in  the 

'  N.  H.  Provincial  Papers,  vol.  i.  p.  24.  ^  N.  Bouton,  D.D. 

3  By  patent  of  Plymouth  Council  to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  Captain  John  Mason,  dated 
Nov.  27,  1629,  Laconia  was  granted,  including  "  lands  lying  and  bordering  upon  the  great  lakes  and 
rivers  of  the  Iroquois  and  other  nations  adjoining." 


i632] 


DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENTS. 


35 


hands  of  Edward  Hilton."  The  whole  interest  having-  been 
divided  into  two  parts,  Captain  Thomas  Wiggin  was  appointed 
agent  for  the  upper,  and  Captain  Walter  Neal  for  the  lower 
plantation.  With  Neal  were  associated  Ambrose  Gibbons, 
George  Vaughan,  Thomas  Warnerton,  Humphrey  Chadbourne, 
and  Edward  Godfrey,  as  superintendents  of  trade,  fishery,  salt- 
making,  building  and  husbandry.  Neal  resided  at  Little  Harbor 
with  Godfrey,  who  had  the  care  of  the  fisliery.  Chadbourne 
built  the  ^/rrt/ //^//j-r  at  Strawberry  Bank,  in  which  Warnerton 
resided.  Gibbons  had  the  care  of  the  saw-mill,  and  lived  in  the 
fortified  house  at  Newichwannock,  where  he  carried  on  trade 
with  the  Indians.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Sander's  Point, 
and  was  succeeded  b\-  Chadbourne.  The  proprietors  provided 
for  the  defence  of  the  settlement  by  sending  to  the  plantation 
several  cannon  ;  and  a  fort  was  planned  on  the  northeast  point 
of  the  Great  Island  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbor. ^ 


[ 


SCENE   IN   WHITE   HILLS. 

Captain    Neal's    mission   was    to   explore  and  report  on  the 
province  of  Laconia,  and  accordingly,  in  1632,  in  company  with 

•  Belknap. 


1159759 


36 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[^(^Z2 


Jocelyn  and  Darby  Field,  he  set  out  on  foot  to  discover  the 
interior,  and  establish  a  trade  with  the  Indians.  The  party 
visited  the  White  Mountains,  which  they  christened  the  Chrys- 
tal  Hills  ;^  but  probably  they  did  not  go  beyond  the  foot-hills 
of  the  great  White  Mountain  range. 

Some    writers,   depending  on  a  statement    in   Rev.    Samuel 
Danforth's  Almanac  for  1647,  have  ascribed  this  visit  to  June 


SUM:.fllT  OF  THE   RAVINE.   WHITE   MOUNTAINS 


4,  1642.  2^j-i-iQj-,g  recent  authors,  however,  Chandler  E.  Potter 
was  of  the  opinion  that  the  original  account  of  Dr.  Belknap  was 
the  true  one,  that  Walter  Neal,  Jocelyn,  and  Darby  Field 
went  to  the  White  Hills  in  1632,  that  the  Jocelyn  here 
mentioned  was  not  the  author  of  "  New  England  Rarities  Dis- 
covered," whose  first  visit  to  New  England  was  in  1638.     This 


Belknap. 


*  Prof.  J.  H.  Huntington. 


1633]  DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLKMENTS.  3/ 

among  other  things  had  given  discredit  to  Ur.  Belknap's  account. 
By  some  it  is  thought  that  the  man  referred  to  was  Mr.  Henry 
Jocelyn.  The  first  mention  of  the  White  Hills  in  print  was  by 
Mr.  John  Jocelyn,  in  the  book  just  mentioned.  It  is  stated  that 
about  a  month  after  Field's  first  visit,  he  went  again  with  five 
or  six  in  his  company,  and  that  the  glowing  account  he  gave 
"  caused  divers  others  to  travel  thither,  but  they  found  nothing 
worthy  their  pains."  Among  those  who  went  are  mentioned^ 
Thomas  Gorges  and  Mr.  Vines,  two  magistrates  of  the  province 
of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges.  They  went  about  the  end  of  August, 
of  the  same  year.  Prof.  E.  Tuckerman,  in  1840,  endeavored  to 
trace  the  path  of  these  early  explorers,  and  he  had  little  doubt 
that  Field  entered  the  valley  of  Ellis  River,  and  left  it  for 
the  great  south-east  ridge  of  Mount  Washington,  the  same 
which  has  since  been  called  Boott's  Spur.  Not  finding  minerals 
or  precious  stones,  but  only  high  mountains  with  narrow  valleys 
and  deep  gorges,  there  were  no  inducements  for  further  explor- 
ations. 

Neal,  on  his  return  from  this  expedition,  raised  a  force  of, 
forty  men  from  both  plantations,  and  in  company  with  a  party 
of  twenty  from  Boston,  pursued  the  pirate  Dixy  Bull  to  Pem- 
aquid,  which  place  the  latter  had  pillaged.  The  freebooter  hav- 
ing gone  further  east,  and  the  party  pursuing  being  detained  by 
contrary  winds  and  bad  weather,  they  returned  in  their  four 
small  vessels  to  the  Piscataqua,  stopping  long  enough  on  their 
way  to  hang  an  Indian  at  Richmond's  Island.^  During  the 
following  year,  1633,  the  proprietors  were  put  to  large  expense 
in  the  way  of  wages  to  their  employees  on  the  Piscataqua,  for 
the  settlements  were  not  self-supporting.  Very  little  attention 
had  been  paid  to  agriculture,  and  not  only  provisions,  but 
clothing,  utensils,  medicines,  articles  of  trade,  implements  for 
building,  husbandry,  and  fishing  had  to  be  furnished  to  the 
plantations,  so  that  the  proprietors,  discouraged  in  the  hope  of 
the  discovery  of  mines  or  a  remunerative  commerce,  one  after 
the  other  lost  their  interest  or  sold  to  the  original  and  more 
hopeful  proprietors,  Gorges  and  Mason. 

»  Belknap. 


38  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^633 

Captain  Walter  Neal  recorded  that  (in  company  witli  Captain 
Thomas  Wiggin)  he  divided  the  patent  into  four  townships  in 
this  year,  1633,  which  were  afterwards  known  as  Portsmouth, 
Dover,  Exeter  and  Hampton  ;  and  later  in  the  year,  returned 
to  England.^  John  Albee,  the  graceful  writer,  and  historian 
of  Newcastle,  thus  writes  of  the  first  governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire : 

Captain  Walter  Neal  was  a  true  soldier  of  fortune;  always  ready  for  an 
expedition  or  campaign  ;  always  seeking  that  kind  of  employment  from  the 
English  court  or  any  transient  patron  among  the  gentry;  always  begging 
for  something  and  not  averse  to  recounting  his  own  services,  merits  or 
demerits.  He  describes  himself,  when  seeking  an  appointment  in  these 
parts,  as  never  having  had  any  other  profession  but  his  sword,  nor  other 
fortunes  than  war ;  and  he  adds,  pathetically,  that  his  debts  are  clamorous 
and  his  wants  insupportable.  When  not  otherwise  engaged  he  acted  as 
captain  and  drill  master  of  the  London  Militia.  He  was  a  free  lance,  among 
the  last  of  the  knights-errant  and  of  the  Round  Table.  Such  was  the  first 
governor  of  New  Hampshire  and  all  the  lands  to  the  eastward  of  Massachu- 
setts Bav.  He  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  solemn  and  pragmatical 
Winthrops  and  Endicotts,  and  instead  of  settling  down  at  Mason  Hall  to 
found  a  church  and  raise  corn,  he  goes  in  search  of  the  fabled  land  of 
Laconia,  in  expectation  of  finding  precious  stones  and  mines  of  gold.  For 
three  years  he  explored  the  woods,  planned  fortifications,  drilled  the  settlers 
in  arms,  and  chased  pirates.  He  is  a  typical  character,  of  the  same  family  of 
Raleigh,  Smith  and  Standish,  men  who  discovered  new  countries,  founded 
colonies,  —  uniting  the  real  and  romantic  as  never  before,  —  and  went  trading 
and  exploring  round  the  world,  writing  love  songs  and  marvelous  narratives, 
and  all  as  if  it  were  the  pastime  of  the  moment  and  every  day  would  bring  a 
*'  noble  chance." 

Although  the  names  bestowed  upon  the  towns  were  not  given 
until  several  years  afterward,  it  may  be  well  to  believe  that  some 
such  a  survey  was  made  during  the  year,  although  not  recorded 
until  later,  when  the  towns  were  named.  Certain  it  is,  how- 
ever, that  in  1633  the  Massachusetts  authorities  intimated  that 
their  jurisdiction  extended  over  New  Hampshire.^  There  was 
Mason's  claim  to  Mariana  interfering  with  their  grants  from  the 
Charles  river  to  the  Merrimack,  which  had  to  be  offset  by  a  claim, 
founded  on  however  doubtful  an   origin,  upon    New   Hampshire. 

'   P.elknap.  -  VV'intlirop's  History  of  New  Kngland,  and  Provincial  Papers,  vol.  i,  p.  io6. 


1635]  DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENTS.  39 

These  differences  were  in  the  way  of  an  amicable  adjustment  at 
the  time  of  Captain  Mason's  death,  Henry  Jocelyn,  representative 
of  Captain  Mason,  agreeing  with  Matthew  Cradock,  first  gov- 
ernor of  the  Massachusetts  Company,  to  give  Massachusetts 
that  land  about  Cape  Anne  secured  to  Mason  by  a  patent 
granted  before  the  Massachusetts  patent,  while  Cradock  agreed 
that  "  Captain  Mason  should  have  that  land  which  was  beyond 
Merrimack  and  granted  to  the  Massachusetts'.'  ^  This  agree- 
ment was  sent  to  Henry  Jocelyn  to  get  recorded  at  Boston,  but 
before  he  could  have  leisure  to  go  there,  he  heard  of  Captain 
Mason's  death  and  failed  in  his  duty.  To  this  time  very  little 
improvement  had  been  made  on  the  lands ;  the  lakes  were  not 
explored  ;  the  vines  were  planted,  but  came  to  nothing  ;  no  mines 
were  found  but  those  of  iron,  and  those  were  not  wrought ; 
three  or  four  houses  only  were  built  during  the  first  seven 
years.  The  peltry  trade  with  the  Indians  was  of  some  value, 
and  the  fishing  served  for  the  support  of  the  inhabitants,  but 
yielded  no  great  profit  to  the  adventurers,  who  received  but 
inadequate  returns  in  lumber  and  furs.  Bread  was  either 
brought  from  England  or  Virginia.^ 

In  1634,  Mason  and  Gorges  gave  new  life  to  the  settlement 
by  sending  over  a  fresh  supply  of  servants  and  materials  for 
carrying  on  the  plantation,  and  appointed  Francis  Williams  their 
governor, —  a  gentleman  of  such  good  sense  and  discretion,  and 
so  acceptable  to  the  settlers,  that  when  they  combined  in  a  body 
politic  they  continued  him  at  their  head.  The  next  year,  1635, 
the  Plymouth  Council  surrendered  their  charter  to  the  King, 
first  securing,  or  having  confirmed,  certain  grants  to  individ- 
uals ;  and  Captain  John  Mason  died,  an  event  of  much  importance 
to  the  New  Hampshire  settlers.  It  had  been  his  design  to 
establish  in  his  province  of  New  Hampshire  a  manor,  but 
death  overtook  him  before  his  plans  had  been  consummated. 
His  personal  property  in  New  England  seems  to  have  been 
appropriated  by  his  former  servants  and  agents,  with  what 
justice  it  is  unnecessary   to   inquire,   while   his   interest  in  the 

•  Hutch.  Coll.  Papers,  p.  423.     F.  Belknap,  5S.  2  Parmer's  Belknap,  13. 


40  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^^3S 

land  was  left  to  youthful  heirs,  who  were  in  no  condition  to 
assert  their  rights  until  many  years  afterward. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  affairs  of  the  settlement  on  Hilton's 
Patent,  at  Dover,  were  managed  by  Captain  Thomas  Wiggin 
with  sagacity.  In  1633  he  brought  from  England  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Leveridge,  a  worthy  and  able  Puritan  minister,  and  settled 
him  over  the  parish,  building  for  him  the  first  church  in 
New  Hampshire.  Mr.  Leveridge  remained  a  short  time  only, 
removing  to  the  Plymouth  colony.  During  the  year  the 
small-pox  raged  among  the  Piscataqua  Indians,  greatly  reduc- 
ing their  numbers.  The  next  year,  1634,  Rev.  William  Bur- 
det,  an  artful  impostor,^  who  had  been  minister  at  Yar- 
mouth, England,  and  who  was  a  good  scholar  and  plausible  in 
his  behavior,  settled  in  Dover,  and  "  continued  for  sometime 
in  good  esteem  with  the  people  as  a  preacher,  till,  by  artful 
insinuations,  he  raised  such  a  jealousy  in  their  minds  against 
Wiggin,  their  governor,  that  they  deprived  him  of  office  and 
elected  Burdet  in  his  place." 

Burdet,  while  loyal  to  the  Church  and  King,  was  not  in  sympathy 
with  the  authorities  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  and  com- 
plained of  them  as  hypocritical  and  disaffected  with  the  govern- 
ment, as  was  shown  by  intercepted  correspondence  in  1638. 
He  received  the  exiles  from  the  Bay  colony  and  was  at  length 
forced  to  remove  to  Agariienticus,  whence  he  was  again  obliged 
to  remove,  finally  going  to  England  and  joining  the  royal- 
ists.^  It  was  charged  that  he  was  not  altogether  circumspect  in 
his  habits  while  residing  in  New  Hampshire.  Among  the  Anti- 
nomians,  who  were  banished  from  Boston  and  took  refuge  in  these 
plantations,  was  Captain  John  Underbill.  He  had  been  a 
soldier  in  the  Netherlands  and  was  brought  over  to  New 
England  by  Governor  Winthrop,  to  train  the  people  in  military 
discipline.  He  served  the  country  in  the  Pequod  war,  and  was 
in  such  reputation  in  the  town  of  Boston  that  they  had  chosen 
him  one  of  their  deputies.  Coming  into  conflict  with  the 
Massachusetts  authorities,  from  his  sympathy  with  Wheel- 
wright, he  came  to  Dover,  where  he    procured   the   office  of 

•  Belknap. 


1638]  DISCOVERY    AND    SKTTLP:MENTS.  4I 

governor  in  place  of  Burdet.  Being  settled  in  his  government  he 
gathered  a  church  at  Dover.  Rev.  Hansard  Knollys  was  chosen 
minister,  who  was  not  only  not  orthodox,  but  an  Anabaptist 
and  an  Antinomian,  which  rendered  him  very  obnoxious  to  the 
Puritans  of  Boston.  They  complained  to  the  principal  inhabit- 
ants on  the  ri\er  of  a  breach  of  friendship  in  advancing  Under- 
bill, and  summoned  both  Underbill  and  Knollys  to  appear  before 
the  court  at  Boston  to  answer  to  charges.  The  people  of  Dover 
voted  Underbill  out  of  office  and  chose  Thomas  Roberts  in  his 
place.  Rev.  Thomas  Larkham,  a  native  of  Lyme,  Dorsetshire, 
a  minister  from  Northam,  near  Barnstable,  differed  from  the 
church  authorities  of  Boston,  and  settled  in  Dover,  where  he 
drew  away  the  followers  of  Knollys  and  caused  much  trouble, 
which  terminated  in  a  riot.  Underbill  siding  with  Knollys,  the 
Larkham  party  called  in  the  intervention  of  Governor  Francis 
Williams  of  the  lower  settlement,  and  at  a  trial  Underbill  was 
found  guilty  of  disorderly  conduct  and  banished  from  the  plan- 
tations. Knollys  was  dismissed  from  the  church  and  returned 
to  England,  where  he  died  over  sixty  years  later,  "a  good  man 
in  a  good  old  age."  ^  Captain  Underbill  returned  to  Boston, 
and  later  went  to  the  Dutch  settlement  on  the  Hudson,  where 
he  received  important  commands  in  the  military  service  of  that 
colony.  After  Knollys'  departure,  Mr.  Larkham,  for  whom  the 
township  was  named  Northam,  charged  with  moral  obliquity, 
hastily  left  the  colony,  returning  to  England,  where  he  died 
some  thirty  years  afterwards,  "  well-known  there  for  a  man  of 
great  piety  and  sincerity." 

One  of  the  exiles  from  Massachusetts  was  Rev.  John  Wheel- 
wright, a  preacher  at  Braintree,  who,  having  been  banished 
from  Massachusetts  on  account  of  his  Antinomian  principles, 
obtained  a  grant  from  the  Indians,  and  settled,  in  1638,  with 
many  of  his  followers,  at  the  falls  of  Squamscott,  giving  the 
place  the  name  of  Exeter.  Wheelwright  was  a  friend  and  fel- 
low collegian  of  Oliver  Cromwell ;  had  been  vicar  of  Bilsby,  in 
Lincolnshire,  England,  and  brought  his  family  to  this  country 
in   1636.     Landing  in   Boston,  the  next  year  he  was  banished 

«  Belknap. 


42  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [164O 

from  the  colony.  There  is  a  distinct  tradition  that  there 
were  residents  at  Exeter  before  Wheelwright  arrived.  He 
at  once  gathered  a  church  there,  built  a  meeting-house,  a 
primitive  structure  of  small  dimensions,  and  became  the 
minister.  He  drew  up  a  form  of  civil  government,  called 
a  "  combination,"  which,  in  a  modified  form,  was  signed 
by  him  and  thirty-four  others  in  1640.  He  remained  at 
Exeter  until  the  extension  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts 
over  the  settlements  of  New  Hampshire,  when  he  withdrew,  with 
some  of  his  warmest  supporters,  to  Wells,  in  Maine.  In  the 
year  1638,  Rev.  Stephen  Batchelor,  with  whom  was  soon  after 
associated  Timothy  Dalton  and  a  party,  chiefly  from  Norfolk,  in 
England,  to  the  number  of  fifty-six,  made  a  settlement  at  Hamp- 
ton at  a  place  known  to  the  Indians  as  Winnicumet.  This 
was  strictly  a  Massachusetts  colony ;  and  although  their  settle- 
ment was  objected  to  by  the  agents  of  the  Mason  estate  and 
the  settlers  at  Exeter,  it  was  persisted  in,  and  soon  after  led  to 
the  claim  of  Massachusetts  to  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  of  the 
territory  of  New  Hampshire.  After  the  death  of  Captain 
Mason,  his  widow  and  executrix  sent  over  Francis  Norton  as 
her  attorney  to  manage  the  estate.  The  expense  exceeding  the 
income,  she  was  obliged  to  relinquish  the  care  of  the  plantation, 
and  to  let  the  servants  shift  for  themselves.  They  shared  the 
goods  and  cattle, —  Norton  driving  one  hundred  head  to  Boston 
and  there  selling  them.  Some  removed  to  other  parts,  but  many 
remained,  claiming  their  lands  and  betterments,  and  formed  a 
permanent  settlement  about  Strawberry  Bank. 

At  this  time  there  were  four  distinct  governments,  including 
Kittery,  on  the  Piscataqua  river,  united  by  mutual  "  combinations  " 
or  forms  of  government.  The  political  revolution  in  England 
deprived  the  people  of  hope  of  receiving  the  royal  attention, 
and  being  divided  among  themselves,  the  Massachusetts  party, 
which  had  been  strengthened  by  large  additions  among  the  new 
settlers  of  Dover,  prevailed,  and  it  was  resolved  by  the  "more 
considerate  persons "  to  treat  with  Massachusetts  about  tak- 
ing them  under  their  protection.  The  affair  was  more  than  a 
year  in  agitation,  but  was  finally  concluded,  April  14,  1641,  when 


1632]  DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENTS.  43 

Strawberry  Bank,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Hilton's  Patent, 
or  Northam,  and  Exeter,  submitted  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Massachusetts  colony.  This  was  greatly  desired  by  the  authori- 
ties at  Boston,  for  they  hoped  thus  to  stretch  the  limits  of 
their  patent  so  as  to  take  in  a  great  extent  of  territory.  It 
was  of  advantage  to  the  people  of  the  Piscataqua,  for  it  gave 
a  strong  government,  which  to  them  was  the  same  as  peace 
and  justice. 

Exeter  at  that  time  was  not  very  orthodo.x,  nor  was  Dover  ; 
while  the  people  of  Strawberry  Bank  inclined  to  the  Established 
Church  of  England.  So  the  people  demanded  and  received 
several  concessions  before  consummating  the  union.  Captain 
Thomas  Wiggin  seems  to  have  been  the  most  influential  man 
in  the  colony  in  bringing  about  the  desired  end,  and  was 
rewarded  by  high  magisterial  authority,  under  the  new  order  of 
things.  One  of  the  most  important  concessions  made  was  that 
a  representative  from  the  Piscataqua  could  serve,  though  he 
was  not  a  church  member. 

Thus  was  formed  a  union,  under  which,  for  nearly  forty  years. 
New  Hampshire  submitted  to  the  laws  and  jurisdiction  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. 

Of  the  second  governor  of  the  Piscataqua  settlements, 
Francis  Williams,  who  succeeded  Walter  Neal  and  continued 
as  governor  until  the  union  with  Massachusetts,  little  is  known 
to  the  writer,  save  that  he  became  a  magistrate,  and  an  associate 
justice  in  Norfolk  county,  and  continued  in  office  until  1645. 

The  obscurity  which  surrounds  the  first  settlement  of  New 
Hampshire  has  been  partially  cleared  up  by  the  researches  of 
the  late  John  Scribner  Jenness.  A  careful  perusal  of  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  his  "  Notes  on  the  First  Planting  of  New 
Hampshire  and  on  its  Piscataqua  Patents,"  may  be  of  general 
interest,  especially  as  the  work  was  privately  printed,  and  had  a 
very  lim.ited  circulation  : 

"  Advancing  from  this  starting-point  (the  settlement  of 
David  Thomson  and  his  company,  in  1623,  at  Pannaway,  or 
Little  Harbor),  only  a  few  steps  further  into  the  early  history  of 
New  Hampshire,  the  student    is   again   shut   in   b\-  a  dense  fog, 


44  HISTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1632 

through  which,  for  a  long  time,  he  is  compelled  to  grope  his 
uncertain  way.  Before  the  year  1632  is  passed,  he  finds  him- 
self in  the  midst  of  a  number  of  patents  on  the  Piscataqua,  none 
of  which  can  he  clearly  make  out  and  define.  He  perceives 
long  and  bitter  contests  between  those  rival  patents,  the  true 
ground  of  which  he  cannot  understand.  He  discovers  that  at 
last  all  these  contending  patentees  and  planters  are  in  some 
way  swept  into  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  but  the 
dexterous  legerdemain  by  which  the  annexation  was  effected 
entirely  escapes  his  detection.  In  vain  does  he  seek  for  light  in 
the  pages  of  the  Pilgrim  or  the  Puritan  historians.  That  whole 
confraternity,  indeed,  avowedly  look  upon  the  Piscataqua  plan- 
tations with  utter  contempt,  and  waste  little  or  no  time  upon 
the  annals  of  those  'sons  of  Belial' who  haunted  about  the 
lower  part  of  the  river."  It  became  the  policy  of  the  Bay 
Colony,  in  prosecuting  their  designs  over  the  Piscataqua,  to  say 
or  write  as  little  as  possible  on  the  subject,  so  that  in  case  they 
should  ever  be  called  to  account  for  their  conduct  in  the  matter, 
they  could  not,  in  any  event,  be  condemned  out  of  their  own 
mouths. 

The  instrument  which  has  been  the  chief  cause  of  the  confu- 
sion and  obscurity  was  the  patent  granted  in  1629-30  to 
Edward  Hilton  and  his  associates  —  a  petty  conveyance  of  a 
small  tract  of  land  around  Dover  Neck — covering  "all  that 
part  of  the  river  Piscataquack,  called  or  known  by  the  name  of 
Wecanacohunt  or  Hilton's  Point,  with  the  south  side  of  the 
said  river,  up  to  the  fall  of  the  river,  and  three  miles  into  the 
main  land  by  all  the  breadth  aforesaid."  Beginning  at  Hilton's 
Point  or  Dover  Neck,  the  boundary  line  ran  up  along  the  south- 
erly side  of  the  Piscataqua  river  to  the  lower,  or  Quampegan 
Falls,  a  distance  of  seven  or  eight  miles,  and  reached  back  into 
the  interior  country  three  miles  along  the  entire  river  frontage. 
Formal  possession  was  given  to  Hilton,  July  7,  163 1. 

Before  Hilton's  title  was  perfected.  Strawberry  Bank  had 
begun  to  be  settled.  No  less  than  sixty  men  were  employed 
in  the  Laconia  Company's  business  on  the  Piscataqua,  and 
a   plantation    had    been    established    at    Newichwannock,    not 


163 1]  DISCOVEKV    AND    SETTLEMENTS.  45 

far  from    Ouampegan   Falls,  and  on   the  opposite  side   of  the 
river  from  Hilton's  grant. 

As  the  Laconia  patent  conveyed  to  the  adventurers  no  por- 
tion of  Piscataqua  river,  and  as  during  two  years'  occupation 
they  had  acquired  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  region  and  its 
many  advantages  for  traffic  and  commerce,  it  was  their  first 
care  to  procure  a  grant  of  the  desired  region  not  previously  con- 
veyed to  Edward  Hilton.  Their  grant  was  dated  November  3, 
163 1,  and  embraced  all  lands  east  of  Great  Bay,  and  five  miles 
south  of  Little  Harbor,  and  a  width  of  three  miles  on  the  north 
and  east  of  the  Piscataqua  from  the  sea  to  Quampegan  Falls. 
It  included  the  present  town  of  Portsmouth,  Newington,  Green- 
land, Newcastle  and  Rye.  It  did  not  conflict  with  the  Hilton 
patent,  as  it  was  made  by  the  same  grantor,  the  grand  council 
for  New  England. 

The  charter  of  Massachusetts  Bay  passed  the  seals  March  4, 
1628-29,  thus  ante-dating  Mason's  patent  of  New  Hampshire 
as  well  as  both  the  Piscataqua  river  grants.  If  the  Massachusetts 
construction  of  their  charter  should  prevail,  then  all  the  patents 
on  the  river  would  be  swept  away ;  the  whole  of  that  region 
would  fall  by  prior  title  into  their  hands  and  jurisdiction,  and 
neither  Mason  nor  Hilton  could  have  offered  any  effectual 
opposition. 
m.  This  ingenious  interpretation  of  the  charter  having  been  hit 
upon,  there  appeared  as  early  as  1631,  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Piscataqua,  one  Captain  Thomas  Wiggin,  a  stern  Puritan,  and  a 
confidential  friend  of  Governor  John  Winthrop,  who  spent  his 
whole  after-life  in  maintaining  the  title  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony,  under  their  great  charter  of  1628,  to  the  lands  about  the 
Piscataqua. 

As  the  construction  the  Bay  Colony  put  upon  their  charter 
would,  if  enforced,  have  swept  away  the  entire  property  of  all 
the  Piscataqua  planters,  it  must  have  encountered  a  hot  and 
determined  opposition  from  the  whole  river.  The  Massachu- 
setts perceived  that  the  Piscataqua  planters  were  bitterly  hostile 
to  them  in  political  and  religious  principles,  and  would  on  that 
account  be  likely  to  receive  official  aid  from  the  old  country  in 


46  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [164O 

case  of  an  open  conflict.  In  these  difficulties,  the  Bay  magis- 
trates deemed  it  prudent  to  break  up  and  confuse,  if  possible, 
the  solid  front  of  opposition  before  making  an  attack;  and  to 
that  end  they  resolved  to  get  into  their  own  hands  the  entire 
Hilton  patent. 

Accordingly,  after  concerting  the  plan  with  Governor  Win- 
throp  and  his  assistants.  Captain  Wiggin,  shortly  after  his  quar- 
rel with  Captain  Walter  Neal  over  possession  of  Bloody  Point, 
went  out  to  England  in  1632,  and  forming  a  company  of 
^^  honest  men,''  as  Winthrop  calls  them,  succeeded,  with  their 
aid,  in  purchasing  from  Hilton  and  his  Bristol  associates  the 
entire  Hilton  patent,  at  the  price  of  ^2,150.  The  purchasers 
were  all  Puritans  and  friends  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  who 
had  been  "writ  unto." 

Captain  Wiggin,  appointed  manager  for  the  new  company, 
returned  to  New  England  in  1633,  with  reinforcements  and 
supplies,  and  took  immediate  steps  to  submit  the  territory  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  ;  but  Wiggin  found  it  impos- 
sible to  complete  the  bargain.  Intense  hostility  against  the 
design  sprang  up  at  once  among  the  original  Hilton  Point 
planters,  many  of  whom  were  Royalists  and  Churchmen,  who 
could  not  maintain  their  titles  to  land  before  a  legal  tribunal ; 
and  they  set  up  an  independent  government  among  themselves 
under  the  name  of  a  combination.  In  1637,  they  chose  George 
Burdet,  a  staunch  Churchman,  as  their  governor,  in  place  of 
Wiggin. 

Captain  John  Underbill,  who  was  chosen  governor  in  1638, 
on  account  of  his  supposed  opposition  to  the  Massachusetts 
claim,  was  found  to  be  plotting  with  his  ally,  Hanserd  Knollys, 
to  establish  that  claim.  This  led  to  the  riot  in  which  Mr. 
Larkham  led  the  people  against  the  governor,  and  was  sustained 
by  Governor  Francis  Williams  of  Strawberry  Bank.  Underbill 
and  Knollys  were  both  ordered  out  of  the  Piscataqua  plantations 
by  a  court  presided  over  by  Mr.  Williams. 

But  now  at  last,  in  1640,  amidst  the  turmoils  and  bitter  quar- 
rels among  the  inhabitants,  Massachusetts  saw  her  long  awaited 
opportunity    to    spread    her   jurisdiction    over   the    Piscataqua, 


1640] 


DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENTS. 


47 


Hugh  Peters  and  two  others  were  sent  "to  understand  the  mintls 
of  the  people,  to  reconcile  some  differences  between  them,  and 
to  prepare  them."  On  his  return  in  1641,  he  reported  to 
Governor  Winthrop  that  the  Piscataqua  people  were  "ripe  for 
our  government.  They  grone  for  Government  and  Gospel  all 
over  that  side  of  the  Country.     Alas!  poore  bleeding  soules." 

"The  precise  methods  used  in  preparing  the  people  for  the 
Puritan  annexation  have  never  been  fully  disclosed.  Edward 
Milton's  assent  was  purchased  by  a  covenant.  Governor  Francis 
Williams,  of  the  lower  plantation,  was  secured  for  the  measure, 
but  the  manner  is  not  revealed.  The  chief  inducement,  however, 
held  out  to  the  population  at  large  seems  to  have  been  the  prom- 
ise of  the  Bay  Colony,  that  they  should  "enjoy  all  such  lawful 
liberties  of  fishing,  planting  and  felling  timber  as  formerly." 


The  inhabitants  at  Strawberry  Bank,  and  vicinity  at  tlie  time  of  the  Union, 
1640,  were  : 

Gov.  Francis  Williams.         Jno.  Wall. 
Asst.  Ambrose  Gibbons.*    Robert  Puddington. 


William  Jones. 
'  Dr.  Renald  Fernald. 

John  Crowther. 
•"Anthony  Bracket. 

Michael  Chatterton. 


William  Berry. 
Jno.  Pickering. 
Jno.  Billing. 
Jno.  Wolten. 
Nicholas  Row. 
William  Palmer. 


Mathew  Cole. 
^' Henry  Sherburne. 
John  Lander. 
Henry  Taler. 
John  Jones. 

Among   the    stewards  and  servants    sent  to   New  Hampshire  by  Captain 
John  Mason  were  : 

Wm.,  Wm.  Jr.,  and  Hum-    James  Newt.* 

phrey  Chadbourne.  -Francis  Mathews.* 

Jeremiah  and  Thos.  Wal-     Francis  Rand. 


Thomas  Comack. 
William  Raymond. 
George  Vaughan. 
Thomas  Wannerton. 
Henry  Jocelyn. 
Francis  Norton. 
Sampson  Lane. 
Ralph  Goe. 
Henry  Goe. 
William  Cooper. 
Henry  Longstaff.* 
Hugh  James. 
William  Bracket. 
William  Brakin. 


ford. 
""-  Thomas  Chatherton. 
John  Williams. 
John  Goddard.* 
Thomas  Fernald. 
Thomas  Withers. 
Thomas  Canney.* 
John  Symonds. 
'  John  Peverly. 
Thomas  Moore. 
Alexander  Jones. 


James  Johnson. 
Anthony  Ellins. 
Henry  Baldwin. 
Thomas  Spencer. 
Thomas  Furrall. 
Thomas  Herd. 
Roger  Knight. 
William  Seavey. 
Joseph  Beal. 
John  Ault.* 
James  Wall. 


Eight  Danes  and  twenty-two  women. 

•  Settled  in  Dover. 


48 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1640 


Among  the  Dover  settlers  at  the  time  were  also; 

Thomas  Beard.  Thomas  Johnson. 

George  Burdet.  Hanserd  Knowles. 

Edward  Colcott.  Thomas  Larkham. 

fohn  Darn.  Thomas  Lajton. 

William  Furber.  William.  Leveridge. 

John  Hall.  James  Nute. 

John  Heard.  Hatevil  Nutter. 

Edward  and  Wm.  Hilton.  James  Ordwaj. 

At  Exeter  the  signers  of  the  "  combination  "  wei 
Rev.  John  Wheelwright.       Chr.  Helme. 


Augustus  Storre. 
Thomas  Wight. 
J^^William  Wentworth. 
Henry  Elkins. 
George  Walton. 
Samuel  Walker. 
Thomas  Pettit. 
Henry  Roby. 
William  Wenbourn. 
Thomas  Crawley. 
Robert  Smith. 


Darby  Ffield. 
Robert  Reid. 
Edward  Rishvorth. 
—  Francis  Matthews. 
Ralph  Hall. 
Robert  Soward. 
Richard  Bullgar. 
Christopher  Lawson. 
George  Barlow. 
Richard  Morris. 


Richard  Pinkham. 
Wm.  Pom  fret. 
Thomas  Roberts. 
Henry  Tebbits. 
John  Tuttle. 
Richard  Waldron. 
Thomas  Wiggans. 


Nicholas  Needham. 
Thomas  Willson. 
George  Rawbone. 
William  Coole. 
James  Wall. 
Thomas  Leavitt. 
Edmond  Littlefield. 
John  Crame. 
Godfrey  Dearborn. 
Philemon  Pormot. 
Thos.  and  Wm.  War- 
dell. 


Fourteen  of  whom  made  their  marks. 


At  Hampton  were  early 
Rev.  Stephen  Batchelor. 
Mr.  Christopher  Hussey. 
Thomas  Cromwell. 
Samuel  Skullard. 
John  Osgood. 
Samuel  Greenfield. 
John  and  Thomas  Moul- 

ton. 
William  Estow. 
William  Palmer. 
Robert  Caswell. 
William  Marston. 
John  Philbrick. 
Henry  Ambrose. 
Moses  Cox. 
Thomas  Ward. 
Daniel  Hendrick. 


the  following  settlers ; 

William  Fuller. 

William  Sargeant. 

Richard  Swayne. 

AVilliam  Sanders. 
"  Robert  Tucke. 

John  Cross. 

John  Brown. 

Edmund  Johnson. 

Thomas  Jones. 

Robert  Saunderson. 

Arthur  Clark. 

Joseph  Austin. 

Wm.  English. 

Wm.  Wakefield. 

Thomas  King. 

Giles  Fuller. 

John  Wedgewood. 


James  Davis. 
Abraham  Perkins. 
Philemon  Dalton. 
John  Huggins. 
Jeoffrey  Mingay. 
Thomas  Marston. 
Lieut.  Wm.  Hay  ward. 
Isaac  Perkins. 
Francis  Peabody. 
Robert  Page. 
Joseph  Smith. 
Walter  Roper. 
Wm.  Fifield. 
Anthony  Taylor. 
Wm.  Saunders. 
Thomas  Chase. 


CHAPTER  II. 
UNION   WITH  MASSACHUSETTS,   1641-1679. 

Laws  —  Courts  — Judges  —  Masonian  Claim  — Deputies  —  Magistrates 

—  Dover  —  Norfolk  County  — Town  Lines  — Roads  —  Portsmouth 

—  Survey  of  Northern  Boundary  —  Endicott  Rock  —  Market  — 
Dunstable  —  Witchcraft  —  Quakers — King's  Commissioners  — Cor- 
bet—  Masts  —  Sabbath  Laws —  Harvard  College  —  Oyster  River 

—  Indian  War  —  Effect  of  Union  —  Church  History  :  Hampton  — 
Exeter  — Dover — Portsmouth  —  Massachusetts  Governors  —  Mag- 
istrates AND  Deputies. 

A  T  the  time  of  the  union,  the  breach  between  the  Puritans 
"^  and  the  Established  Church  of  England  was  not  so  wide  as 
it  was  soon  destined  to  become.  Most  of  their  early  ministers 
were  regularly  ordained  and  many  had  been  educated  at  Oxford 
or  at  Cambridge.  The  differences  were  not  so  much  in  the 
creed  as  in  church  government  and  the  forms  of  worship.  Even 
the  ritual  had  not  been  entirely  discarded.  There  were  at  that 
time,  and  for  many  years  after,  even  until  the  creation  of  the 
royal  province,  two  parties  within  the  New  Hampshire  towns, 
the  Puritan  or  republican  party,  and  the  opposition,  made  up 
of  ardent  Churchmen,  Royalists,  Anabaptists,^  Antinomians,^ 
Quakers,  freethinkers,  and  free  lances. 

During  the  union  of  these  plantations  with  Massachusetts 
they  were  governed  by  the  general  laws  of  that  colony  and  the 
terms  of  the  union  were  strictly  observed.  Exeter  and  Hamp- 
ton were  at  first  annexed  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  at 
Ipswich,  till  the  establishment  of  a  new  county,  which  was  called 

■  The  Anabaptists  denied  the  validity  of  infant  baptism  and  believed  in  immersion. 
^  The  Antinomians  believed  in  "  the  indwelling  of  the  person  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  heart  of 
the  true  believers  "  and  encouraged  the  women  in  taking  part  in  religious  meetings. 


50  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [164E 

Norfolk,  and  comprehended  Salisbury,  Haverhill,  Hampton,. 
Exeter,  Strawberry  Bank  and  Dover.  These  towns  were  then 
of  such  extent  as  to  contain  all  the  lands  between  the  rivers^ 
Merrimack  and  Piscataqua.  The  shire  town  was  Salisbury,  but 
the  Piscataqua  settlements  had  always  a  distinct  jurisdiction,, 
though  they  were  considered  as  part  of  this  new  county.  A 
court  was  held  in  one  or  the  other,  sometimes  once  and  some- 
times twice  in  the  year,  consisting  of  one  or  more  of  the  magis- 
trates or  assistants,  and  one  or  more  of  the  commissioners,  chosen 
by  the  General  Court  out  of  the  principal  gentlemen  of  each  town. 
This  was  called  the  Court  of  Associates,  and  their  power  extended 
to  causes  of  twenty  pounds'  value.  From  them  there  was  an  appeal 
to  the  Board  of  Assistants,  in  Boston,  which,  being  found  incon- 
venient, it  was,  in  1670,  ordered  to  be  made  to  the  county  court 
of  Norfolk.  Cases  under  twenty  shillings  in  value  were  settled  in 
each  town  by  an  inferior  court,  consisting  of  three  persons. 
After  some  time,  the  towns  had  liberty  to  choose  their  associate 
justices,  which  was  done  by  the  vote  of  both  towns,  opened  at  a 
joint  meeting  of  their  selectmen,  though  sometimes  they  re- 
quested the  Court  to  appoint  them  as  before.  "That  mutual 
confidence  between  rulers  and  people  which  springs  from  the 
genius  of  a  republican  government  is  observable  in  all  their 
transactions."  ^ 

2  The  extension  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  over  New 
Hampshire  could  not  fail  of  being  noticed  by  the  heirs  of 
Mason  ;  but  the  distractions  caused  by  the  civil  wars  in  England 
were  invincible  bars  to  any  legal  inquiry.  The  first  heir  named  in 
Mason's  will  dying  in  infancy,  the  estate  descended  after  the 
death  of  the  executrix  to  Robert  Tufton,  who  was  not  of  age 
till  1650.  Joseph  Mason  came  over  as  agent  to  look  after  the 
Masonian  interests.  He  found  the  lands  at  Newichawannock 
occupied  by  Richard  Leader,  against  whom  he  brought  suit  in  the 
county  court  of  Norfolk ;  but  a  dispute  arising,  whether  the  lands 
in  question  were  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  there 
was  an  appeal  to  the  General  Court  at  Boston,  which  resulted  in 
the  survey  by  Jonathan  Ince  and  John  Sherman.     Two  experi- 

I  Farmer's  Belknap,  pp.  53,  54.  ^  Belknap. 


1641]  UNION    WITH    MASSACHUSETTS.  5 1 

enced  ship  masters  determined  that  the  parallel  of  latitude  ex- 
tended from  the  outlet  of  Lake  Winnipiseogee  to  a  point  in  Casco 
Bay,  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  this  line  was  determined  by  the 
Genera.  Court  to  be  their  northern  boundary,  thus  including 
the  most  of  the  territory  granted  to  Mason.  They  also  decided 
that  a  quantity  of  land  proportionable  to  Mason's  disbursements, 
with  the  privilege  of  the  river,  should  be  laid  out  to  his  heirs. 
The  agent  made  no  attempt  to  recover  any  other  part  of  the 
estate,  but  returned  to  England,  and  the  estate  was  given  up 
for  lost,  unless  the  government  of  England  should  interfere. 
During  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  protectorate  of  Cromwell, 
there  could  be  no  hope  of  relief,  as  the  family  had  always  been 
attached  to  the  royal  cause,  and  the  colony  stood  high  in  the  favor 
of  the  Parliament  and  of  Cromwell. 

At  the  restoration  of  Charles  II,  Robert  Tufton,  who  took 
the  name  of  Mason,  applied  to  the  King  for  redress,  and  the 
attorney-general  decided  that  the  claim  of  Mason  to  the  province 
of  New  Hampshire  was  good  and  legal.  The  commissioners 
who  came  over  in  1664  were  to  inquire  into  this  as  well  as  other 
matters.  The  reception  of  the  commissioners  resulted  in  a  re- 
port to  the  King  unfavorable  to  the  Massachusetts  claims. 
While  in  New  England  they  took  many  affidavits,  but  made  no 
determination  of  the  controversy.  After  the  return  of  the 
commissioners,  the  government  took  no  active  measures  for  the 
relief  of  Mason,  who  became  discouraged  and  joined  with  the 
heirs  of  Gorges  in  proposing  an  alienation  of  their  respective 
rights  in  the  provinces  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine  to  the 
crown,  but  the  Dutch  wars  and  other  foreign  transactions  pre- 
vented any  determination  concerning  them  till  the  country  was 
involved  in  all  the  horrors  of  a  general  war  with  the  natives. 

From  the  annals  of  New  Hampshire,  gathered  with  great 
care  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  from  town  records, 
court  records,  Massachusetts  records,  and  New  York  documents, 
and  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Provincial  Papers," 
are  extracted  most  of  the  following  items  of  more  or  less 
interest. 

The  union  of  the  four  New  Hampshire  towns  with  Massa- 


52  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [164I 

chusetts  was  perfected  by  an  act  passed  by  the  General  Court 
held  at  Boston  on  the  "9th  day  of  the  8th  month,  1641."  The 
preamble  having-  asserted  that,  according  to  the  Massachusetts 
patent,  the  Piscataqua  river  was  within  their  jurisdiction  and  that 
a  conference  had  been  had  with  the  people  living  there,  who  con- 
sented to  the  arrangement,  it  was  ordered  that  the  jDCople  "  in- 
habiting there  are  and  shall  be  accepted  and  reputed  under  the 
government  of  the  Massachusetts";  that  " they  shall  have  the 
same  order  and  way  of  administration  of  justice  and  way  of 
keeping  courts  as  is  established  at  Ipswich  and  Salem  "  ;  "  that 
they  shall  be  exempted  from  all  publique  charges  other  than 
those  that  shall  arise  for  or  from  among  themselves  " ;  "  shall 
enjoy  all  such  lawful  liberties  of  fishing,  planting,  felling  timber 
as  formerly  "  ;  that  "  Mr.  Simon  Bradstreet,  Mr.  Israel  Stough- 
ton,  Mr.  Samuel  Symonds,  Mr.  William  Tynge,  Mr.  Francis 
Williams  and  Mr.  Edward  Hilton,  or  any  four  of  them,  whereof 
Mr.  Bradstreet  or  Mr.  Stoughton  to  be  one,  shall  have  the 
same  power  that  the  Quarter  Courts  at  Salem  and  Ipswich  have  "  ; 
that  "the  inhabitants  there  are  allowed  to  send  two  deputies 
from  the  whole  river  [settlements]  to  the  Court  at  Boston  "  ; 
that  the  commissioners  have  power  to  appoint  two  or  three  to 
join  with  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Hilton  to  govern  the  people  for 
the  ensuing  year  as  was  done  in  Massachusetts  ;  and  that  the 
authority  exercised  by  the  officers  of  the  "  combination  "  should 
continue  until  the  arrival  of  the  commissioners. 

On  the  loth  of  December,  1641,  "  Mr.  Wiggin,  Mr.  Warnerton 
and  Mr.  Gibbons  "  were  joined  in  commission.  In  May,  1642, 
Captain  Wiggin,  Mr.  Edward  Hilton,  Mr.  Warnerton  and  Mr. 
William  Waldron  were  commissioned  magistrates  on  the  Piscata- 
qua, with  whom  were  associated  William  Hilton  and  Edward 
Colcord  ;  and  William  Hayward,  John  Crosse  and  James  Davis, 
at  Hampton ;  with  power  to  settle  cases  under  ;;^20. 

During  the  year  it  was  granted  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  Pis- 
cataqua who  formerly  were  free  there  should  have  the  liberty 
of  freemen  in  their  several  towns  to  manage  all  their  town  affairs, 
and  that  each  town  should  send  a  deputy  to  the  General  Court, 
though  he  was  not  a  church  member.     During  the  year  Northam 


i 


1647]  UNION    WITH    MASSACHUSETTS.  53 

was  regularly  incorporated  and  Samuel  Dudley,  William  Paine, 
Mr.  Winslow  and  Mathew  Boyes  were  appointed  to  settle  the 
town  limits  or  bounds.  The  town  was  called  Dover  the  follow- 
ing year. 

In  1643  Norfolk  county  was  established,  containing  Salisbury, 
Hampton,  Haverhill,  Exeter,  Dover,  Strawberry  Bank.  Exeter 
petitioned  to  have  its  bounds  determined  ;  and  William  Wen- 
bourn,  Robert  Smith  and  Thomas  Wardell  were  appointed 
magistrates. 

In  1644  the  inhabitants  of  Exeter  were  enjoined  from  gather- 
ing a  church  and  settling  the  Rev.  Mr.  Batchelor  before  their 
reconciliation  and  fitness  was  manifest.  The  decree  of  banish- 
ment against  Rev.  Mr.  Wheelwright  was  recalled.  Passaconaway 
and  his  sons  submitted  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts. 
The  bounds  between  Dover  and  Strawberry  Bank  were  deter- 
mined. Samuel  Greenfield,  innkeeper  of  Exeter,  had  his  license 
revoked,  and  Richard  Bulgar  of  Hampton  was  commissioned 
lieutenant  of  the  militia.  Francis  Williams,  Mr.  Fernald  and 
William  Sherburne  were  appointed  magistrates  at  Strawberry 
Bank.  Trouble  between  Mr.  Batchelor  and  Hampton  was  re- 
ferred to  a  commission. 

In  1645  Philemon  Dalton  was  licensed  to  marry  at  Hampton. 
Anthony  Stanyan,  Samuel  Greenfield,  Robert  Smith  and  John 
Legatt  were  appointed  magistrates  of  Exeter ;  Captain  Wiggin, 
Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Smith,  associate  magistrates  at  Dover. 
The  General  Court  discountenanced  the  holding  of  slaves  at 
Piscataqua  and  ordered  that  a  negro  brought  from  Guinea 
should  be  returned. 

In  1646  the  bounds  between  Exeter  and  Hampton  were  deter- 
mined by  Samuel  Dudley,  Edward  Rawson  and  Edward  Carle- 
ton.  William  W^aldron  was  appointed  recorder  of  deeds  at  Dov- 
er, and  Mr.  Waldron  and  Lieutenant  Hayward  laid  out  a  road 
from  Dover  to  Salisbury.  The  court  of  the  Piscataqua  district 
was  holden  twice  at  Dover  and  Captain  Wiggin,  Mr.  Smith  and 
Ambrose  Gibbons  were  appointed  associate  magistrates.  A  road 
was  laid  out  across  the  Hampton  marshes. 

In  1647  2-  ^oad  was  laid  out    from  Haverhill  to  Exeter ;  and 


54  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIPE.  [1652 

"towne  marks  "  agreed  upon  by  the  General  Court  "for  horses, 
[were]  ordered  to  be  set  upon  one  of  the  nere  quarters.  S(traw- 
berry-banke)  N(ortham)  H(ampton)  E(xeter)." 

In  1648  it  was  ordered  that  court  should  be  holden  at  Salisbury, 
the  neglected  shiretown  of  Norfolk  county,  and  also  at  Hamp- 
ton. Musters  for  military  training  were  held  eight  times  a  year. 
Samuel  Dudley,  Captain  Wiggin  and  Robert  Clements  were  com- 
missioned justices  for  the  county  and  authorized  to  administer 
the  oath  to  the  three  commissioners  for  small  causes  in  the  sev- 
eral towns.  Edward  Starbuck  was  tried,  having  been  charged 
with  "profession  of  Anabaptism."  The  courts  had  to  deal  jus- 
tice for  the  crime  of  murder,  as  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Willip,  as 
well  as  for  the  crime  of  wearing  the  hair  long,  and  professing 
"Anabaptism." 

In  165 1  the  inhabitants  of  Strawberry  Bank  petitioned  for  a 
survey  of  their  bounds  and  for  the  establishment  of  a  court  and 
for  the  protection  against  the  heirs  of  John  Mason.  Brian  Pen- 
dleton and  Henry  Sherburne  were  appointed  associate  magis- 
trates with  Captain  Wiggin,  and  the  line  between  Strawberry 
Bank  and  Hampton  and  between  Hampton  and  Exeter  was  or- 
dered to  be  determined.  Exeter  was  authorized  to  choose  a  con- 
stable "acceptable  to  the  court."  Four  hundred  acres  of  land 
between  Hampton  and  the  Piscataqua  were  granted  to  Captain 
William  Hathorne  and  six  hundred  acres  to  Emanuel  Down- 
ing. Governor  John  Endicott,  learning  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Strawberry  Bank  were  designing  to  throw  off  their  allegiance  to 
Massachusetts  and  set  up  an  independent  government,  com- 
manded Captain  Wiggin  to  arrest  the  ringleaders  and  send  them 
to  Boston  for  trial.  Dover  was  fined  ;^iO  for  not  sending  a 
deputy  to  the  General  Court. 

In  1652  court  was  holden  by  Mr.  Bellingham  at  Hampton,  Sal- 
isbury, Dover  and  Strawberry  Bank,  and  Mr.  George  Smith, 
Mr.  Richard  Waldron  and  Mr.  Valentine  Hill  were  appointed 
associate  justices.  Cajatain  Simon  Willard  and  Captain 
Edward  Johnson  were  apponited  commissioners  to  determine 
the  most  northerly  part  of  the  Merrimack  river.  They  accord- 
ingly   employed    John    Sherman   of    Watertown   and    Jonathan 


1652]  UNION    WITH    MASSACHUSETTS.  55 

Ince,  a  student  at  Harvard  College,  to  determine  the  latitude  of 
Aquadahian,  the  name  of  the  Merrimack  where  it  issues  out  of 
Lake  Winnipiseogee  ;  and  on  August  i  they  found  the  latitude 
was  forty  three  degrees,  forty  minutes,  and  twelve  seconds,  "be- 
sides those  minutes  which  are  to  be  allowed  for  the  three  miles 
more  north  which  runs  into  the  Lake." 

'  One  of  the  most  interesting  objects  connected  with  the  early  history  of 
New  Hampshire,  yet  one  that  is  little  known,  is  the  "  Endicott  Rock,"  which 
is  situated  on  the  head  of  a  small  island  in  the  channel,  at  the  Weirs.  Prob- 
ably the  exploring  party  who  left  their  names  chiseled  upon  it,  were  the 
first  white  men  that  ever  gazed  upon  the  waters  of  the  beautiful  lake.  Al- 
though two  and  a  half  centuries  have  elapsed  since  that  time,  yet  this  inscrip- 
tion still  remains  as  a  monument  to  their  bravery  and  endurance. 

The  inscription  can  still  be  entirely  read  by  much  study,  but  is  fast  wearing 
awav,  and  must  soon  entirely  disappear  under  the  constant  action  of  the  ele- 
ments. Recognizing  this  fact,  the  Lake  Companj',  on  whose  domain  it  stands, 
have  had  several  plaster  casts  taken,  one  of  which  is  to  be  seen  in  their 
office  at  Lake  Village  ;  while  others  have  been  presented  to  the  Historical 
Societies  of  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts. 

When,  and  by  whom,  the  discovery  of  this  interesting  relic  was  made,  is 
not  definitely  known,  but  is  supposed  to  have  been  made  by  Stephen  Lyford 
and  Nathan  Batchelder  of  Meredith  Bridge,  the  constructors  of  the  '•  Old  Bel- 
knap," as  they  built  a  dam  across  the  channel  on  the  Meredith  side,  in  1S32, 
for  the  purpose  of  deepening  the  other  one,  in  order  that  that  famous  steamer 
could  pass  down  to  Lake  Village,  which  was  then  a  thriving  village  of  about 
a  dozen  houses.  Others  claim  that  Messrs.  Daniel  Tucker  and  John  T.  Coffin, 
president  and  cashier  of  the  Meredith  Bridge  Savings  Bank,  were  the  original 
discoverers.  The  State  has  recently  provided  for  the  preservation  of  this 
interesting  monument. 

The  inscription  reads  as  follows  :  — 

EI  S  W. 

W.  P.    10  HX 
ENDICVT 
GOV 

Dover  was  declared  entitled  to  send  two  deputies  to  the 
General  Court  and  Strawberry  Bank  one.  It  was  determined 
that  the  northern  bounds  of  Dover  should  extend  from  the  first 
fall  of  the  Newichawannock  river  upon  a  north  by  west  line  four 
miles  ;  and  the  Lampereel  river  was  confirmed  as  the  bound  be- 
tween Exeter  and  Dover. 

*  Granite  Monthly. 


56  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1655 

In  1653  the  inhabitants  at  Strawberry  Bank,  claiming  to  have 
between  seventy  and  eighty  men  able  to  bear  arms,  and  between 
fifty  and  sixty  families,  desired  the  privileges  of  a  township, 
and  were  incorporated  by  the  name  of  Portsmouth.  The  free- 
men of  Dover  chose  Captain  Waldron  and  Valentine  Hill  as 
associates ;  and  their  choice  was  confirmed  by  the  General  Court. 

In  1654  William  Ponifret  was  "appointed  and  authorized  to 
marry  such  at  Dover  as  shall  be  duly  published  and  otherwise 
fitt  to  joyne  in  marriage  according  to  law: "and  Roger  Shaw 
of  Hampton  was  "  impowered  and  ordered  to  sell  wine  of  any  sort 
and  strong  liquors  to  the  Indians  as  *  *  shall  seeme  meete  and 
necessary  for  their  relief,  in  just  and  urgent  occasions,  and  not 
otherwise."  The  rates  assessed  for  supporting  the  ministry 
were  payable  in  money,  beaver,  beef,  pork,  wheat,  pease,  malt, 
cheese,  butter,  or  in  any  one  of  these  commodities  ;  and  the  dep- 
uties at  the  General  Court  at  Boston  dined  together  during  the 
session  at  Lieutenant  Phillips'  tavern,  at  the  expense  of  the  col- 
ony, and  "the  keeper  of  said  tavern  shall  be  paid  for  the  same 
by  the  treasurer  by  discounting  the  same  in  the  custom  of  wine  :  " 
and  they  were  also  lequired  to  provide  boarding-places  for  the 
deputies  who  should  succeed  them.  Lieutenant  Phillips  charged 
three  shillings  a  day  for  breakfast,  dinner  and  supper,  fire  and 
bed,  "with  wine  and  beer  between  meals,"  or  eighteen  pence  for 
dinner  alone,  "  with  wine  and  beer  betwixt  meals."  The  Great 
and  General  Court  defined  the  law  thus  :  "  and  by  wine  is  in- 
tended a  cup  for  each  man  at  dinner  and  supper,  and  no  more."  ^ 

In  1655,  "at  the  request  of  the  towne  of  Hampton,  by  theire 
deputy,  itt  is  ordered  that  there  shall  be  a  market  kept  there  on 
one  day  in  every  week,  viz.,  on  the  fifth  day,  which  is  theire  lec- 
ture day." 

In  August,  1655,  Captain  Simon  Willard  and  Edward  John- 
son, surveyors,  who  were  employed  by  the  provincial  court  of 
Massachusetts,  came  from  Woburn  with  an  exploring  company, 
which  usually  consisted  of  a  guard  of  eight  or  ten  men,  to  pro- 
tect the  surveyors  from  Indian  invasion  as  they  penetrated  the 

'  The  deputies  were  paid  by  the  towns  thev  represented.  The  Dover  deputy  was  allowed  thirty 
shillings  for  travelling  expenses,  two  shillings  and  sixpence  per  day  besides  his"  diet,"  while  in  at- 
tendance. 


1656]  UNION    WITH     MASSACHUSETTS.  57 

unbroken  forests.  They  arc  supposed  to  be  the  first  white  men 
ever  in  West  Dunstable, —  traversing  the  Merrimack  river  and 
its  tributaries,  going  up  Pcnnichuck  brook  to  Pennichuck  pond, 
also  exploring  what  has  been  known  for  a  period  of  over  two 
hundred  years  as  the  Witch  Brook  Valley,  and  embraced  that 
portion  of  West  Dunstable  known  later  as  Monson  and  Mollis. 

Witch  Brook  was  discovered  by  those  who  belonged  to  the  ex- 
ploring company  of  Johnson  and  Willard.  Some  of  their  number 
went  up  this  brook  quite  a  distance,  and,  leaving  its  bank  to  get 
a  view  of  the  surrounding  forests,  were  unfortunate  enough  to 
lose  their  way.  Night  came  on  before  they  regained  the  brook ; 
and  a  thick  fog  set  in,  which  rendered  it  extremely  difficult  for 
the  men  to  follow  it.  Some  one  of  their  number  remarked  that 
the  place  was  bewitched,  and  that  the  brook  was  bewitched ; 
hence,  it  received  its  present  name  long  before  any  settlement 
was  made  in  the  vicinity.  There  were  many  considerations 
which  helped  to  promote  the  early  settlements  there.  One  was, 
that  a  great  portion  of  meadow  land  was  made  available  by 
reason  of  the  beavers  building  their  dams  for  the  purpose  of 
flowing  ponds,  which  hunters  and  trappers  would  break;  and 
the  whole  tract  was  drained,  living  a  mowing-field  already 
cleared  for  the  new  settler.  Another  consideration  was,  that 
the  Indians  had  planted  fields  of  corn  on  the  uplands  as  late  as 
1665,  which  were  found  ready  for  cultivation.  And  still  another 
reason  that  actuated  the  people  in  settling  in  the  section  was^ 
that  its  facility  for  fur  catching  was  second  to  no  other  in  the 
State.* 

In  1656  the  witchcraft  craze  reached  New  Hampshire. 
March  30,  Susannah  Trimmings  of  Little  Harbor,  Piscataqua, 
going  home  at  night  witli  Goodwife  I^arton,  separated  from  her 
at  the  freshet  next  her  house.  On  her  return,  between  Good- 
man Evans'  and  Robert  Davis'  she  heard  a  rustling  in  the 
woods,  which  she  at  first  thouglit  was  occasioned  by  swine,  and 
presently  after  there  did  appear  to  her  a  woman,  whom  she 
apprehended  to  be  Goodwife  Walford,  who  asked  her  where  her 
consort  was  and  wanted  to  borrow   a  pound  of  cotton.     Upon 

I 


58 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1656 


being  refused,  the  old  woman  threatened  and  then  left  her, 
vanishing  toward  the  water  side  in  the  shape  of  a  cat,  while  Sus- 
annah was  struck  as  with  a  clap  of  fire  on  the  back.  She  returned 
to  her  home  and  was  ill  a  number  of  days.  This  statement  was 
sworn  to  before  Brian  Pendleton,  Henry  Sherburne  and  Renald 


THE  MILES  STANDISH   HOUSE,   DUXBT7RY. 

Fernald,  and  the  fact  of  her  sickness  was  corroborated  by  the  tes- 
timony of  others.  Agnes  Puddington  testified  that  a  little  after 
sunset  she  saw  a  yellowish  cnt  ;  that  her  husband,  John  Pudding- 
ton,  saw  a  cat  in  the  garden  and   took  down  his  gun  to  shoot  her. 


1657]  UNMON    WITH    MASSACHUSETTS.  59 

"The  cat  got  up  on  a  tree,  and  the  gun  would  not  take  fire," 
and  afterwards  the  lock  would  not  work.  She  afterwards  saw 
three  cats.  On  this  and  similar  testimony,  Goodwife  Walford 
was  bound  over  to  the  next  court.  At  the  court  of  associates, 
holden  in  June,  Jane  Walford  was  bound  over  until  the  next 
court,  "upon  suspicion  of  being  a  witch."  The  complaint  was 
probably  dropped  at  the  next  term,  for  some  years  afterwards 
Goodwife  Walford  brought  an  action  for  slander  against  one 
Robert  Couch,  for  calling  her  a  witch,  and  recovered  five 
pounds  and  costs. 

By  an  act  of  the  General  Court  this  year,  a  fine  of  one  hundred 
pounds  was  imposed  on  any  ship  master  who  should  import  a 
Quaker,  and  that  "what  Quakers  soever  shall  arrive  in  this 
country  from  forraigne  parts,  or  come  into  this  jurisdiction  from 
any  parts  adjacent,  shall  be  committed  to  the  house  of  correction, 
and  at  their  entrance  to  be  severely  whipt."  A  penalty  of  five 
pounds  was  imposed  for  importing  any  Quaker  books,  the  same 
for  keeping  on  hand  such  books  ;  while  any  person  within  the 
colony  defending  the  opinions  of  the  Quakers,  for  a  first  offence 
should  be  fined  forty  shillings,  four  pounds  for  the  second  offence, 
while  a  third  offence  would  subject  the  guilty  party  to  imprison- 
ment and  banishment  from  the  realm.  The  act  closed  with  the 
gentle  assurance  that  "  what  person  or  persons  soever  shall 
revile  the  oflfice  or  person  of  magistrates  or  ministers  *  *  shall 
be  severely  whipt  or  pay  the  some  of  five  pounds." 

In  1657  the  land  and  properties  of  "the  honored  Capt. 
Wiggin,"  not  hitherto  within  the  limits  of  any  town,  were  placed 
within  the  limits  of  Hampton.  The  people  of  Portsmouth  built 
a  meeting-house,  and  the  next  year  settled  Rev.  Joshua  Moody 
as  minister.  This  year  the  law  against  Quakers  was  made  more 
severe.  Whoever  harbored  them  was  fined  forty  shillings  for 
every  hour's  entertainment  or  concealment  of  Quakers.  Any 
Quaker  who  should  return  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  colony  after 
having  been  banished,  should,  if  a  male,  for  the  first  offence, 
have  one  of  his  ears  cut  off;  for  the  second  offence,  have  the 
other  ear  cut  off ;  if  a  woman,  she  should  be  "  whijit  severely." 
For    a  third  offence,  every  Quaker,  he  or  she,  "  shall  have  their 


60  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HA:MPSHIRE.  [1662 

tongues  bored  through  with  a  hot  iron,  and  kept  at  the  house  of 
correction,  close  to  worke,  till  they  be  sent  away  at  their  own 
charo:e."  A  native  Quaker  fared  the  same  as  a  foreign  Quaker. 
Qur  ancestors  sought,  in  the  wilderness,  to  obtain  religious 
freedom  for  themselves,  without  toleration  for  other  creeds  than 
their  own.  A  party  of  eight  persons  were  drowned  off  Hamp- 
ton during  the  year.  The  line  between  Hampton  and  Salisbury 
was  determined,  beginning  at  the  ocean  in  the  middle  of 
Hampton  river. 

In  1658  the  inhabitants  of  Portsmouth  were  ordered  to  attend 
all  military  service  under  command  of  Capt.  Brian  Pendleton,  and 
to  observe  the  laws  concerning  the  selling  of  strong  liquors  and 
to  keep  good  order  in  ordinaries.  Dover  this  year  voted  to 
raise  twenty  pounds  for  the  maintenance  of  a  schoolmaster, 
who  could  "  reid,  write,  cast  accompt  *  *  as  the  parents  shall 
require." 

In  1659  occurred  the  execution,  at  Boston,  of  several  Quakers, 
under  the  authority  of  the  law  passed  in  1656. 

The  forefathers  must  have  been  sorely  afflicted  with  Quakers^ 
for  in  1 66 1  the  General  Court  decreed  that  any  discovered 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  should  "be  stripped 
naked  from  the  middle  upwards,  and  tied  to  a  cart's  tayle  and 
whipped  thro'  the  towne,  and  from  thence  immediately  conveyed 
to  the  constable  of  the  next  town  towards  the  borders  of  our 
jurisdiction  ;  *  *  so  from  constable  to  constable,  till  they  be 
conveyed  thro'  any  the  outwardmost  townes  of  our  jurisdic- 
tion;" and  for  a  third  offence  should  be  branded  on  their  left 
shoulder  with  the  letter  R.  Truly,  in  those  days,  these  shores 
may  be  said  to  have  been  inhospitable.  The  unkindest  part  of 
this  act  was  in  the  provision  that  "  the  constables  of  the  several 
townes  *  *  were  empowered  *  *  to  impresse  cart,  oxen,  and 
other  assistance."  The  Isles  of  Shoals  were  incorporated  as  a 
town  by  the  name  of  Appledore,  during  the  year. 

In  1662  Eunice  Cole,  a  reputed  witch  of  Hampton,  after  an 
imprisonment,  was  banished  from  the  colony.  A  New  England 
poet,  John  G.  Whittier,  has  immortalized  the  name  of  Eunice 
Cole,  in  his  "  Tent  on  the   Beach,"   as  the  witch   of  Hampton 


1665]  UiNlUX    WITH     MASSACHUSETTS.  6I 

who  caused  the  drowning"  of  the  party  off  the  mouth  of  IIani[)- 
ton  river,  in  the  year  1657.  Still  more  cruel  was  the  execution 
of  the  sentence  imposed  by  Richard  Waldron  upon  Anna  Col- 
man,  Mary  Thompkins,  and  Alice  Ambrose,  Quakers,  who 
received  ten  strokes  each  on  their  naked  backs,  while  made  fast 
to  a  cart's  tail,  in  each  of  the  towns  of  Dover  and  Hampton  on 
their  way  through  Massachusetts.  The  order  to  the  constables 
was  dated  at  Dover,  in  midwinter,  December  22,  1662.  The 
order  was  executed  in  Dover,  Hampton,  and  Salisbury,  but  in 
the  last  named  town  the  women  were  rescued  by  Walter  Bare- 
foote,  who  sent  them  out  of  the  Province.  They  were  probably 
shipped  to  Rhode  Island,  the  Barbadoes,  or  Nova   Scotia. 

In  July,  1664,  the  King's  commissioners.  Sir  Robert  Carre, 
George  Cartwright  and  Samuel  Maverick,  arrived  at  the  Piscat- 
aqua,  and  during  their  visit  found  the  King's  authority  of  very 
light  weight  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Massachusetts  colony. 
They  informed  the  Massachusetts  authorities  that  the  King  did 
not  grant  away  his  sovereignty  when  he  granted  powers  to  the 
corporation  to  make  wholesome  laws  and  to  administer  justice 
by  them.  Nor  had  he  parted  with  his  right  of  judging 
whether  those  laws  were  wholesome,  or  whether  justice  were 
administered  accordingly  or  no.  He  had  not  granted  supreme 
authority  over  such  of  his  subjects  as  were  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Massachusetts.  The  King  reserved  that  authority  and 
prerogative  for  himself.  The  commissioners  threatened  the 
Massachusetts  Colony  with  the  loss  of  their  charter.  They 
were  not  kindly  received  by  the  authorities,  and  having  made  a 
tour  of  the  settlements,  in  1665,  they  made  a  report,  in  which 
they  charged  that  Massachusetts  had  usurped  authority  over 
the  Province  of  New  Hampshire  as  well  as  over  Maine,  writing 
of  the  former:  "This  Province  reaches  from  three  miles  north 
of  the  Merrimack  river  to  Piscataquay,  and  sixty  miles  into  the 
country.  We  find  many  small  patents  in  it,  and  the  whole 
Province  to  be  now  under  the  usurpation  of  the  Massachusetts, 
who  once  set  up  a  bound  house  three  larg  miles  north  of  the 
Merrimacke  and  owned  it  for  about  twelve  years,  yet  since 
claims  all  this  and    sixty   miles  more   to  the   north  to  be  within 


62  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1665 

their  patent."  "  We  were  up  with  the  Piscataquay  River,  July 
the  9  (1665),  when  we  received  his  Majesty's  letter  of  Janu- 
ary 28.  There  being  an  excellent  harbor,  large  and  safe,  and 
seven  or  eight  ships  in  it,  and  great  store  of  masts,  we  sent 
warrents  to  4  towns  upon  that  river,  with  an  intent  to  have 
gotten  that  harbour  fortified  by  them;  but  the  Massachusetts 
sent  a  prohibition  to  them  and  a  letter  to  us,  by  their  Marshall, 
which  put  a  stop  to  our  endeavours.  This  place,  we  think, 
deserves  fortifying  as  much  as  any  place  in  New-England." 
"  We  are  told  by  some  of  themselves  that  they  have  appointed  a 
General  Court  *  *  to  consider  how  to  manage  their  opposition, 
for  *  *  they  intend  to  maintain  the  bounds  of  their  patent  as 
far  as  they  have  stretched  them." 

Then  came  a  conflict  of  authority  on  the  Piscataqua.  The 
King's  commissioners  having  settled  the  Province  of  Maine 
under  the  King's  immediate  government,  one  Abraham  Corbett,  of 
one  of  the  Piscataqua  towns,  who  had  assisted  the  commis- 
sioners by  circulating  petitions  and  obtaining  evidence,  was 
summoned  by  the  Massachusetts  authorities  to  appear  at  court, 
and  was  arrested  by  the  marshals  of  Dover  and  Portsmouth,  and 
lodged  in  jail  in  Boston.     Bail  was  refused  for  him. 

In  the  report  of  the  King's  commissioners  are  the  following 
charges  against  the  Massachusetts  colony:  "To  elude  His 
jyjg^tie's  desire  of  their  admitting  men  civill  and  of  competent 
estates  to  be  free-men,  they  have  made  an  act  whereby  he  that 
is  24  years  old,  a  house  keeper,  and  brings  one  certifi- 
cate of  his  civill  life,  another  of  his  being  orthodox  in  matters  of 
faith,  and  a  third  of  his  paying  ten  shillings  (beside  head  money), 
at  a  single  rate,  may  then  have  liberty  to  make  his  desire  known 
to  the  court  and  it  shall  be  put  to  vote. 

"  The  comiss""^  examined  many  townshipps  and  found  that 
scarce  three  in  a  hundred  pay  los.  at  a  single  rate ;  yet  if  this  rate 
was  general  it  would  be  just;  but  he  yMs  a  church  member, 
though  he  be  a  servant  and  pay  not  2d.,  may  be  a  free- man. 

"They  will  not  admit  any  who  is  not  a  church  member  of 
their  church,  to  the  communion,  nor  their  children  to  baptisme, 
yet  they  will  marry  their  children  to  those  whom  they  will  not 


1665]  UNION    WITH    MASSACHUSETTS.  63 

admit  to  baptisme,  if  they  be  rich,  They  did  imprison  and 
barbarously  use  Mr.    Jourdain   for  baptising  children. 

"  Those  whom  they  will  not  admit  to  the  communion,  they 
compel  to  come  to  their  sermons  by  forcing  from  them  five  shill- 
ings for  every  neglect ;  yet  these  men  thought  their  own  paying 
of  one  shilling,  for  not  coming  to  prayer  in  England,  was  an  in- 
surportable  tyranny. 

"  They  have  put  many  Quakers  to  death  of  other  Provinces. 
*  *  First  they  banished  them  as  Quakers  upon  pain  of  death, 
and  then  executed  them  for  returning.  *  * 

"  They  have  beaten  some  to  jelly,  and  been  (other  ways)  exceed- 
ing cruell  to  others.  *  *  They  yet  pray  constantly  for  their 
persecuted  bretheren  in  England. 

"  They  have  many  things  in  their  lawes  derogatory  to  His 
Ma''*^'^  honour ;  of  which  the  Com""^  made  a  breviat  and  desired 
that  they  might  be  altered ;  but  they  have  yet  done  nothing  in 
it.  Amongst  others,  whoever  keeps  Christmas  day  is  to  pay 
Five  Pounds. 

"  They  caused,  at  length,  a  map  of  their  Territories  to 
be  made,  but  it  was  made  in  a  chamber  by  direction  and 
guess.  In  it  they  claime  Fort  Albany,  and  beyond  it  all  the 
land  to  the  South  Sea.  By  their  south  line  they  intrench  upon 
the  colonies  of  New-Plymouth,  Rode  Island  and  Conecticot,  and 
on  the  East  they  have  usurped  Captain  Mason's  and  Sr  Ferdi- 
nand Gorges  patents. 

"The  comiss''^  being  at  Piscataquay  when  they  receaved  His 
Ma''^'^  letter,  which  comanded  them  to  see  the  Harbours 
fortified,  &c.,  sent  their  warrants  to  fower  towns  upon  that  river 
requiring  them  to  meet  at  such  time  and  place  to  heare  his 
]y[atie's  letter  read ;  one  of  these  warrants  was  sent  post  to 
Boston,  from  whence  two  marshalls  were  sent  by  the  Governor 
and  Councell,  with  another  warrant  to  forbid  the  townes  either 
to  meet  or  to  do  anything  comanded  them  by  the  Com"^-  at 
their  utmost  perill. 

"  Colonel  Whalley  and  Goff  [the  regicides]  were  entertained 
by  the  magistrates  with  great  solemnity,  and  feasted  in  every 
place ;  after,  they  were  told  they  were  Traytors,    and   ought  to 


64  lilSTOKV    OF    Ni:W    HAMPSHIRE.  [1665 

be  apprehended.  They  of  this  colony  say  that  King  Charles 
y^  First  gave  them  power  to  make  laws  and  execute  them  *  * 
and  that  they  are  not  obliged  to  the  King,  but  by  civility. 

"  This  colony  furnished  Cromwell  with  many  instruments  out 
of  their  corporation  and  their  colledge ;  and  those  that  have 
retreated  thither  since  His  Ma*''^'*  happy  return e,  are  much 
respected  and  many  advanced  to  be  magistrates.  They  did 
solicit  Cromwell,  by  one  Mr.  Winsloe,  to  be  declared  a  Free 
State,  and  many  times  in  their  lawes  stile  themselves  this  State, 
this  Commonwealth,  and  now  believe  themselves  to  be  so. 

"  They  demand  what  taxes  they  please,  but  their  accounts 
could  never  yet  be  seen.  Some  few  soldiers  they  keep  at  their 
castle.  *  *  They  convert  Indians  by  hiring  them  to  come  and 
hear  sermons  *  *  which  the  more  generous  natives  scorne. 

"  This  colony,  which  hath  engrossed  the  whole  trade  of  New 
England,  and  is  therefore  the  richest,  hath  many  towns,  but  not 
one  regularly  built  within  its  limits ;  w*  the  comiss''^  find  to  be 
Seconnet  Brook  on  the  southwest  and  Merrimack  River  on  the 
northeast,  and  two  right  lines  drawn  from  each  of  those  two 
places  till  they  come  within  twenty  miles  of  Hudson's   River. 

"  The  comodities  of  the  countrey  are  fish,  which  is  sent  into 
France,  Spaine  and  the  Streights,  pipe-staves,  masts,  firr-boards, 
some  pitch  and  tarr,  pork,  beif,  horses  and  corn;  which  they 
send  to  Virginia,  Barbadoes,  &c.,  and  take  tobacco  and  sugar 
for  payment,  which  they  (after)  send  for  England.  There  is 
good  store  of  iron  made  in  this  Province.  Theire  way  of  govern- 
ment is  Common-wealth-like ;  their  way  of  worship  is  rude  and 
called  Congregationall ;  they  are  zealous  in  it,  for  they  persecute 
all  other  forms." 

The  action  of  the  Massachusetts  authorities  was  prompt  in 
arresting  Corbet,  who  was  an  innkeeper  at  Portsmouth  and  had 
been  active  in  circulating  the  petition  to  the  King,  but  revealed 
that  he  was  not  alone  in  his  wish  to  escape  from  the  tyranny  of 
the  elders.  The  next  year  he  was  arraigned  before  the  General 
Court  and  fined  ;^20,  and  costs  ;^5,  and  put  under  bonds  of  ;^iOO 
for  his  peaceable  demeanor,  "prohibiting  his  irregular  practices 
by  retailing  Beer,  Cider,  Wine  or  Licquors,"  and  disabling  him 


1669]  UNION    WITH    MASSACHUSETTS,  6$ 

from  "  bearing  any  office  in  the  town  where  he  lives."  During 
the  year  1665,  the  General  Court  so  far  complied  with  the  wishes 
of  the  King,  as  expressed  by  the  King's  commissioners,  as  to  vote 
a  fortification  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua,  and  the  people  of 
Dover  voted  a  "Terrett"  upon  the  meetinghouse  "for  to  hang  a 
bell." 

In  1666  the  Massachusetts  colony  received  a  summons  from 
King  Charles  II  to  send  as  delegates  four  or  five  persons  to 
represent  their  cause  before  him,  and  explain  their  course  towards 
the  King's  commissioners,  and  were  forbidden  to  punish  any 
one  for  petitioning  or  appealing  to  the  King. 

In  1667  the  General  Court  granted  a  township,  six  miles 
square,  above  Dover,  to  be  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Dover,  to 
pay  for  fortifying  the  mouth  of  Piscataqua,  and  ordered  that  all  dis- 
affected persons  seeking  to  change  the  form  of  government  of 
the  townships  on  the  Piscataqua  should  be  sent  to  Boston  for 
trial. 

In  1667  the  fur  trade  with  the  Indians  had  become  so  import- 
ant that  the  Provincial  Court  of  Massachusetts  passed  an  act 
regulating  it  ;  and  the  exclusive  right  of  this  trade  upon  the 
Merrimack  river  was  sold  to  Major  Simon  Willard  for  the  sum 
of  ^2^.  The  trade  on  Nashua  river  was  sold  at  the  same  time 
for  ;z^8  ;  that  of  Penichuck  brook  and  its  tributaries  was  sold  to 
Joseph  Burroughs  for  ^4.  Almost  all  the  first  land  grants  were 
selected  by  eager  adventurers,  with  a  view  of  having  within  their 
borders  the  greatest  facilities  for  trapping. 

In  1668  the  bounds  of  Exeter  were  determined,  and  trees 
fit  for  masts  were  reserved  as  public  property,  and  a  proper 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  commanded.  No  servile  work 
was  allowed  that  day,  save  works  of  piety,  of  charity,  or  of 
necessity.  The  penalty  was  more  severe  in  case  of  "prophan- 
ers  or  high  handed  presumption."  Who  ever  should  "  travell 
upon  the  Lord's  day,  either  on  horse  backe  or  on  foote,  or  by 
boats  from  or  out  of  their  owne  towne  to  any  unlawful  assembly 
or  meeting  not  allowed  by  law,"  were  "  declared  to  be  pro- 
phaners  of  the  Sabbath,"  as  were  those  who  did  "servile  work." 

In  1669,  Portsmouth  appropriated   ^60  per  annum  for  seven 


66  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1676 

years  for  aid  to  Harvard  College.  The  inhabitants  of  that 
part  of  Dover,  called  Oyster  River,  petitioned  the  General  Court 
for  parish  privileges,  and  that  they  might  have  a  minister  set- 
tled over  them.      They  mustered  seventy  soldiers. 

In  1670  there  were  sixty  soldiers  in  Exeter,  and  John  Oilman 
was  commissioned  lieutenant.  A  causeway  was  built  across  the 
marsh  at  Hampton.  Dover  and  Portsmouth  seem  to  have  been 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  county. 

In  1 67 1  the  custom  dues  on  imported  goods  and  powder, 
raised  at  Portsmouth,  were  declared  due  to  the  colonial  treasury, 
except  such  as  were  imported  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  river 
settlements. 

The  next  year,  1672,  the  duties  collected  at  Portsmouth,  as  well 
as  rates  derived  from  the  selling  of  beer  and  wine,  were  voted  to 
be  used  in  fortifying  the  harbor.  Dunstable,  including  Nashua 
and  a  part  of  Hudson,  Londonderry,  Litchfield,  Merrimack, 
Amherst,  Milford  and  Hollis,  was  incorporated  by  Massachusetts 
authority,  Oct.  15,  1673;  and  a  tract  of  land  for  a  village  was 
laid  out  above  Dover  township  to  the  inhabitants  of  Portsmouth. 

The  soldiers  of  Great  Island,  with  the  soldiers  of  Kittery, 
from  Spruce  Creek  eastward,  were  detailed  to  garrison  the  fort 
on  Great  Island,  and  Richard  Cutt  was  appointed  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  fort  and  garrison. 

In  1674  Mr.  Stoughton  was  appointed  to  hold  court  in  Nor- 
folk county,  and  Major  Thomas  Clark  in  Dover  and  Portsmouth, 
as  well  as  in  Yorkshire,  in  Maine. 

In  1675  the  inhabitants  of  Oyster  River  were  granted  liberty 
to  choose  their  selectmen.  A  company  of  forty  men  was  placed 
under  command  of  Major  Waldron,  twenty-two  of  whom  were 
from  Essex  County.  Hampton  was  assessed  ;^28  and  Exeter 
^8,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war,  which  will  be  treated 
of  in  another  chapter. 

In  1676  a  force  of  seventy  men  from  Essex,  and  sixty  from  Mid- 
dlesex, were  sent  as  a  reinforcement  to  the  Piscataqua.  Exeter 
and  Haverhill  were  declared  frontier  towns.  Scouting  parties 
were  maintained,  and  a  bounty  was  offered  for  scalps  of  Indians. 
The  county  of  Dover  and  Portsmouth  were  authorized  to  make 


1679]  UNION  WITH  MASSACHUSETTS.  ^J 

a  special  rate  of  taxation  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  war. 
The  refugees  from  the  eastward  were  enrolled  ;  and  seventy- 
soldiers  from  Suffolk  were  sent  to  reinforce  Piscataqua.  Major- 
General  Denison  was  appointed  commander-in-chief.  During 
the  war  a  contest  was  being  carried  on  in  England  of  much  im- 
portance to  New  Hampshire,  as  Robert  Tufton  Mason,  grand- 
son of  Captain  John  Mason,  had  presented  his  petition  to  the 
King,  claiming  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire  as  his  patrimony, 
while  his  claim  was  being  combatted  by  William  Stoughton 
and  Peter  Bulkley,  the  agents  of  the  Massachusetts  colonv. 
The  hearing  was  had  in  April,  1677.  Gorges,  the  claimant  of 
Maine,  who  brought  his  suit  jointly  with  Mason,  won  his  case, 
when  his  claim  was  promptly  bought  up  by  the  Massachusetts 
agents.  Mason's  claim  was  not  for  the  government  but  for 
the  land,  and  was  left  open  for  further  adjudication.  Edward 
Randolph,  Mason's  kinsman  and  agent,  visited  New  England  in 
the  summer  of  1676,  and  rather  caustically  reported  on  the 
state  of  affairs  in  the  colonies  to  the  Council  of  Trade  :  "  No 
advantages,  but  many  disadvantages,  have  risen  to  the  English 
by  this  warr,  for  about  six  hundred  men  have  been  slain  and 
twelve  captains,  most  of  them  stout  and  brave  persons  and  of 
loyal  principles,  whilst  the  Church  members  had  liberty  to  stay 
at  home  and  not  hazard  their  persons  in  the  wilderness."  So  it 
is  not  surprising  that  the  next  year,  1677,  a  more  stringent 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  ordered.  "  Offenders  that  shall 
any  way  transgress  against  the  Laws,  title  Saboath,  either  in 
meeting"  house  by  abusive  carriage  or  misbehavior,  by  making 
any  noyse  or  otherwise,  or  during  the  day  *  *  shall  *  * 
be  *  *  put  into  a  cage  in  Boston,  set  up  in  the  market  place," 
*  *  and  in  other  towns  where  county  courts  shall  appoint,  and 
there  remain  till  tried.  The  Indians  about  the  Piscataqua  who 
had  submitted  were  held  on  a  reservation  at  Cocheco,  and  were 
forbidden  to  carry  arms  unless  licensed  by  Major  Waldron. 

The  commission  constituting  a  President  and  Council  for  the 
Province  of  New  Hampshire  passed  the  Great  Seal  of  England, 
Sept.  18,  1679. 

The  erection  of  New  Hampshire  into  a  royal  province  was 


68  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1679 

undoubtedly  due  to  the  claims  of  Mason,  who  could  get  no 
redress  from  the  Massachusetts  courts.  As  events  proved,  he 
found  the  people  of  the  new  Province,  who  had  enjoyed  possession 
of  their  lands  for  over  half  a  century,  as  bitterly  opposed  to  his 
claims  and  demands  for  rent  as  ever.  They  threw  every  obsta- 
cle in  his  way,  and  he  got  very  little  satisfaction  from  the 
arrangement.     He  died  a  disappointed  man. 

During  the  union  with  Massachusetts  the  Congregational,  or 
republican  form  of  church  government,  had  become  firmly 
seated  in  the  four  townships,  and  the  people  had  become  accus- 
tomed to  self-government,  in  open  town  meeting.  From  feudal 
dependents  they  had  become  independent  freemen,  jealous  of 
their  rights  and  impatient  of  an  irresponsible  authority.  Many 
of  the  more  severe  laws  of  the  Bay  Colony,  on  account  of  public 
sentiment,  were  a  dead  letter  in  their  courts.  Their  descend- 
ants have  only  to  blush  at  the  whipping  of  some  Quaker  women. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  had  submitted  to  strict  laws,  established 
an  impartial  judiciary,  built  churches  and  settled  learned 
orthodox  ministers,  called  in  the  schoolmaster  and  contributed 
to  the  enlargement  of  Harvard  College,  and  had  been  greatly 
prospered  in  their  agriculture  and  in  their  commerce.  Already 
the  foundation  of  large  fortunes  had  been  gathered  in  Ports- 
mouth and  on  Great  Island. 

They  had  become  not  only  a  law-abiding,  but  a  religious  com- 
munity, and  as  Church  and  State  were  closely  identified  in 
those  early  days,  before  considering  the  Indian  wars,  it  may 
be  of  interest  to  glance  at  the 

Church  History. 

To  appreciate  fully  the  importance  of  the  Church  in  early  colonial  history, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  it  was  not  until  nearly  half  a  century  after  the 
Revolution  that  Church  and  State  were  finally  separated  in  New  England. 
Over  the  most  of  the  civilized  world,  at  that  period,  the  Pope  claimed  and 
exercised  supreme  authority.  Northern  Germany  and  northern  Europe  gen- 
erally had  followed  the  lead  of  Luther,  Calvin  and  other  reformers,  and  had 
separated  from  the  Church  of  Rome.  In  England,  commencing  with  Henry 
Vni,  the  crown  had  assumed  to  be  at  the  head  of  spiritual  as  well  as 
temporal  affairs,  and  arbitrarily  dictated  the  creed  and  the  forms  of  wor- 
ship.    To   escape  this    tyranny,   the     Pilgrims   and    Puritans,    from    among 


1^9-  UNION    WITII    MASSACHUSETTS.  69 

whom  caine  the  early  settlers  of  Hampton,  Exeter  and  Dover,  had  obtained 
their  charter  for  New  England.  The  form  of  government  which  they  estab- 
lished was  a  theocracy  as  well  as  a  democracy,  under  which  the  Church  was 
all  important.  The  Puritans,  however,  while  claiming  toleration  for  them- 
selves, were  not  willing  to  grant  toleration  to  others.  Respect  for  the 
Church  and  for  the  ministers  and  for  the  ordinances  of  religion  was  rigidly 
enforced,  severe  punishment  being  inflicted  for  the  slightest  departure  from 
imiformity  of  belief.  The  ministers,  in  one  sense,  were  the  rulers  of  the 
community,  and  as  such  deserve  a  place  in  the  civil  history  of  the  Common- 
wealth. Descent  from  one  of  these  early  magnates,  to  a  New  Englander,  is 
equivalent  to  a  patent  of  nobility. 

When  the  township  of  Hampton  was  granted  for  a  plantation,  in  Septem- 
ber, 163S,  some  of  the  grantees  were  already  "united  together  by  Church 
government."  The  original  members  of  the  Church  and  the  first  settlers  of 
the  to\vn.  generally,  were  Puritans.  They  brought  a  pastor  with  them,  and 
soon  after  their  arrival  they  selected  a  site  and  built  a  meeting-house.  Rev. 
Stephen  Batchelor,  the  first  pastor,  m:u'  be  regarded  as  the  father  and  founder 
of  the  town.  At  that  time  he  was  not  far  from  seventy-seven  years  old.  On 
landing  in  Boston,  in  1632,  he  joined  his  son-in-law,  Christopher  Ilussey,  at 
Lynn,  and  later  made  the  settlement  at  Hampton.  In  1639,  Rev.  Timothy 
Dalton  was  associated  with  Air.  Batchelor,  but  dissensions  arose  and  Mr. 
Batchelor  accepted  a  call  to  Exeter.  In  1656,  or  1657,  he  returned  to  England, 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  years.  His  associate,  Mr.  Dalton, 
was  si.v'y  years  of  age  when  he  settled  in  Hampton.  In  1647  ^^  ^^'^  asso- 
ciated with  him  Rev.  John  Wheelwright,  formerly  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Exeter,  and  later  from  Wells,  who  remained  ten  years.  In  1658,  Mr.  Wheel- 
wright was  in  England,  where  he  met  his  old  collegefriend,  Oliver  Cromwell, 
but  on  the  restoration  of  Charles  II  he  returned  to  America  and  was  settled 
over  the  church  in  Salisbury,  where  he  died,'  the  oldest  pastor  in  New 
England.  Rev.  Seaborn  Cotton,*  eldest  son  of  Rev.  John  Cotton,  of 
Boston,  was  associated  with  Mr.  Dalton,  in  1658,  and  on  Mr.  Dalton's 
death,  in  1660,  was  ordained  pastor.  He  died  suddenly  in  April,  1686, 
'•a  thorough  scholar  and  an  able  preacher."  The  town  gave  Mr. 
Cotton  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres.  His  wife  was  Dorothy,  daughter 
of  George  Simon  Bradstreet.  After  his  father's  death,  Rev.  John  Cotton,  2d,'^ 
preached  occasionally,  as  did  Rev.  John  Pike,  who  had  been  driven  from 
Dover  by  Indian  depredations.  Mr.  Cotton  was  ordained  minister  at  Hamp- 
ton in  1696.  He  was  "  beloved  and  respected,  and  died,  very  much  lamented." 
in  17 10,  very  suddenly,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Nathaniel  Gookin,  who 
continued  as  pastor  until  1734.  Mr.  Gookin's  successor  was  Rev.  Ward 
Cotton,  who  continued  to  preach  until  1765,  when  he  was  dismissed  and  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Ebenezer  Thayer,''  whose  labors  terminated  with  his  life, 
in  1792.     After  his  death,  there  came  a  rupture  between  town  and  church,  the 

'  November,  1679. 

^  Born  in  1633  (Harvard  College,  iftji),  wliile  his  parents  were  crossing  the  .Atlantic. 

3  Born  in  1658,  Harvard  College,  1678.  •♦Horn  1734,  Harvard  College,  1753. 


«o  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1656 

former  calling  and  settling,  in  1796,  Rev.  William  Pidgin,^  and  voting  them- 
selves Presbyterians;    the  latter  ordaining  Rev.  Jesse  Appleton,^  the  same 
vear.     Mr.  Appleton  remained  at  Hampton  until  elected  second  president  of 
Bowdoin  College  in  1S07.     He  married,  in  1800,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Hon. 
Robert  Means  of   Amherst,   and  their  daughter  was  the  wife  of  President 
Franklin  Pierce.^     Mr.  Pidgin  was  also  dismissed  in  1S07,  receiving  a  call  to 
Minot,  Maine,  and  afterwards  dying  at  Portland.^     After  this  the  two  factions 
became  united,  and  settled,  in  180S,  the  Congregational  minister.  Rev.  Josiah 
Webster,  who  continued  with  the  church   until  his  death  in  1837.      He  was 
followed,  in  1838,  by  Rev.  Erasmus  D.  Eldredge ;  in  1849,  by  Rev.   Solomon 
PavsonFay;  in   1855,   by  Rev.  John   Colby.      From  this  account  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  Congregational  church  of  Hampton  is  the  oldest  in  the  State. 
At  Exeter,  after  Mr.  Wheelwright  removed  to  Wells,  in  1641,  there  was  no 
settled  minister,  on  account  of  divisions  in   the  church,  until  Rev.   Samuel 
Dudlev,  a  son  of  Governor  Thomas  Dudley  of  Massachusetts,  was  settled  in 
1650.     There  is  no  record  of  a  church  during  his  ministry,  which  lasted  until 
his  death,   in    1683.      A   church  was  organized    and   Rev.  John   Clark  ^  wns 
settled  in  1698.     Rev.  John  Odlin^  was  settled    in  1706;  married  the  widow  of 
his  predecessor,  and  ministered  to  the  town  until  his  son.  Rev.  Woodbridge 
Odlin,  was  ordained  as   his  iather's  colleague  and  successor  in  1743.     The 
son's     ministry    continued    thirty-two    years.      Rev.    Isaac   Mansfield'    was 
ordained  in  1776  and  dismissed  in    17S7.     He    moved    to  his  native  town  and 
became  a  magistrate.     Rev.    William  F.    Rowland^  was  settled  in   1790  and 
dismissed  in  1828.     He  was  succeeded  in  1829  by  Rev.  John  Smith  ;  in  1S38. 
bv  Rev.  William  Williams;   in   1843,   by  Rev.  Joy  H.   Fairchild;   in    1845,  by 
Rev.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock.     There  was  a  rupture,  in  1744,  of  the  church  of 
fexeter,  when  the   second  church  was  formed,  and  Rev.  Daniel  Rogers^  was 
first  pastor.   He  was  a  descendant  of  John  Rogers,  the  martyr  of  Smithfield,  a 
'friend  of  Whitefield,  a  pall-bearer  at  his  funeral,  and  closed  his  ministry  and 
life  in  1785.     He  was  succeeded  in    1792  by  Rev.  Joseph   Brown,  a  native  of 
Chester,  England,  who  remained  five  years.     In   1S17,  Rev.  Isaac  Hurd  was 
settled  and  continued  three  years  in  the  ministry.       Rev.  Asa  D.  Mann  was 
settled,  in  1851,  as  a  colleague  pastor. 

Rev.  William  Leveridge,  the  first  minister  of  Dover,  received  the  degree 
of  A.  B.  from  Cambridge  College,  England,  in  1625;  that  of  A.  M.  in  1631. 
He  was  an  able  and  worthy  Puritan  minister, — ardent,  industrious,  enter- 
prising, and  possessed  a  good  deal  of  independence  of  character.  He  left 
Dover  in  1635,  from  want  of  support,  and  died  on  Long  Island  in  1692.  He 
was  succeeded,  in  1637,  by  George  Burdet,  a  minister  from  Yarmouth. 
England,  —  restless,    intriguing    and    ambitious, —  whose    course    has   been 

'  Dartmouth  College,  1794.  2  Born  1772,  Dartmouth  College,  1792. 

3  Mr.  Appleton  died  at  Brunswick  in  1819.  4  In  1848,  aged  seventy-five. 

5  Born  in  Newbury,  Mass.,  in  1670;  he  died  in   1705. 

6  Born  in  Boston,   1681  ;  Harvard  College,  1702  ;  died  in  1754. 

7  Born  at  Marblehead,  1750:  Harvard  College,  1767;  died  in  i8;6. 

8  Born  in  Plainfield,  Conn.,  in  1761;  Dartmouth  College,  1784;  died  in  1S43. 

9  Harvard  College,  1725. 


1641]  UNIOx\    WITH    MASSACHUSETTS.  7I 

noted.  Then  came  Hanserd  Knollys,'  who  landed  at  Boston  in  1638  and 
the  same  ^ear  settled  and  organized  the  first  church  in  Dover.  In 
the  trouble  with  Larkham,  the  more  ardent  Puritans  sustained  Knollys, 
who,  however,  in  1641,  became  weary  of  contention  and  left  the  field, 
returning  to  his  aged  father  in  England,  where  he  joined  the  Baptists,  and 
was  persecuted  till  he  died  fifty  years  after.  Thomas  Larkham"  was  an  able 
and  learned  man,  but  as  turbulent  as  Burdet.  He  favored  the  Episcopacy, 
using  its  liturgy  in  burial  services.  He  returned  to  England  in  1642,  became 
a  devotedly  pious  man,  and  died  in  1669.  The  Puritans  having  gained  the 
ascendancy  in  Dover,  the  people  applied  to  the  authorities  in  Boston,  for  a 
minister,  and  Daniel  Maud,  a  graduate  of  Emanuel  College,  Cambridge,  a 
schoolmaster  in  Boston,  was  settled  and  continued  to  minister  to  the  parish^ 
from  1642  till  his  death  in  1655.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  Rayner, 
Rev.  John  Rayner,  Jr.,  and  Rev.  John  Pike,  before  the  separation  from  Massa- 
chusetts. Under  the  former  came  the  trouble  with  the  Qiuikers,  the 
exchange  of  a  drum  for  a  bell  for  calling  the  worshippers  together,  and  the 
building  of  a  meeting-house  at  Oyster  River;  under  the  latter  came  the 
Indian  troubles. 

Among  the  assets  of  Captain  John  Mason,  there  were  articles  which  indi- 
cated that  some  attention  had  been  paid  to  religion  —  of  the  Established 
form.  As  early  as  1640,  a  glebe  of  fifty  acres  was  deeded  to  the  church- 
wardens and  a  chapel  and  parsonage  seem  to  have  been  built.  The  first 
orthodox  minister  was  Joshua  Moody,  who  was  settled  in  165S.  To  encour- 
age him,  those  who  slept  or  took  tobacco  on  the  Lord's  day  during  service 
were  doomed  to  a  cage.  A  church  of  eight  members  was  organized  in  167 1. 
After  the  separation  from  Massachusetts,  he  got  into  trouble,  in  16S4,  with  Gov- 
ernor Cranfield,  for  refusing  to  administer  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
indiscriminatingly,  was  imprisoned  and  released  only  on  his  promising  to 
leave  the  colony.  He  returned  in  1693  and  died  in  1697.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  Nathaniel  Rogers,  who  was  succeeded,  in  1723,  by  Rev.  John  Fitch;  in 
1746,  by  Rev.  James  Langdon,  who  was  called  to  be  president  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1774;  in  1779,  by  Rev.  Joseph  Buckminster;  in  1S12,  by  Rev.  Israel  W. 
Putnam. 

There  is  one  feature  of  the  union  of  New  Hampshire  and 
.Massachusetts,  the  distorted  construction  of  the  Hilton  Patent, 
which  Mr.  Jenness  has  carefully  investigated,  and  from  his 
/aluable  pamphlet  the  following  extracts  are  taken : 

Having  obtained  jurisdiction  over  the  territory  about  the 
Piscataqua  river,  the  Massachusetts  General  Court,  in  June,  1641, 
enacted  a  law  defining  the  Hilton  Patent  as  extending  from 
the  mouth  of  the  river  at  Strawberry  Bank,  thence  around  the 

'  Bom  in  1598,  at  Cawkwell,  England;  a  graduate  at  Cambridge,  England,  ordained  in  the  Estab' 
lished  Church  in  1629. 
^  Bom  in  1601  ;  a  graduate  of  Jesus  College,  Cambridge. 


^2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1665 

shores  of  the  Great  Bay  up  the  Exeter  river  to  Squamscott  Falls, 
and  three  miles  back  into  the  country.  The  additional  terri- 
tory thus  embraced  was  known  as  the  Squamscott  Patent. 
This  construction  was  never  fully  carried  out,  but  served  to 
furnish  the  Bay  Colony  with  a  pretext  for  jurisdictio'n.  In  the 
act  of  annexation,  the  voluntary  submission  of  the  planters 
and  patentees  was  not  mentioned,  although  their  course  alone 
made  annexation  possible ;  but  the  Massachusetts  authorities 
sagaciously  resolved  that  the  whole  territory  was  "  within  the 
Massachusetts  bounds." 

Having  securely  extended  their  jurisdiction,  they  had  little  or 
no  further  interest  in  the  river  patents  ;  but  difficulties  and 
injustices  of  many  sorts  soon  sprang  up  all  over  the  annexed 
territory,  which  long  disturbed  the  quiet  of  the  new  govern- 
ment. When  Dover  was  laid  out,  in  1642,  Bloody  Point  was 
excluded  from  the  new  township.  The  following  year,  how- 
ever, the  marsh  and  meadow  and  four  hundred  acres  of  upland 
on  Bloody  Point  were  annexed  to  Dover  ;  and  in  1644  ^^^  entire 
neck  of  land  was  joined  to  that  township.  The  inhabitants  of 
Strawberry  Bank  and  of  Dover  were  hostile  to  the  construc- 
tion placed  upon  the  Hilton  or  Squamscott  Patent.  The  lower 
plantation  on  the  Piscataqua,  after  1641,  had  undergone  a  com- 
plete transformation,  civil  and  religious.  A  party  of  strict 
Puritans  had,  by  the  aid  of  Massachusetts,  gotten  possession  of 
that  plantation,  and  under  the  system  of  the  Bay  Colony  were 
enabled  to  perpetuate  their  power  at  their  own  pleasure,  and  to 
allot  among  themselves,  some  eight  or  ten  in  number,  nearly  all 
the  valuable  common  lands  within  their  limits.  According  to 
a  petition  to  the  King,  made  in  1665  by  some  of  the  non-free- 
men of  Portsmouth,  "  five  or  six  of  the  richest  men  of  the 
parish  ruled,  swayed,  and  ordered  all  offices,  both  civil  and 
military,  at  their  pleasure,"  and  "  have  kept  us  under  hard  servi- 
tude, and  denied  us  our  public  meeting,  the  common  prayer 
sacraments,  and  decent  burial  of  the  dead;"  and  "have  also 
denied  us  the  benefit  of  freemen  *  *  and  have  engrossed  the 
greatest  part  of  the  lands  within  the  limits  of  the  plantation 
into  their  own  hands.'" 


1665]  UNION    WITH    MASSACHUSETTS.  73 

In  1655  the  General  Court  attempted  a  compromise,  and 
appointed  a  committee  to  settle  the  bounds  of  the  Squamscott 
Patent,  and  excluded  all  the  settlements  below  Boiling  Rock. 
John  and  Richard  Cutts,  Captain  Brian  Pendleton,  Richard  Mar- 
tyn  and  Joshua  Moodey,  and  a  few  others  who  then  ruled  the 
lower  plantation  and  were  owners  of  the  Piscataqua  or  Great 
House  Patent,  accepted  this  line,  but  soon  acquired  by  pur- 
chase, for  a  nominal  sum,  nearly  all  the  lands  embraced  by  their 
own  claim. 

The  only  substantial  advantage  derived  from  the  Massachusetts  construction 
of  the  Hilton  Patent  was  taken  by  the  Massachusetts  themselves.  Jurisdic- 
tion over  the  Piscataqua  had  been  obtained  by  the  skilful  use  of  that 
instrument,  and  once  got  it  was  firmly  kept,  after  that  instrument  had  dis- 
appeared. But  this  usurpation,  of  which  it  was  said  by  Judge  Potter,  "a 
more  unjust  and  tyrannical  act  never  was  perpetrated  on  this  continent,"  was 
not  destined  to  endure  for  many  years.  The  people  of  the  lower  Piscataqua 
were  in  spirit  deadly  hostile  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  Shortly  after  the 
annexation,  a  few  of  the  Puritan  sort  and  faith  had  crept  into  the  country, 
and  by  the  aid  of  the  Bay  had  seized  on  the  offices  and  places  of  power  and 
appropriated  to  themselves  nearly  all  the  common  lands;  but  the  original 
planters  grew  daily  more  and  more  incensed.  In  1651  the  inhabitants 
of  Strawberry  Bank  openly  rebelled  and  attempted  to  withdraw  their  subjec- 
tion to  the  Boston  government.  But  this  outbreak  was  suppressed.  Another 
effort  was  made  to  the  same  purpose  on  the  arrival  of  the  Royal  Commis- 
sioners, in  1664,  though  without  permanent  success.  But  in  1679,  the 
Massachusetts  usurpation  over  the  Piscataqua  was  terminated  by  the  erection 
of  New  Hampshire  into  a  Royal  Province. 

Thus  did  the  last  fruits  of  the  Hilton  Patent  decay  and  perish;  thus  were 
the  angry  broils  of  forty  years  composed.  The  proprietors  of  the  Patent 
had,  after  all,  profited  little  or  nothing  by  the  attempted  appropriation  of 
Piscataqua  lands.  The  Massachusetts  were  in  the  end  com;-)el]ed  to  disgorge 
the  purloined  jurisdiction  they  had  so  uneasily  obtained  and  kept,  and  thus 
retributive  justice  was  at  last  meted  out  to  all  actors  in  the  transaction. 

It  was  the  desire  of  Massachusetts  Bay  to  include  the  Piscataqua  region 
within  her  limits  and  to  secure  there  a  good  neighborhood  of"  honest  men," 
which  led  her  magistrates  to  effect,  through  their  friend.  Captain  Thomas 
Wiggin,  in  1633,  a  purchase  and  transfer  of  the  Hilton  Point  Patent  to  the 
Puritan  Lords  and  Gentlemen  of  Shrewsbury,  whose  successors  in  1641,  in 
accordance,  we  suppose,  with  the  original  understanding,  made  a  full  sub- 
mission of  the  Patent  to  Massachusetts  jurisdiction.  At  the  same  time,  in 
furtherance  of  the  same  general  design,  a  statutory  construction  was  pu'' 
upon  the  Patent,  by  which  it  was  split  into  two  distinct  portions,  and  the 
lower  or  Squamscott  portion  was  violently  stretched,  so  as  to  co\er  the  whoI«i: 
southern  bank  of  the  river  from  Squamscott  Falls  to  its  mouth. 


74  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1665 

The  Hilton  Patent  having  thus  served  its  political  and  religious  purpose, 
was  never  fully  enforced.  Large  portions  of  its  territory  were  granted  to 
Dover,  and  a  still  larger  part  was  retained  by  Strawberry  Bank,  and  in  the 
conclusion  of  the  whole  matter,  the  Squamscott  patentees  took  but  trifling 
advantages  from  the  distorted  misconstruction  of  their  grant. 

The  long  controversy  was  no  doubt  of  trifling  importance,  but  whoever 
will  study  it  attentively  will  see  displaj-ed  such  a  stubborn  conflict  between 
patentee  and  planter,  such  a  hot  contention  between  Royalist  and  Round- 
head, such  a  fierce  hatred  between  Puritan  and  Churchman,  and  at  all  times 
such  political  sagacity  and  vigor  of  thought,  as  make  the  story  of  the  Hilton 
Point  Patent  the  most  instructive,  if  not  entertaining,  in  the  early  annals  of 
New  Hampshire. 

Until  a  very  recent  date,  the  only  original  materials  for  a  real  history  of 
New  Ham.pshire  during  the  first  half  century  of  its  existence,  available 
to  students,  were  the  scanty  relics  of  town  and  county  records,  and  a 
few  documents  preserved  among  the  archives  of  Massachusetts,  or  in 
private  hands,  together  with  some  casual  hints  and  prejudiced  notices  of  the 
Piscataqua  to  be  found  among  the  historians  of  Plymouth  and  the  Bay. 

GOVERXORS    OF    MaSS.VCHUSETTS    DURING    THE    UnION. 

At  the  time  of  the  union,  Richard  Bellingham  was  governor  of  Massachu- 
tsetts.  He  was  re-elected  in  1654  and  again  in  1665,  serving  eight  years  for 
his  last  term.     He  died  Dec.  7,  1672,  aged  eight}'  years. 

John  Winthrop,  a  former  governor,  was  re-elected  in  1642,  1643,  1646 
1647  and  1648.     He  died  Match  26,  1649,  aged  sixty-one  years. 

John  Endicott  was  elected  governor  in  1644,  1649,  1651,  1652,  1653  and 
every  year  for  ten  years  from  1655.  He  died  March  15,  1665,  aged  seventy- 
six  years. 

Thomas  Dudley  was  elected  governor  in  1645,  and  was  re-elected  in  1650. 
He  died  July  13,  1653,  aged  seventy-seven  years. 

John  Leverett  was  elected  governor  in  1673  and  served  six  years.  He  died 
March  16,  1679. 

Simon  Bradstreet,  elected  governor  in  1679,  served  until  1685.  He  was 
again  elected  in  16S9  ^""^  served  three  years.  He  died  March  27,  1697,  aged 
94  _years. 

During  the  union  with  Massachusetts,  Hampton  was  represented  at  the 
General  Court  at  Boston  by  Lieutenant  William  Hayward,*  William  English, 
William  Estow,*  JeoftVey  Mingay,  Roger  Shaw,  Mr.  Anthony  Stanyon,* 
Henry  Dow,  Mr.  Robert  Page,  Lieutenant  Christopher  Hussey,  Mr.  William 
Fuller,  Mr.  Samuel  Dalton,*  Captain  William  Gerrish,  Mr.  Thomas  Marston, 
Mr.  Joshua  Gilman. 

The  magistrates  of  the  town,  aside  from  the  representatives,  were  William 
Wakefield,  John  Cross,  and  James  Davis. 

*  Magistrates. 


GOVERNOR  WINTHROP. 


¥ 


'j6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    IIAMPSHIKE.  [1679 

Strawberry  Bank,  or  Portsmouth,  was  represented  at  the  General  Court 
bj  Mr.  James  Parker,  Mr.  Stephen  Winthrop,  Mr.  Brian  Pendleton,*  Mr. 
Henrj  Sherburne,*  ^tr.  Nathaniel  Frjer,*  Mr.  Elias  Stileman,*  Captain 
Richard  Cutt,*  Mr.  Rich.  Martjn,*  John  Cutt,  of  whom  Brian  Pendleton  and 
Richard  Cutt  were  longest  in  service. 

The  magistrates  of  the  town,  during  the  union  aside  from  the  representa- 
tives, were  Francis  Williams,  Thomas  Warnerton,  Ambrose  Gibbons,  Renald 
Fernald  and  Thomas  Daniell. 

Dovfci-  was  represented  at  the  General  Court  bv  Edward  Starbuck,  Mr. 
William  Hilton,*  Captain  Thomas  Wiggin,*  William  Heath,  William  Wal- 
dron,*  William  Furbur,  Lieutenant  John  Baker,  Mr.  Valentine  Hill,*  Major 
Richard  Waldron,*  Lieutenant  Richard  Cooke,  Lieutenant  Peter  Coffin, 
Anthony  Nutter.  Aside  from  these,  the  magistrates  were  Edward  Hilton, 
William  Waldron,  George  Smith,  William  Pomfret,  John  Hale,  Thomas 
Clarke  and  Edward  Colcord.  Richard  Waldron,  first  elected  in  1654,  was 
re-elected  twenty-three  consecutive  times,  twenty-five  times  in  all,  being  in 
command  of  a  force  during  the  King  Philip  war  in  I676.  In  1679  he  was 
elected  from  Kittery.     During  eight  sessions  he  was  chosen  speaker. 

Exeter  sent  no  representative.  Robert  Smith  and  John  Legatt  were 
magistrates. 

*  Magistrates. 


CHAPTER  III. 

KING  PHILIP'S   WAR,  1675- 1678. 

Long  Peace  —  Character  of  Indians  —  Edward  Randolph  —  French 
— Dutch — New  York — Mohawks  —  Causes  of  War  —  Indian  Vices — • 
Sachem  Philip  —  Mount  Hope  —  Rum  —  Indian  Shortcomings  —  Lic- 
ensing THE  Sale  of  Arms  —  Loss  to  the  Colonies  —  Loss  to  the 
Indians  —  Philip's  Straits  —  Terms  of  Peace  —  French  Estimate  ok 
Indian  Character — Kindness  to  Q^takers — Injustice  to  Indians 

—  Indian  Youth  anxious  for  War — SquANDo  —  Insult  to  SquAw  — 
Attitude  of  Penacooks  and  Cochecos — Praying  Indians  —  Their 
Loss  —  Murder  of  their  Old  People  —  Indian  Depredations  in 
New  Hampshire  —  Peace  —  Death  of  Philip  —  Simon,  Andrew,  and 
Peter  —  War  in  Maine  —  Treachery  at  Major  Waldron's  Garrison 

—  Expedition  to  Ossipee  —  Mohawks  avarring  on  Friendly  Indians 
Defeat  at  Black  Point — Major  Andros  and  Peace —  Independence 
OF  THE  Colonists — St.  Castine. 

OOON  after  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  was  extended 
over  New  Hampshire  and  the  coast  of  western  Maine,  a 
combination  had  been  effected  between  the  New  England  colon- 
ies for  offensive  and  defensive  purposes.  According  to  its 
provisions,  the  quota  of  men  and  money  required  from  each 
of  the  members  of  the  combination  was  strictly  determined  in 
case  of  war  ;  and  it  had  all  the  advantages  of  a  centralized, 
although  a  republican,  government.  It  made  possible  the  defeat 
and  extermination  of  Philip  and  his  followers. 

The  colonists  had  been  settled  along  the  shores  of  New  England 
for  half  a  century  before  there  was  any  general  trouble  with  the 
natives.  With  the  exception  of  the  Pequod  war,  in  which  that 
tribe  was  practically  exterminated,  there  had  been  a  profound 
peace,  the   Indians  in  their  contact  with  the  white  men  even 


78 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1675 


submitting  to  the  colonial  laws.  They  were  held  accountable 
for  crimes  the  same  as  the  settlers,  and  even  the  hanging  of  an 
offending  Indian,  if  done  legally,  did  not  provoke  hostility 
between  the  races.  We  have  been  accustomed  to  take  the 
Massachusetts  view  of  the  trouble  which  so    exasperated    the 


AN    INDIAN    VISITING    THE    SETTLERS. 

Indians  that  a  general  war  was  waged  all  along  the  New  England 
coast.  Supposing  the  reader  familiar  with  the  often  told  story 
of  the  bravery  of  their  ancestors,  and  the  treachery  and  cruelty 
of  their  savage  foes,  a  view  of  the  other  side  may  be  of  interest. 
Physically  the  American  Indian  is  a  splendid  type  of  manhood. 


1775]  KING  Philip's  war.  79 

As  he  was  found  by  the  first  comers,  he  was  honest,  honorable, 
and  hospitable.  He  welcomed  the  new  comers  as  neighbors  and 
surrendered  to  them  for  a  paltry  consideration  his  most  valuable 
lands  and  privileges. 

The  settlers  did  not  treat  them  fairly.  They  were  "  children 
of  the  forest  "  and  should  have  been  treated  as  children  or  wards. 
The  land  was  theirs  by'every  human  law  and  their  rights  should 
have  been  protected  and  guarded.  Under  a  proper  cultivation,  a 
very  small  part  of  their  territory  would  have  amply  sufficed  for 
their  maintenance  and  would  have  been  as  valuable  as  the  vast 
area  which  they  did  not  use  and  needed  only  for  the  wild  game. 
For  fifty  years  they  had  lived  beside  the  settlers  as  friends. 

Edward  Randolph  came  to  New  England  in  1676,  and  from 
his  report  to  the  Council  of  Trade  a  few  extracts  may  show  the 
view  taken  of  the  war  by  an  unprejudiced  Englishman. 

'  The  French  have  lield  a  civil  correspondence  with  the  inhabitants  of 
Hampshire,  Maine  and  the  Duke's  Province,  altliough  the  government  of 
Boston,  upon  all  occasions,  is  imposing  upon  the  French  and  encouraging 
an  interloping  trade,  which  causeth  jealousies  and  fears  in  the  inhabitants 
bordering  upon  Acadie,  that  the  French  will  some  time  or  other  suddenly 
fall  upon  them,  to  the  breach  of  the  national  peace.  The  government  of  the 
Massachusetts  hath  a  perfect  hatred  for  the  French,  because  of  their  too  near 
neighborhood  and  loss  of  their  trade,  and  look  upon  them  with  an  evil  eye, 
believing  they  had  a  hand  in  the  late  war  with  the  Indians.     *     *     * 

For  the  government  of  theMassachusetts  loves  no  government  that  is  not  like 
their  owne,  and  therefore  they  were  more  kind  and  friendly  to  the  Dutch  (even 
in  time  of  warr)  when  they  were  possessed  of  New  York,  than  they  are  to  their 
countrymen,  the  English. 

However,  the  governor  of  New  York  hath  proved  very  friendly  and 
serviceable  to  the  Massachusetts  in  this  warr,  and  had  the  magistrates  of 
Boston  either  conferred  with  or  hearkened  to  the  advice  of  Colonel  Andross, 
the  Indian  warr  had  either  been  diverted  or  proved  less  destructive,  for  he 
offered  and  would  have  engaged  the  Mohawks  and  Maquot  Indians  to  have 
fallen  upon  the  Sachem  Phillip  and  his  confederates  ;  but  his  friendship, 
advice  and  offers  were  slighted. 

Nevertheless,  Colonel  Andross,  out  of  his  duty  to  his  Majestic  kept  the 
aforesaid  Indians  from  taking  any  part  with  the  Sachem  Phillip. 

Various  are  the  reports  and  conjectures  of  the  causes  of  the  late  Indian 
wars.  Some  impute  it  to  an  an  imprudent  zeal ''  ^  the  magistrates  of  Boston 
to  Christianize  those  heathens,  be''ore  they  were  civilized,  and  enjoining 
them  to  the  strict  observation  of  their  laws,  which,  to  people  soe  rude  and 

»  N.  H.  P.  P.,  vol.  i,  p.  441. 


8o  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

licentious  hath  proved  even  intolerable;  and  that  the  more,  for  while  the 
magistrates,  for  their  profit,  severely  putt  the  laws  in  execution  against  the 
Indians,  the  people  on  the  other  side,  for  lucre  and  gain,  intice  and  provoke 
the  Indians  to  the  breach  thereof,  especially  to  drunkenness,  to  which  these 
people  are  so  generally  addicted,  that  they  w  ill  strip  themselves  to  the  skin 
to  have  their  fill  of  rum  and  brandy. 

The  Massachusetts  government  having  made  a  law  that  every  Indian  being 
drunk  should  pay  ten  shillings  or  be  whipped,  according  to  the  discretion  of 
the  magistrate,  many  of  these  poor  people  willingly  oftered  their  backs  to 
the  lash,  to  save  their  money.  Upon  the  magistrate  finding  much  trouble 
and  no  profit  to  arise  to  the  government  by  whipping,  did  change  that  pun- 
ishment of  the  whip  into  a  ten  days'  Avork,  for  such  as  would  not  or  could 
not  pay  the   fine   of  tenn  shillings;  which  did  highly  incense  the  Indians. 

Some  believe  that  there  have  been  vagrant  and  Jesuitical  priests,  who  have 
made  it  their  business  and  design  for  some  years  past  to  go  from  sachem  to 
sachem,  to  exasperate  the  Indians  against  the  English  and  to  bring  them 
into  a  confederacy,  and  that  they  were  premised  supplies  from  France  and 
other  parts,  to  extirpate  the  English  nation  out  of  the  continent  of  America. 

Others  impute  the  cause  to  arise  from  some  injuries  oftered  to  the  Sachem 
Phillip,  for  he  being  possessed  of  a  tract  of  land  called  Mount  Hope,  a  very 
fertile,  pleasant  and  rich  soil,  some  English  had  a  mind  to  dispossess  him 
thereof,  who,  never  wanting  some  pretence  or  other  to  attain  their  ends, 
complained  of  injuries  done  by  Pliillip  and  his  Indians  to  their  stocks  and 
cattle.  Whereupon  the  Sachem  Phillip  was  often  summoned  to  appear 
before  the  magistrates,  sometimes  imprisoned,  and  never  released  but  upon 
parting  with  a  considerable  part  of  his  lands. 

But  the  government  of  the  Massachusetts  (to  give  it  in  their  own  words) 
doe  declare  these  are  the  great  and  provoking  evils  which  God  hath  given  the 
barbarous  heathen  commission  to  rise  against  them  : 

The  woful  breach  of  the  fifth  commandment,  in  contempt  of  their  authority, 
which  is  a  sinn  highly  provoking  to  the  Lord. 

For  men  wearing  long  hair  and  perriwigs  made  of  women's  hair. 

For  women  wearing  borders  of  hair  and  for  cutting,  curling  and  laying  out 
their  hair  and  disguising  themselves  by  following  strange  fashions  in  their 
apparel. 

For  prophaneness  of  the  people  in  not  frequenting  their  meetings,  and 
others  going  away  before  the  blessing  is  pronounced. 

For  suffering  the  Qiiakers  to  dwell  among  them,  and  to  sett  up  their 
thresholds  by  God's  thresholds,  contrary  to  their  old  laws  and  resolutions, 
with  many  such  reasons. 

But  whatever  was  the  cause,  the  English  have  contributed  very  much  to 
their  misfortunes,  for  they  first  taught  the  Indians  the  use  of  arms  and 
admitted  them  to  be  present  at  all  their  musters  and  trainings,  and  showed 
them  how  to  handle,  mend  and  fix  their  musquets,  and  have  been  constantly 
furnished  with  all  sorts  of  arms  by  permission  of  the  government,  soe  that 
the  Indians  are  become  excellent  fire-men,   and  at  Natick,  a  town   not  far 


1/75]  KING    PIIILII>'s    WAR.  8l 

distant  from  Boston,  there  was  gathered  a  cluirch  of  praying  Indians  wlio 
were  exercised  as  trained  bands,  under  officers  of  their  own.  These  have 
been  the  most  barbarous  and  cruel  enemies  to  the  English  above  any  other 
Indians,  —  Captain  Tom,  their  leader,  being  lately  taken  and  hanged  at 
Boston,  ^yith  one  other  of  their  chiefs. 

That  notwithstanding  the  ancient  law  of  tiie  country,  made  in  1633,  that 
no  persons  should  sell  any  arms  or  ammunition  to  any  Indian  :  *  *  vet 
the  government  of  the  Massachusetts,  in  the  year  1657  (upon  design  to 
monopolize  the  whole  Indian  trade  to  themselves),  did  publish  and  declare 
that  the  trade  of  furs  and  peltry  with  the  Indians,  within  that  jurisdiction, 
did  solely  and  properly  belong  to  their  commonwealth,  and  not  to  every 
indifferent  person ;  and  did  enact  that  no  person  should  trade  with  the 
Indians  for  any  sort  of  peltry,  except  such  as  were  authorized  by  that  Court : 
*  *  giving  liberty  to  all  such  as  should  have  license  from  them  to  sell  unto 
any  Indians,  guns,  swords,  powder  and  shot,  paying,  etc.  *  *  By  which 
means  the  Indians  have  been  abundantly  furnished  with  great  store  of  arms  and 
ammunition,  to  the  utter  ruin  and  imdoing  of  many  families  in  the  neigli- 
boring  colonies,  for  to  enrich  some  few  of  their  relations  and  church 
members. 

No  advantages,  but  many  disadvantages,  have  arisen  to  the  English  by  the 
warr,  for  about  six  hundred  men  have  been  slain  and  twelve  captains,  most 
of  them  stout  and  brave  persons  and  of  loyal  principles,  whilst  the  church 
members  had  liberty  to  stay  at  home  and  not  hazard  their  persons  in  the 
wilderness. 

Tiie  loss  to  the  English  in  the  se\eral  colonies,  in  their  habitations  and 
stock,  is  reckoned  to  amount  unto  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds ; 
there  having  been  about  twelve  hundred  houses  burnt,  eight  thousand  head  of 
cattle,  great  and  small,  killed,  and  man}'  bushels  of  wheat,  pease  and  other 
grain  burnt  (of  which  the  Massachusetts  colony  hath  not  been  damnified  one 
third  part,  the  great  loss  falling  upon  New  Plymouth  and  Connecticut 
colonies),  and  upward  of  three  thousand  Indians,  men,  women  and  children, 
destroyed,  who,  if  well  managed,  would  have  been  very  serviceable  to  the 
English:  which  makes  all  manner  of  labor  dear. 

The  warr,  at  present,  is  near  ending,  for  Sachem  Phillip,  not  being  able  to 
support  his  party  or  confederates,  hath  left  thein  to  make  the  best  terms  they 
can:  he  himself  sculking  in  the  woods  with  a  small  party  of  two  or  three 
hundred  men,  being  in  despair  of  making  his  peace. 

In  Plymouth  colony  the  Indians  surrender  themselves  to  Governor  Wins- 
low  upon  mercy,  and  bring  in  all  their  arms,  and  are  wholly  at  his  disposal, 
excepting  life  and  transportation ;  but  for  all  such  as  have  been  notoriously 
cruel  to  women  and  children,  soe  soon  as  discovered,  they  are  to  be  executed  in 
the  sight  of  their  fellow  Indians. 

The  government  of  Boston  have  concluded  a  peace  upon  these  terms  : 

1.  That  there  be  from  henceforward  a  firm  peace  between  the  English  and 
Indians. 

2.  That  after  the  publication  of  the  articles  of  peace  by  the  (ieneral  Court, 


82  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77S 

if  anj  English  shall  willfully  kill  an  Indian,  upon  due  proof  he  shall  die  for 
the  fact;  and  if  an  Indian  kill  an  Englishman  and  escapeth,  the  Indians  are 
to  produce  him,  and  he  to  pass  trjal  by  the  English  laws. 

3.  That  the  Indians  shall  not  conceal  or  entertain  any  known  enemies  to 
the  English,  but  shall  discover  them  and  bring  them  to  the  English. 

4.  That  upon  all  occasions  the  Indians  are  to  aid  and  assist  the  English 
against  their  enemies,  and  to  be  under  English  command. 

5.  That  all  Indians  have  liberty,  to  sit  downe  at  theirformer  habitations 
without  any  lett  or  interruption. 

By  this  report  it  will  be  seen  that  the  English  lost  six  hundred 
meu  —  the  Indians,  three  thousand  juef/,  women  and  cJdldreii, 

Mens,  du  Bratz  says  of  the  Indians  :  "  There  needs  nothing 
but  prudence  and  good  sense  to  persuade  these  people  to  what 
is  reasonable  and  to  preserve  their  friendship  without  interrup- 
tion. We  may  safely  affirm,  that  the  differences  we  have  had 
with  them  have  been  more  owing  to  the  French  than  to  them. 
When  they  are  treated  violently  or  oppressively,  they  have  no 
less  sensibility  of  injuries  than  others."  They  are  said  to  have 
been  cruel.  .  So  have  been  all  races  and  nations,  rude  or  civilized, 
from  the  Persians,  Romans,  Carthaginians,  to  the  modern  Euro- 
pean people.  The  English  have  always  been  cruel.  There 
are  cruel  laws  on  the  statute  books  of  New  Hampshire  to-day. 
If  they  were  treacherous,  so  were  their  foes.  A  Quaker  would 
trust  them,  it  seems,  rather  than  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts magistrates,  who  bored  his  tongue,  lopped  off  his  ears, 
and  put  him  to  death. 

It  is  said  that  Philip  was  forced  on  by  the  fury  of  his  young 
men,  sorely  against  his  own  judgment  and  that  of  his  chief 
counsellors  ;  and  that  as  he  foresaw  that  ^  the  English  would,  in 
time,  establish  themselves  and  extirpate  the  Indians,  so  he 
thought  that  the  making  war  upon  them  would  only  hasten  the 
destruction  of  his  own  people.  The  inhabitants  of  Bristol  show 
a  particular  spot  where  Philip  received  the  news  of  the  first 
Englishman  that  was  killed  with  so  much  sorrow  as  to  cause 
him  to  weep :  a  few  days  before  he  had  rescued  one  who  had 
been  taken  captive  by  his  Indians  and  privately  sent  him  home. 

There  dwelt  near  the  river  Saco,  a  sachem  named  Squando, 
a  person  of  the  highest  dignity,  importance  and  influence  among 


1675]  KIXC.    IMIILIP'S    WAR.  H;^ 

all  the  eastern  Indians.  His  squaw,  passing  along  the  river  in 
a  canoe,  with  her  infant  child,  was  met  by  some  rude  sailors, 
who,  having  heard  that  the  Indian  children  could  swim  as  natu- 
rally as  the  young  of  the  brute  kind,  in  a  thoughtless  and  un- 
guarded humor  overset  the  canoe.  The  child  sunk  and  the 
mother  instantly  diving  fetched  it  up  alive,  but  the  child  dying 
soon  after,  its  death  was  imputed  to  the  treatment  it  had  received 
from  the  seaman ;  and  Squando  was  so  provoked  that  he  con- 
ceived a  bitter  antipathy  to  the  iMiglish  and  employed  his  great 
art  and  influence  to  excite  the  Indians  against  them.^ 

The  first  alarm  of  the  war  in  the  Plymouth  colony  spread 
great  consternation  among  the  distant  Indians  and  held  them  a 
while  in  suspense  what  part  to  act.  Quarrels  and  misunder- 
standings soon  drew  the  Eastern  Indians  into  the  contest.^ 

In  this  first  war  it  is  uncertain  just  what  part  the  native  New 
Hampshire  Indians  took.  In  1660,  Passaconaway,  the  chief  of 
the  Penacooks,  to  whom  all  the  New  Hampshire  Indians  were 
in  subjection,  had  relinquished  all  authority  over  his  tribe  to  his 
son  Wannalancet.  Numphow,  who  was  married  to  one  of  Pas- 
saconaway's  daughters,  was  the  chief  for  some  years  of  the  vil- 
lage at  Pawtucket  Falls.  In  1669,  Wannalancet,  in  dread  of  the 
Mohawks,  went  down  the  river  with  his  whole  tribe,  and  located 
at  Wam^sit,  and  built  a  fortification  on  Fort  Hill,  in  Belvidere, 
which  was  surrounded  with  palisades.  The  white  settlers  in  the 
vicinity,  catching  the  alarm,  took  refuge  in  garrison  houses.  In 
1674  there  were  at  Wamesit  fifteen  families,  or  seventy-five  souls, 
enumerated  as  Christian  Indians,  aside  from  about  two  hundred 
who  adhered  to  their  primitive  faith  in  the  Great  Spirit.  Nump- 
how was  their  magistrate  as  well  as  chief.  The  I02:  meeting 
house  presided  over  by  the  Indian  preacher,  Samuel,  stood  near 
the  Eliot  church  in  Lowell.  In  May  of  each  year  came  l-^iot 
and  Gookin  :  the  former  to  give  spiritual  advice,  the  latter  to 
act  as  umpire  or  judge,  having  jurisdiction  of  higher  offences 
and  directing  all  matters  affecting  the  interests  of  the  village. 
Wannalancet  held  his  court  as  sachem  in  a  log  cabin  near 
Pawtucket   Falls.      At  the  breaking  out  of   Kuig   Philip's  War, 


84  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l^/S 

he,  with  the  local  Indians,  are  said  to  have  remained  faithful  to 
the  counsels  of  Passaconaway  to  be  friends  with  the  English,  and 
either  took  sides  with  the  colonists  or  remaiiied  neutral.  Be- 
tween the  two  parties  they  suffered  severely.  Some  were  put 
to  death  by  Philip,  for  exposing  his  designs;  some  were  put  to 
death  by  the  colonists,  as  Philip's  accomplices  ;  some  fell  in 
battle,  fighting  for  the  whites  ;  some  were  slain  by  the  settlers, 
who  mistrusted  alike  praying  and  hostile  Indians.  During  the 
following  year,  1676,  the  able-bodied  Indians  of  Wamesit  and 
Pawtucket  withdrew  to  Canada,  to  be  out  of  the  contest,  leaving 
a  few  of  their  helpless  and  infirm  old  people  at  the  mercy 
of  their  neighbors.  When  the  Indians  returned,  after  peace  had 
been  declared,  their  old  people  and  dependents  were  no  more, 
having  been  wantonly  murdered,  and  their  lands  confiscated. 
After  a  while,  having  been  located  on  an  island  in  the  river, 
they  had  parted  with  their  last  acre,  and  in  after  years  took 
refuge  with  the  St.  Francis  tribe  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Squando,  possibly,  was  the  chief  who  directed  the  attack  on 
the  New  Hampshire  settlements.  The  war  raged  mainly  to  the 
eastward  and  to  the  westward,  the  trouble  in  New  Hampshire 
being  caused  by  one  or  more  small  companies  of  mischievous 
Indians.  In  September  they  burned  two  houses  at  Oyster 
River,  killed  two  men  in  a  canoe  and  carried  away  two  captives, 
both  of  whom  soon  after  made  their  escape.  About  the  same 
time  a  party  of  four  laid  in  ambush  near  the  road  between 
Exeter  and  Hampton,  and  killed  Goodman  Robinson.  His  son, 
who  was  with  him,  escaped  into  the  swamp,  and  reached  Hamp- 
ton about  midnight.  They  took  another  captive,  who  escaped 
by  the  help  of  an  Indian.  A  few  days  later  they  made  an 
assault  on  a  house  in  Newichawannock  and  captured  two  children. 
The  two  following  days  they  made  several  appearances  on  both 
sides  of  the  river,  using  much  insolence,  and  burning  two  houses 
and  three  barns,  with  a  large  quantity  of  grain.  Five  or  six 
houses  were  burned  at  Oyster  River  and  two  more  men  were 
killed.  A  scouting  party  from  Dover,  of  twenty  young  men^ 
came  upon  a  party  of  five  Indians  near  a  deserted  house,  two  of 
whom  they  captured,  trie  others  escaping.      All  the  plantations 


i^V-5] 


KING    ]M II  lip's    WAK. 


«5 


:it  riscataqua  were  now  filled  with  fear  and  confusion.  Business 
was  suspended,  and  every  man  was  obliged  to  provide  for  his 
own  and  his  family's  safety.  They  took  up  their  quarters  in 
tlie  garrison  houses  and  were  on  guard  night  and  day,  sul)jecL 
to  continual  alarms.^ 


''«;;^-«M£i:^,«4&ft:'.^'' 


Garrison  house,  built  about  1645. 


In  October,  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  was  observed.  Soon 
after,  an  old  man  named  Beard  was  killed  at  Oyster  River.  A 
party  of  Indians  threatened  Portsmouth  from  the  Maine  side, 
but  a  pursuing  party  compelled  them  to  abandon  their  packs 
and  plunder  They  soon  after  did  more  mischief  at  Dover  and 
Lamprey  River,  and  killed  one  or  two  men  at  I^xeter.  The 
Massachusetts  government  planned  an  attack,  late  in  the  fall, 
upon  the  Indian  settlemenr  at  Ossipee  or  Pigwacket,  but  it  was 
not  carried  out  on  account  of  the  deep  snow  and  the  sevcrit}-  of 
the  weather. 

These  Indians,  during  the  winter,  were  pinched  with  famine, 
and  having  lost  about  ninety  of  their  number,  bv  war  and  want 
of  food,  sued  for  peace.      They  came  to  Major  Waldron,  expressed 


86 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1676 


great  sorrow  for  what  had  been  done  and  promised  to  be  quiet 
and  submissive.  By  his  mediation,  a  peace  was  concluded  with 
the  whole  body  of  eastern  Indians,  which  continued  until 
August,  1676.  The  restoration  of  the  captives  made  the  peace 
more  pleasant. 


TREATY    OF    PEACE    BETWEEN    THE    INDIANS    AND    THE    SETTLERS. 

The  affairs  of  Philip,  who  renewed  hostilities  in  the  spring, 
became  more  and  more  desperate.  Many  of  his  allies  and 
dependents  forsook  him,  and  he  was  slain  in  August.  The 
western  Indians  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  war,  now  fearing 
total  extirpation,  endeavored  to  conceal  themselves  among  their 
brethren  of  Penacook  who  had  not  jomed  in  the  war,  and  with 
those  of  Ossipee  and  Pigwacket  who  had  made  peace.  Several 
of  them  were  taken  at  different  times  and  delivered  up  to  public 
execution.  Three  of  them,  Simon,  Anch^ew  and  Peter,  who  had 
been  concerned  in  killing  Thomas   Kimball   of   Bradford, ^  and 

«  Belknap. 


1676] 


KING    PIlILll-  S    WAR. 


87 


taking-  his  family  captive,  restored  the  wutDan  and  ti\e  children. 
It  being  doubted  whether  this  act  of  submission  was  sufficient 
atonement,  they  were  committed  to  Dover  prison  for  trial. 
Fearing-  the  result  of  the  trial,  they  escaped  and  joined  the 
Indians  of  the  Kennebec  and  Androscoggin,  who  renewed  hos- 
tilities in  August,  and  later  they  were  active  in  distressing  the 
peo|ile  on  the  Piscataqua. 


DEATH   OF   KING   PHILIP. 

This  renewal  of  hostilities  in  1676  occasioned  the  sending  of 
two  companies  to  the  eastward,  under  Captains  Joseph  Syll  and 
William  Hathorne.  In  the  course  of  their  march  they  came  to 
Cocheco  early  in  September,  "  where  four  hundred  mixed 
Indians  were  met  at  the  house  of  Major  Waldron,  with  whom 
they  had  made  peace  and  whom  they  considered  as  their  friend 
and  father.  The  two  captains  would  have  fallen  upon  them  at 
once,  having  it  in  their  orders  to  seize  all  Indians  who  had  been 
concerned  in  the  war.  The  major  dissuaded  them  from  that 
purpose,  and  contrived   the  following  stratagem  "  ^  — or  trcach- 

'  IJelknai). 


88  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1676 

ery,  which  led  to  untold  horrors  in  years  to  come.  "  He  pro- 
posed to  the  Indians  to  have  a  training  the  next  day,  and  a  sham 
fight,  after  the  English  mode  ;  and  summoning  his  own  men, 
with  those  under  Captain  Frost  of  Kittery,  they,  in  conjunction 
with  the  two  companies,  formed  one  party,  and  the  Indians 
another.  Having  diverted  them  for  a  while  in  this  manner, 
and  caused  the  Indians  to  fire  the  first  volley,  by  a  peculiar 
dexterity  the  whole  body  of  them  (except  two  or  three)  were 
surrounded  before  they  could  form  a  suspicion  of  what  was 
intended.  They  were  immediately  seized  and  disarmed,  without 
the  loss  of  a  man  on  either  side.  A  separation  was  then  made. 
Wannalancet,  with  the  Penacook  Indians  and  others  who  had 
joined  in  making  peace  the  winter  before,  were  peaceably  dis- 
missed; but  the  strange  Indians  (as  they  were  called),  who  had 
fled  from  the  southward  and  taken  refuge  among  them,  were 
made  prisoners,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred,  and  being  sent 
to  Boston,  seven  or  eight  of  them,  who  were  known  to  lia\'e 
killed  any  Englishmen,  were  condemned  and  hanged.  The  rest 
were  sold  into  slavery  in  foreign  parts."  "  This  action  was 
highly  applauded  by  the  voice  of  the  colony."  ^ 

"The  remaining  Indians,  however,  looked  upon  the  conduct  of 
Major  Waldron  as  a  breach  of  faith,  inasmuch  as  they  had  taken 
those  fugitive  Indians  under  their  protection  and  had  made 
peace  with  him." 

"A  breach  of  hospitality  and  friendship,  as  they  deemed  this 
to  be,  merited,  according  to  their  principles,  a  severe  revenge, 
and  was  never  forgotten  or  forgiven.  The  major's  situation  on 
this  occasion  was,  indeed,  extremely  critical,  and  he  could  not 
have  acted  either  way  without  blame.  It  is  said  that  his  own 
judgment  was  against  any  forcible  measure,  as  he  knew  that 
many  of  those  Indians  were  true  friends  of  the  colony." 

Late  in  the  fall  an  expedition  was  undertaken  to  Ossipee  to 
destroy  the  Indian  fort  at  that  point,  but  they  returned  without 
meeting  a  hostile  Indian.  A  peace  was  brought  about  in  Nov- 
ember, through  Mogg,  a  Penobscot  Indian,  with  the  Penobscot 
and  Eastern  tribes,  and  several  captives  were  returned.     A  fear 

•  Belknap. 


1677]  KING    PillLlP's    WAK.  89 

that  the  Indians  did  not  make  the  peacx-  in  good  faith  led  to  an 
expecHtion  under  Major  Waichon  in  February,  1676-7,  as  far 
east  as  Pcmaquid.  The  company  started,  "a  day  of  prayer 
having  been  previously  appointed  for  the  success  of  the  enter. 
prise,"  and  again  Major  Waklron  was  charged  with  treachery, 
inasmuch  as  the  company  returned  after  having  killed  thirteen 
Indians  in  time  of  peace.  Hostilities  again  commenced  in  1677. 
I'wo  envoys  from  Massachusetts  visited  the  warlike  Mohawks 
ail  t  secured  their  alliance  to  punish  the  eastern  Indians.  About 
t'lij  middle  of  March  the  Mohawks  made  their  appearance  at 
Amoskeag  Falls,  when  they  fired  upon  a  son  of  VVannalancet. 
"  Presently  after  this  they  were  discovered  in  the  woods  near 
Cocheco.  Major  Waklron  sent  out  eight  of  his  Indians,  whereof 
Blind  Will  was  one,  for  further  information.  They  wore  all 
surprised  together  by  a  company  of  Mohawks,  —  two  or  three 
escaped,  the  others  were  either  killed  or  taken."  Blind  Will, 
who  was  a  chief  of  much  influence,  was  killed.  Two  who  were 
taken  with  him,  and  escaped,  reported  that  the  mission  of  the 
Moliawks  was  to  kill  all  the  Indians  in  these  parts  without 
distinction.  As  the  attacks  of  the  Mohawks  happened  to  be 
always  on  the  friendly  and  unarmed  Indians,  they  became 
estranged  from  the  English  and  took  refuge  with  the  French  in 
Canada.  From  friends  many  of  the  Cocheco  tribe  became  cruel 
enemies.  Nor  did  the  Mohawks  inspire  the  hostile  Indians  of 
Maine  with  terror;  they  commenced  hostilities  early  in  the 
spring.  The  three  Indians,  Simon,  Andrew,  and  Peter,  before 
mentioned,  killed  John  Keniston  in  Greenland.  In  May  si.v 
friendly  Indians  were  surprised  near  Portsmouth  by  a  party  led 
by  Simon.  In  June,  four  men  of  Hampton  were  killed.  An 
expedition  of  two  hundred  Natick  Indians  and  forty  soldiers, 
under  Captain  Benjamin  Swett  of  Hampton,  started  on  an  expe- 
dition to  the  Kennebec,  but  at  Black  Point,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Scarborough  river,  were  decoyed  into  a  general  engagement 
with  the  Indians,  and  lost  sixty  of  their  number,  including  the 
captain,  before  they  could  retreat  into  the  fort.  The  victorious 
savages  then  surprised  about  twenty  fishing  vessels,  at  anchor 
along  the  coast,  their  crews  falling   an  easy  prey.      All    through 


go 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1678 


the  summer,  the  Indians  continued  their  depredations  and  kept 
the  settlers  along  the  eastern  coast  in  constant  alarm,  while  the 
war  greatly  reduced  their  number. 


THE  CONFLICT. 


In  August,  Major  Andros,  governor  of  New  York,  took  pos- 
session of  the  district  of  Maine,  which  had  been  granted  to  the 
Duke  of  York,  fortified  Pemaquid,  and  concluded  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  the  Indians,  who  returned  their  prisoners  and  the 
captured  fishing  vessels. 

In  the  spring  of  1678,  commissioners  were  appointed  to  settle 
a  formal  treaty  of  peace  with  Squando,  which  was  made  at 
Casco,  when  the  remaining  captives  were  returned  to  their 
friends. 

Thus  ended  a  war  of  three  yeirs  duration.  The  Massachu- 
setts government  carried  it  on  without  appealing  to  the  King 
for  assistance,  and  took  upon  themselves  all  the  expense. 
Through  it  all  they  conducted  themselves  as  an  independent 
State.     Contemporary  authority  states  that   the   Indians  were 


1678J  KING    I'lllLll''s    WAR.  gi 

supi)lied  with  arms  and  ampiunition  by  the  Baron  de  St.  Castine, 
\vho  occupied  a  plantation  on  the  east  side  of  Penobscot  Bay, 
where  the  town  of  Castine  is  situated,  but  this  was  never  cor- 
roborated. The  settlers  themselves  had  furnished  the  Indians 
enough  ammunition  for  the  campaign. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ROYAL    PROVINCE,    1680- 1692. 

Condition  of  Affairs — John  Cutt  —  Council  —  Assembly  —  Laws  — 
Capital  Offences  —  Penal  Offences  —  Grants  Confirmed  —  Ran- 
dolph—  Barefoote  —  Mason  —  Richard  Waldron  —  Tax-Payers  in 
New  Hampshire — Cranfield  —  Edward  Gove's  Rebellion  —  Law- 
suits—  Appeal  TO  King  —  Riots- — Joshua  Moodey  —  Dudley  —  An- 
dros  —  Revolution  —  Union  with  Massachusetts  —  King  William's 
War. 

nPHE  people  of  the  four  towns  of  New  Hampshire  were 
incorporated  as  a  Roj^al  Province  without  being  consulted 
as  to  their  wishes.  They  had  become  accustomed  to  the  laws 
enacted  by  the  Bay  Colony,  and  their  deputies  had  assisted 
in  framing  them.  They  enjoyed  many  privileges  under  the 
republican  government  which  had  been  over  them,  which  they 
could  foresee  were  to  be  abridged  ;  and  they  knew  that  the  new 
government  was  imposed  upon  them  to  help  Mason  perfect  his 
claim  to  the  Province.  During  the  union,  tlie  Massachusetts 
settlements  had  spread  out  over  the  State  across  the  Connec- 
ticut river  ;  while  the  four  New  Hampshire  towns,  save  for  the 
natural  increase  within  their  borders,  remained  in  statu,  quo, 
from  the  fact  that  there  was  no  competent  authority  to  grant 
townships  or  lands.  They  had  become  attached  to  their  homes 
and  farms,  their  hills  and  valleys,  with  a  patriotism  natural  to 
the  Saxon  race,  had  defended  their  possessions  from  savage 
Indians,  and  were  united  and  determined  to  hold  them  against 
any  claimants.  They  made  no  claim  to  the  wild  lands,  but 
demanded  peaceful  possession  of  what  they  had  reclaimed  from 
the  wilderness,  had  occupied  over  half  a  century,  and  had 
defended  with  their  best  blood. 


l68o]  ROYAL    I'KOVIN'CE.  93 

When  the  four  towns  of  Portsmouth,  Dover,  Exeter  and 
Hampton  were  taken  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts, 
and  elevated  to  the  ambitions  condition  of  a  Royal  Province,  they 
included  within  their  bounds  two  hundred  and  nine  qualified 
voters  —  less  than  are  now  registered  in  many  of  the  smaller 
towns  of  the  State  —  and  they  would  be  now  entitled  to  only 
two  representatives  in  our  present  Legislature.  Their  export 
trade  consisted  of  masts,  planks,  boards,  staves  and  other  lumber, 
of  great  bulk  and  little  value.  The  fishing  business  had  sought 
other  ports.  There  was  not  enough  grain  raised  for  home  con- 
sumption, and  the  people  were  slowly  recovering  from  their  losses' 
incurred  by  the  disastrous  Indian  conflict,  in  which  houses  and 
barns  had  been  burned,  stock  killed,  fields  laid  waste,  and  many 
of  the  most  promising  of  the  rising  generation  had  fallen  victims 
to  the  fatal  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife.  Taxes,  under  the 
circumstances,  were  very  burdensome. 

There  was  a  fort,  for  the  protection  of  the  harbor,  erected  on 
Great  Island  during  the  Dutch  war  of  1665,  which  mounted 
eleven  six  pounders.  There  was  also  a  battery  of  five  guns  at 
Portsmouth  for  the  defence  of  the  town  against  Indians. 

The  records  of  the  port  for  the  year  1680  show  that  twenty- 
two  ships,  twenty  barks  and  brigs,  and  five  smaller  vessels 
entered  the  harbor,  mostly  unladen,  and  seeking  a  load  of 
lumber. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  inhabitants  had  been  accustomed 
to  the  confinement  and  inconvenience  of  garrison  life,  and  at 
the  first  indication  of  danger  would  hasten  to  thfe  protection  of 
a  neighboring  block-house.  Arms  were  kept  in  readiness  at  all 
times  for  instant  use,  and  were  generally  carried  on  all  occa- 
sions,—  in  the  field,  at  church,  at  town  meeting  and  at  all  social 
gatherings. 

The  commission  constituting  a  president  and  council  for  the 
Province  of  New  Hampshire  was  issued  by  Charles  II,  and 
passed  the  Great  Seal,  Sept.  18,  1679,  ^^^  went  into  effect 
Jan.  21,  1680.  The  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  was  declared 
illegal,  and  John  Cutt  of  Portsmouth  was  named  the  first  presi- 
dent.    With  him,  as  a  council,  were  associated  Richard  Martin, 


I 


94  HISTORY    OF    \E\V    HAMPSHIRE.  [1680 

William  Vaughan  and  Thomas  Daniel  of  Portsmouth,  John 
Gilman  of  Exeter,  Christopher  Hussey  of  Hampton  and  RicH- 
ard  Waldron  of  Dover.  In  accordance  with  the  commission 
from  the  King,  they  chose  to  join  them  in  the  council  Elias 
Stileman  of  Great  Island,  who  had  been  a  clerk  of  the  county 
court,  and  whom  they  appointed  secretary ;  Samuel  Dalton  of 
Hampton,  and  Job  Clements  of  Dover.  The  president  nomi- 
nated Waldron  as  deputy  or  vice-president,  Richard  Martin 
was  appointed  treasurer,  and  John  Roberts  marshal. 

The  administration  included  the  leading  men  in  the  four 
townships.  The  president  was  one  of  three  brothers,  John, 
Robert,  and  Richard  Cutt,  from  Wales,  who  settled  on  the 
Piscataqua  before  1646.  Richard  at  first  carried  on  the  fish- 
eries at  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  and  was  afterward  in  command  of 
the  fort  on  Great  Island.  He  died  in  Portsmouth  in  1670. 
Robert  Cutt  located  at  Great  Island,  and  afterwards  at  Kittery, 
where  he  carried  on  ship  building.  President  John  Cutt  settled 
at  Strawberry  Bank,  where  he  acquired  much  wealth  from  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  but  was  aged  and  infirm  when  appointed  to 
office.  He  was  of  acknowledged  probity,  and  held  in  high 
esteem  in  Portsmouth.  His  daughter,  Hannah,  married  Colonel 
Richard  Waldron,  son  of  Major  Richard  Waldron  of  Dover. 
His  widow,  Ursula  Cutt,  was  killed  by  the  Indians,  in  the 
summer  of  1694,  at  "The  Pulpit,"  a  few  miles  up  the  Piscata- 
qua. President  Cutt  died  in  March,  168 1.  The  Cutt  brothers 
were  the  largest  landowners  in  Portsmouth  in  their  generation. 

Of  the  council,  Richard  Martin  was  a  man  of  good  character 
and  great  influence,  and  had  been  very  active  in  procuring  the 
settlement  of  a  minister  in  the  town.  He  died  thirteen  years 
later. 

William  Vaughan  was  a  wealthy  merchant,  generous  and 
public  spirited,  and  of  undaunted  resolution.  He  was  of  Welsh 
extraction,  but  had  been  bred  in  London.     He  died  in  17 19. 

Thomas  Daniel  was  a  person  of  much  note  and  importance 
He  died  three  years  after  he  was  appointed  to  office. 

John  Gilman  was  a  leading  and  influential  man  in  Exeter, 
\  and  the  ancestor  of  many  men  of  note  in  Province  and  State. 
[  He  died  in  July,  1708,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 


l68o]  KOVAL    PKOVINCE.  95 

Christopher  Ilussey  was  a  principal  man  in  Hampton.  He 
died  four  years  later,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

Major  Richard  Waldron  of  Dover,  was  a  native  of  Somerset- 
shire, and  one  of  the  early  settlers  on  the  river.  He  had  been 
especially  prominent  in  military  affairs,  a  justice  in  the  Court  of 
Associates,  and  many  years  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
General  Court.  According  to  Brewster,  the  "Rambler"  of 
Portsmouth,  his  son  was  elected  to  the  council  the  following 
year,  and  succeeded  Cutt  as  president.  Belknap  and  Farmer 
state  that  it  was  the  father  who  succeeded  Cutt. 

The  commission  was  brought  to  Portsmouth  by  Edward  Ran- 
dolph, whose  caustic  report  of  the  causes  and  results  of  King 
Philip's  war  were  noted  in  the  preceding  chapter,  but  three 
weeks  elapsed  before  it  was  published.  Dr.  Belknap  is  of  the 
opinion  that  the  council  accepted  their  offices  with  reluctance, 
and  only  to  prevent  others  from  being  appointed  whose  aims 
might  not  be  to  the  best  interests  of  the  commonwealth. 
"This  change  of  government  gratified  the  discontented  few, 
but  was  greatly  disrelished  by  the  people  in  general,  as  they 
saw  themselves  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  choosing  their  own 
rulers,  which  was  still  enjoyed  by  the  other  colonies  of  New 
England,  and  as  they  expected  an  invasion  of  their  property 
soon  to  follow."  When  writs  were  issued  for  calling  a  General 
Assembly,  the  persons  in  each  town  who  were  judged  qualified  to 
vote  were  named  in  the  writs,  and  the  oath  of  allegiance  was 
administered  to  each  voter.  A  public  fast  was  observed,  to  ask 
divine  blessing  on  the  approaching  Assembly,  which  met  at 
Portsmouth  about  the  middle  of  Mar:h,  and  was  opened  with 
prayer  and  a  sermon  by  Rev.  Joshua  Moodey. 

Portsmouth,  with  seventy-one  qualined  voters,  sent  as  depu- 
ties Robert  Elliot,  Philip  Lewis  and  John  Pickering  ;  Dover, 
with  sixty-one  voters,  sent  Peter  Coffin,  Anthony  Nutter  and 
Richard  Waldron,  Jr.  ;  Hampton,  with  fifty-seven  voters,  sent 
Anthony  Stanyan,  Thomas  Marston  and  Edward  Gove  ;  and 
Exeter,  with  twenty  voters,  sent  Bartholomew  Tippen  and 
Ralph  Hall. 

Their  first  act  was   to   acknowledge   the  royal   favor  of    the 


96  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1680 

commission  creating'  a  distinct  government  ;  their  next,  to 
address  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts,  excusing  their  acts  of 
independence  ;  and  then  they  proceeded  to  frame  a  series  of 
laws  for  their  future  government.  They  discovered  sixteen 
crimes  worthy  of  capital  punishment,  and  twenty-one  penal 
offences.  Among  the  former  were  idolatry,  blasphemy,  treason, 
rebellion,  murder,  witchcraft,  perjury,  man-stealing,  cursing- 
parents,  and  rebellion  against  parents  ;  among  the  latter  were 
swearing,  profaning  the  Lord's  day,  contempt  of  God's  Word  or 
ministers,  forgery,  bribery,  defacing  records  or  landmarks,  lying, 
burning  or  breaking  down  fences,  gaming,  lottery,  drunkenness, 
and  firing  woods. 

The  first  act  in  the  new  code  provided  "that  no  Act,  Imposi- 
tion, Law  or  Ordinance  be  made  or  imposed "  without  the 
approval  of  the  Assembly,  council  and  president. 

All  charters  and  grants  of  land  were  confirmed  ;  the  General 
Court  were  a  supreme  court  of  judicature;  law  cases  were  to 
be  tried  by  juries,  and  inferior  courts  were  constituted  at  Dover, 
Hampton  and  Portsmoutl;. 

The  military  establishment  of  the  Province  consisted  of  one 
company  of  foot  soldiers  in  each  town,  one  company  of  artillery 
at  the  fort,  and  one  troop  of  horse,  all  under  the  command  of 
Major  Waldron. 

The  authorities  were  especially  jealous  of  their  rights  and 
resolutely  withstood  any  encroachment  of  their  privileges  by 
Randolph,  who  had  been  commissioned  collector,  surveyor  and 
searcher  of  the  customs  for  all  New  England.  Captain  Walter 
Barefoote  was  the  deputy  collector  at  Portsmouth.  In  the  exe- 
cution of  his  commission,  Randolph  seized  a  vessel  belonging  to 
Mark  Hunking  of  Portsmouth,  bound  from  Maryland  to  Ireland, 
which  put  into  the  harbor  for  a  few  days.  For  this  he  was  sued 
at  a  special  court  and  had  to  pay  damages  and  costs.  The  dep- 
uty collector  was  also  indicted  and  fined  "for  disturbing  and 
obstructing  his  Majesty's  subjects  in  passing  from  harbor  to 
harbor"  in  requiring  that  all  vessels  should  be  entered  and 
cleared  with  him. 

In  December,  Mason,  the  claimant,  came  from   England  with 


i68o] 


KOVAI.    PKOVINCK 


97 


a  royal  command  requiring  the  council  to  admit  him  to  a  seat  on 
the  board.  Having  become  a  member  he  commenced  to  make 
demands,  persuading  some  of  the  people  to  take  leases  of  him, 
threatening  others,  forbidding  them  to  cut  firewood  and  timber, 
asserting  his  right  to  the  Province,  and  assuming  the  title  of 
lord-protector.  The  people  became  very  uneasy,  and  petitions 
came  into  the  Assembly  from  every  town.  At  length  Mason 
was  indicted  for  an  offence  which  was  deemed  "an  usurpation 
over  his  Majesty's  authority"  as  established  in  the  Province,  but 
escaped  arrest  by  flight  to  England,  in  March,  1681,  about  the 
time  of  President  Cutt's  death.  Another  vacancy  was  caused 
in  the  council  by  the  death  of  Samuel  Dalton  of  Hampton,  and 
Richard  Waldron,  Jr.,  of  Portsmouth  and  Anthony  Nutter  of 
Dover  were  elected  to  the  office.  Richard  Waldron  was  presi- 
dent of  the  council  from  the  death  of  Cutt  to  the  arrival  of 
Lieut. -Governor  Edward  Cranfield  early  in  October,  1682.  Wal- 
dron died  in  June,  1689,  aged  eighty. 

Tax  Payers  ix  Hampton,  in  M.w,   1680. 


Nathaniel  Bachildcr. 
Jacob,    Tho.,    Ben.,  Jon., 

Browne. 
Xath'l  Boulter,  Sen.  &  Jr. 
John  Blake. 
Mark  Baker. 

*  Moses  Cocks  (Cox). 
Edw.  and  Sam'I  Colcord. 
Joseph  and  Sam'I  Cass. 
Abraham  Drake,  Sen.  and 

J'- 
Alexander  Denham. 
Gershom  Elkins. 

*  Will,  and  John  Fuller. 
Sam'I  Fogg. 

Ben.    and    Will.*    Fifield, 

Sen. 
Henry  and  Abra.  Greene. 
Jon.  and  Isaac  Godfree. 
Edw.  Gove. 
Jon.  and  Jacob  Garland. 


James  Samuel,  Philbrick.* 

Godfre,  Thomas, 

Caleb  and  Jacob  Perkins. 

Hen.  and  John  Dear- 

Joseph Palmer. 

born. 

*  Henry  Roby. 

John  Hussy. 

*Jon.  Redman.   Sen.    and 

Jon.,    Nehemiah    and 

Jr- 

Morris  *   Hobs,     Sen. 

Tho.  Row. 

and  Jr. 

Jon.  and  Will.    Sanborne, 

Tim.  Hilyard. 

Sen. 

James  Johnson. 

Richard    and     Jon.     San- 

Francis Jennis. 

born,  Jr. 

John  Knowles. 

*  Ant.  and  Jon.  Taylor. 

Aretus,     *  Tho.     and 

Samuel  and  Daniel  Tilton. 

Hizrom  Lovitt. 

Phillips  Towle. 

Daniel  Lamprey. 

John  Tuck. 

Samuel  Sherborn. 

Tho.  Thurtten. 

Benj.  and  Jos.  Swett. 

Mr.  Andrew  Wiggin. 

*  Anthony    and  Jno. 

Mr.  Tho.  Wiggin. 

Stanyen. 

Nath'l  Weare. 

*  Robard  Smith. 

Tho.  Warde. 

Jon.  Smith,  tayler. 

Tho.  Webster. 

Jon.  Smith,  cooper. 

•  Between  70  and  90  years. 


98 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1680 


Isaac,     Jon.     and     Eph. 

*  Thomas,    Will,    and 

James  Marston. 
Henry,  Jon.,  Joseph  and 

Benj.  Moulton. 
*Jon.  Marion. 
Jon.  Masson. 
Joseph  Mead. 
The.  Nud. 

^*Abra.  and  Isaac  Perkins. 
Francis  and  Tho.  Page. 
■"Tho.  Philbrook,  Jonathan 
Christopher   Palmer    and 

sons. 


Jonathan      and      David 

Wedgwood. 
Ralph  Welch. 
Nath'l  Wright. 
Tho.    Rachel    and  James 

Chase. 
Abra'm  Isaac,  Cole. 
Benj.  and  Tho.  Cram. 
Israel,      *John    Clifford, 

Sen.  and  Jr. 
Elias  Crichitt. 
Henrj,  Jos.     and    Daniel 

Dow. 


^^  Tho.   Sleeper. 
■Jos.  and  Ben.  Shaw. 
-  Will  Swaine. 
Joseph  Smith. 
Will  Sanborne,  Jr. 

Jon.  Sleeper. 
George  Swete. 
Samuel  Dalton, 
John  Sanborne, 
Henry  Moulten, 
Nathaniel  Weare, 
John  Smith, 

Selectmen. 


Tax  Payers  at  Exeter,  in  April,   1680. 


Imp.  Gov.  Robt.  Wadlee. 

Mr.  Moses  Gillman. 

Mr.  John  Thomas. 

Mr.  Barthol'w  Pipping. 

Mr.  Edward  Hilton. 

Mr.  Sam'l  Hilton. 

Mr.  Richard  Scamon. 

Mr.  Wiggin's  mill. 
'Major  Sharpleigh,  for  Hil- 
ton's mill. 

Major  Clark,  for  his  mill. 

Nic.  Norris. 

Peter  Follsham. 

Christian  Dolhoff. 

Sam'l  Leavitt. 

Moses  Leavitt. 

David  Lawrence. 

John  Follsham,  Jun. 

Sam.  Follsham. 

Ephraim  Follsham. 

Nat.  Follsham. 

Edward  Gillman. 
"John  Gilman,  Jun. 

Cornelius  Larey. 


George  Jones. 
Jona'n  Robinson. 
Jeremy  Canaugh. 
Eleazer  Elkins. 
Alexander  Gorden. 
Robt.  Smart,  Sen. 
John  Young. 
David  Robinson. 
Will'm  Hilton. 
Sam'l  Hall. 
Ralph  Hall. 
Kinsley  Hall. 
John  Sinckler. 
William  Moore. 
Phillip  Cartey. 
John  Wedgewood. 
Henry  Magoon. 
Jonathan  Thing. 
Joseph  Taylor. 
Anthony  Goff. 
Charles  Gledon. 
Edw'd  Sowell. 
Jonathan  Sinith. 
Samuel  Dudley,  Jr. 


Robert  Stewart. 

Humphrey  Wilson. 

Robert  Powell. 

Andrew  Constable. 

Nic.  Listen. 

John  Bean. 

Tege  Drisco. 

Joell  Judkins. 

Ephraim  Marston. 

Theop.  Dudley. 

Thos.  Mekins. 

Biley  Dudley. 

Robt.  Smart,  Jun'r. 

Rich'd  Morgan. 

Thos.  Tidman. 

John  Clark. 

James  Kid. 

Nad.  Lad. 

James  Perkins. 
y'  f  John  Gillman,  Sen. 

\   Ralph  Hall, 
•      [  Edw'd  Smith, 

Trustees  of  Exeter. 


CocHECo  Tax  Payers. 


Major  Richard  Waldron. 
Lefl.  Peter  Coffin, 


Isaac  Hanson 
Widow  Hanson. 


Rich.  Nasson. 
Jno.  Ellis. 


*  Between  70  and  90  years. 


i68i] 


ROYAL    PROVINCE. 


99 


Jno.  Ham. 

Will  Horn. 

Zacherie  Field. 

Jinkin  Jones. 

Tho.  Dow  lies,  Jr. 

Benjamin  Herd. 

Ezekill  Winford. 

Sam'l  Wentworth. 
-Elder  Wentworth, 

George  Ricker. 

Tho.  Paine. 
,  Gorshem  Wentworth. 

Jno.  Heard,  Sen. 

John  Heard,  Jr. 

Will  Harford. 

Stephen  Ottis. 

Tho.  Hanson. 

Peter  Masson. 

Robert  Evens. 

Tobias  Hanson. 


Jno.  Dam,  Sen. 
Jno.  Cox. 

Jno.  Roberts,  Sen. 
Tho.  Roberts,  Jr. 
Widow  Tibets. 
Jeremy  Tibets. 
Wildrum  Dam. 
Abraham  Nutt. 
Phillips  Cromwell. 
Tho.  Whitehouse. 


William  Furber,  Sen, 
William  Furber,  Jr. 
Richard  Roe, 
Left.  Nutter. 
John  Dam,  Jr. 
John  Bickford,  Jr. 
Samuel  Rawlens. 
James  Rawlens. 


Capt.  Jno.  Gerrish. 
Jonathan  Watson. 
Ralph  Twomley. 
Tho.  Austjn. 
Humphrey  Barney. 
Mr.  Will.  Partridge. 
Tho.  Douns,  Sen. 
Nathan'l  Stephens. 
Jno.  Church. 
Mark  Goyles. 
Tho.   North. 
Mr.  John  Evens. 
Timothy  Hanson. 
Mr.  Goff. 
Jno.  Frost.     • 
William  Kim. 
James  Stagpoll. 
Harvey  Ilobbs. 
Rich.  Ottis,  Sen. 
Rich.  Ottis,  Jun. 

Dover  Neck  Tax  Payers. 
John  Pinkham. 
Will.  Willey. 
John  Hall,  Jr. 
John  Hall,  Sen. 
John  Tuttle. 
Rich.  Rich. 
Job.  Clements,  Esq. 
Josepli  Beard. 
Joseph   Canie. 
Nathan  Hall. 

Bloody  Point  Tax  Payers. 
Iccobad  Rawlins. 
Jno.  Hudson. 
Widd.  Cattor. 
Jno.  Bickford,  Sen. 
Michael  Brown. 
Henry  Longstof. 
Widd"  Trickie. 
Joseph  Trickie. 


Rich  Seamon. 
Wm.  Yerington. 
Jno.   Knight. 
Joseph  Sanders. 
Maturin  Ricker. 
Jno.  Windicot. 
Will.   Giflord. 
Will.  Tasket. 
Jno.  Derry. 
James  Derry. 
Phillips  Chesley. 
Tho.  Chesley. 
Jno.  Roberts,  Jr. 
Nath'l  Kene. 
Abraham  Clarke. 
Edward  Tayler. 
Jno.  Michill. 
Edward  Eayers. 
Will.  Tomson. 
James  Hawkins. 

James  Nutt,  Sen. 
James  Nutt,  Jr. 
Edward  Allin. 
Tho.   Perkins. 
Isaac  Stokes. 
Tho.  Young. 
Thos.  Roberts,  Sen. 
Mr.  Will.  Henderson. 
Jno.  Cooke. 
John  Meader,  Jr. 


Isaac  Trickie. 
William  Shackford. 
Nicholas  Harris. 
Joseph  Hall. 
Luke  Mallime. 
William  CJray. 
Benjamin  Rawlins. 
Eframe  Trickie. 


Portsmouth  Tax  List,  Sept.,  i68r. 


Jno.  Cutt. 
Jno.  Dennet. 
Geo.  Hunt. 


Jno.  Partridge. 
Jno.  Fabins. 
George  Fabins. 


Robt.  Rousley. 
Antho'  Elms'  Estate. 
Edward  Cate. 


lOO 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1682 


Mr.  Rich.  Walden. 

Mr.  Otsella  Cutt. 

Rich.  Watts,  and  negro. 

Mr.  Jno.  Huckins. 

Mrs.  Elenor  Cutts. 

Wm.  Ham. 

Rich.  Jackson  and  sons. 

Wm.  Earle. 

Jno.  Cotton. 

Ruben  Hull. 

Rich.  Martjn,  Esq. 

Jno.  Seward  and  man. 

Francis  Mercer. 

Jno.  Hardj. 

Sam'l  Case. 

Jno.  Frenchman,  smith. 

Phil.  Severet. 

Obad  Moss. 

Edward  Melcher. 

George  Loveis  &  Son. 

Jno.  Fletcher. 

Jno.     Cutt,    mariner   and 

man. 
]no.    Tucker    and    three 

heads. 
Tho.  Harvey  and  man. 
George  Snell. 
Sam.  Clark. 
Mat.  Nelson.  /- 

Tim.  Davis. 
Jean  Jose  and  Richard. 
Rich.  Door. 
Peter  Ball. 
"Mark  Hunckins. 
Rich.  Shortridge, 
Lewis  Williams. 
Jno.  Brown. 
Rob't  Pudington. 
Rob't  Lang. 
Rich.  Waterhouse. 


Jno.  Pickering. 

Wm.  Sheller. 

Jno.  Jackson,  seaman. 

Jno.  Bartlet. 

Walter  Ell. 

Wm. Pitman. 

Alexander  Denet,  Jr. 

Wm.  Brookin. 

Nat.  White. 

Tho.  Stevens. 

Rich.  Monson. 

Francis  Jones. 

Jno.  Bandfield 

Phil  Tucker. 

Dan.  Duggin. 

Ja.  Jones. 

Wm.  Cotton. 

Neh.  Partridge  and  2. 

Rich.  Webber. 

Tho.   Ladbrooke. 

Tho.  Jackson. 

Geo.  Bramhall. 

Jno.  Light. 

Hen.  Kerch. 

Sam'l  Whidden. 

Jno.  Whidden. 

Tho.  Gubbtail. 

Jno.  Presson. 

Leo.  Drown. 

Wm.  Richards. 

Hugh  Leer. 

Hen.  Savage. 

Wm.  Walker. 

Wm.  Cate. 
David  Griffith. 

Francis  Huckins. 
Jno.  Jones. 
Joseph  Jewell. 
Roland,  at  Hunt's. 
Anthony  Furbur. 


Jno.  Shipway. 

Wm.  Vaughan,  Esq. 
.  Ja.  Treworgie. 

Wm.   Williams. 
"     Crafts. 
.^Tho.  Gill. 

Tho.  Wakan. 

Lodwick  Fouler. 

Edward  Holland. 

Jno.  Seavie. 

Robt.  Williams. 

Wm.  Mason. 

Mr.  Moody,  for  Mary 
Cutts'  land. 

Dan'lWestcot. 

Ephriam  Linn. 
Jno. Wakan. 

Jno  Baker. 

Jno.  Chevalier  &  man. 

Wm.  Rocklief. 

Nico.  Walden. 

Rich,  at  Jno.  Tucker's. 

Hubertus  Matton. 

Ditto  Journaman. 

Phil  Founds. 

Ja.  Levet. 

Wm.  Roberts. 

Jno.  Muchmore. 

Robt.  Almonie. 

Tho.  Daniel. 

Jno. Jackson,  Sen. 
Jno.  Jackson,  Jr. 
Tho.  Pickering. 

Peter  Harvey. 

[Signed  by  ] 
Elias  Stileman 
William  Vaughan. 
Thom.  Daniel. 
Robert  Elliot.  • 


Cranfield  had  been  commissioned  by  the  King,  and  instructed 
by  the  English  authorities  to  sustain  the  claims  of  Mason.  He 
arrived  in  New  Hampshire  in  October,  1682,  and  published  his 


'  p.  p.,  vol.  i,  424-28. 


l682]  KOVAL  PROVINCE.  lOI 

commission.  Mis  council  consisted  of  Mason,  styled  proprietor, 
Waldron,  Daniel,  Vaughan,  Martin,  Oilman,  Stileman  and  Clem- 
ents, of  the  old  board,  and  Walter  Barefoote  and  Richard 
Chamberlain.  Mason  had  mortgaged  his  whole  interest  in  the 
Province  to  Cranfield,  who  made  no  secret  of  his  intention  to 
reap  a  rich  harvest.  Within  a  week  after  his  arrival,  Waldron 
and  Martin  were  suspended  from  the  council,  Cranfield  having 
the  supreme  authority.  When  the  Assembly,  which  had  been 
summoned,  met  about  the  middle  of  November,  W'aldron  and 
Martin  were  restored  to  their  seats  in  the  council,  and  conciliation 
was  attempted  by  both  parties.  The  Assembly  voted  the  governor 
jC-S^  '^"<^1  adjourned.  At  the  next  session,  in  January,  1683, 
there  was  an  open  rupture.  He  vetoed  the  bills  of  the  Assembly 
and  they  would  not  accede  to  his  wishes,  so  he  dissolved  them, 
after  he  had  suspended  Stileman  from  the  council  and  from  the 
command  of  the  fort.  Stileman's  offence  was  in  allowing  a  vessel 
under  seizure  to  go  out  of  the  harbor.  Barefoote  was  made  cap- 
tain of  the  fort  in  his  place.  The  dissolution  by  the  governor  of 
the  Assembly,  a  thing  before  unknown,  aggravated  the  popular 
discontent  and  secured  him  the  ill-will  of  the  men  of  New 
Hampshire;  and  soon  the  feeling  of  resentment  rose  so  high  as 
to  result  in  a  rebellion.  In  a  report  made  to  the  Board  of  Trade 
by  Randolph,  there  is  an  account  of  this  rebellion  : 

A  short  time  after  [the  dissolution],  one  Edward  Gove,  who  served  [in  the 
Assembly]  for  the  town  of  Hampton,  a  leading  man  and  a  great  stickler  for 
the  late  proceedings  of  the  Assembly,  made  it  his  business  to  stir  the  people 
upTb  rebellion  by  giving  out  that  the  governor,  as  vice-admiral,  acted  by  the 
commission  of  his  royal  highness,  who  was  a  Papist,  and  would  bring  Popery 
in  amongst  them;  that  the  governor  was  a  pretended  governor,  and  his 
commission  was  signed  in  Scotland.  He  endeavored,  with  a  great  deal  of 
pains,  to  make  a  party,  and  solicited  many  of  the  considerable  persons  in 
each  town  to  join  with  him  to  recover  their  liberties  infringed  by  his 
Majesty's  placing  a  governor  over  them;  further  adding  that  his  sword  was 
drawn,  and  he  would  not  lay  it  down  till  he  knew  who  should  hold  the  gov- 
ernment. He  discoursed  at  Portsmouth  to  Mr.  Martyn,  treasurer^  and  soon 
after  to  Captain  Hall  of  Dover,  which  they  discovered  to  the  governor,  who 
immediately  dispatched  messengers  with  warrants  to  the  constable  of  Exeter 
and  Hampton  to  arrest  Gove;  and  fearing  he  might  get  a  party  too  strong 
for  the  civil  power  (as  indeed  it  proved,  for  Justice  Weare  and  a  marshal 
were  repulsed),  the  governor  forthwith  ordered    the    militia    of  the  whole 


I02  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1683 

Province  to  be  in  arms:  and  understanding  by  the  marshal  that  Gove  could 
not  be  apprehended  at  Hampton  by  himself  and  a  constable,  but  had  gone  to 
his  party  at  Exeter  (from  whence  he  suddenly  returned  with  twel-ye  men 
mounted  and  armed  with  swords,  pistols,  and  guns,  a  trumpet  sounding,  and 
Gove  with  his  sword  drawn  riding  at  the  head  of  them),  was  taking  horse, 
and  with  a  part  of  the  troop  intended  to  take  Gove  and  his  company;  but  the 
Governor  was  prevented  by  a  messenger  from  Hampton,  who  brought  word 
that  they  w-ere  met  withal,  and  taken  by  the  militia  of  the  town,  and  were 
secured  with  a  guard;  the  trumpeter  forcing  his  way  escaped,  after  whom 
a  hue  and  cry  was  sent  to  all  parts,  but  as  yet  he  is  not  taken.  This  rising 
was,  unexpectedly  to  the  party,  made  on  the  21st  day  of  January,  16S3. 
It  is  generally  believed  that  many  considerable  persons,  at  whose  houses 
Gove  either  sent  or  called  to  come  out  and  stand  for  their  liberties,  would  have 
joined  with  him  had  he  not  discovered  his  designs,  or  appeared  in  arms  at 
that  day.  For  upon  the  30th  of  January  being  appointed  by  the  governor  a 
day  of  public  humiliation,  they  designed  to  cut  off  the  governor,  Mr.  Mason, 
and  some  others  whom  they  affected  not.  The  governor  sent  a  strong  party 
of  horse  to  guard  the  prisoners,  then  in  irons,  from  Hampton  to  Portsmouth. 
They  were  brought  before  the  governor  and  council  and  examined,  when 
Gove  behaved  very  insolently. 

When  arrested,  Gove  and  his  companions  were  put  under  the 
charge  of  Captain  Walter  Barefoote  at  New  Castle,  so  the  record 
quaintly  says,  "In  regarde  that  ye  prison  was  out  of  repaire." 
While  in  custody  there,  Gove  wrote  a  letter  to  the  justices  who 
were  about  to  try  him,  and  in.  it  he  describes  his  condition.  He 
says  :  "  My  tears  are  in  my  eyes,  I  can  hardly  see.  *  *  If 
ever  New  England  had  need  of  a  Solomon  or  David  it  is  now.  *  * 
We  have  a  hard  prison,  a  good  keeper,  a  hard  Captain,  irons  an 
inch  over,  five  foot  seven  inches  long,  two  men  locked  together, 
yet  I  had,  I  thank  God  for  it,  a  very  good  night's  rest."  On  the 
1 5th  of  February,  1683,  a  special  court  was  called  to  try  Gove  and 
his  comrades,  and  "  after  long  consideration  the  jury  found  Gove 
guilty  of  high  treason,  *  *  and  all  the  rest  in  arms.  *  *  The 
governor  ordered  the  court  to  suspend  its  judgement  (on  the 
latter)  till  His  Majesty's  pleasure  should  be  known  therein; 
most  of  them  being  young  men  and  unacquainted  with  the  law." 
The  judge,  Richard  Waldron,  who,  it  is  said,  shed  tears  while 
sentencing  Gove,  pronounced  the  dreadful  sentence  that  he 
should  be  hung,  drawn  and  quartered,  —  that  being  the  punish- 
ment for  the  offence. 


1683]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  IO3 

Most  of  Gove's  companions  were  pardoned  ;  and  Gove  himself, 
after  being  sent  over  to  England  and  confined  in  the  Tower  for 
some  years,  was  pardoned  and  sent  back  to  Hampton.  There 
is  on  file  in  the  State  Paper  Office  in  England  a  petition  of  his 
wife  to  pardon  her  husband.  She  gives  as  his  excuse  that  he 
was  intoxicated  at  the  time,  and  hints  at  a  streak  of  insanity 
which  ran  in  his  family.  After  his  return  to  America  he  lived 
but  a  short  time,  and  always  contended  that  a  slow  poison  had 
been  administered  to  him  in  prison.  His  house,  a  part  of  it, 
still  stands  in  Seabrook,  and  there  is  growing  on  the  premises  a 
pear-tree  which  it  is  said  he  brought  from  England  with  him. 
His  descendants  became  Quakers,  and  some  of  them  still  wor- 
ship in  the  old  Quaker  meeting-house  in  Seabrook,  which  was 
formerly  a  part  of  Hampton  ;  and  it  is  near  this  old  church  that 
Gove's  remains  lie  buried. 

Thus  ended  the  first  rebellion  in  New  England.  It  hastened 
Cranfield's  removal,  but  was  of  little  permanent  consequence 
compared  with  that  which  occasioned  the  downfall  of  Sir  Edmund 
Andros  six  years  afterward,  when  Cranfield,  Randolph  and  many 
other  supporters  of  tyranny  went  down  with  Sir  Edmund.  Ran- 
dolph, who  had  been  active  in  punishing  Gove,  was  himself 
imprisoned  in  Boston,  and  wrote  many  piteous  letters  to  King 
William,  asking  to  be  set  free.^ 

The  governor  and  the  people  of  the  Province  could  not  arrive 
at  an  amicable  adjustment  of  their  conflicting  interests.  The 
former,  as  well  as  Mason,  was  rash  and  impetuous,  and  in  deal- 
ing with  such  sagacious  men  as  Major  Waldron,  John  Wingate 
and  Thomas  Roberts,  three  of  the  principal  landowners  in 
Dover,  tKey~were~  easily  led  into  the  wrong.  The  governor 
made  extravagant  threats,  but  the  people  were  not  intimidated. 
They  had  offered  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  King,  and  their  offer 
being  refused,  they  felt  that  they  had  justice  on  their  side.  On 
some  fresh  pretence,  Waldron,  Martin  and  Gilman  were  sus- 
pended from  the  council,  and  the  deaths  of  Daniel  and  Clem- 
ents left  two  other  vacancies.  Vaughan  held  his  seat  the 
longest,  but  was  at  last  thrust  out.     Their  places  were  filled  by 

^    J.  C  Sanboni. 


I04  HISTORA    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1683 

Nathaniel  Frye,  Robert  Elliot,  John  Hinckes,  James  Sherlock, 
Francis  Champernoon  and  Edward  Randolph,  a  council  made  up 
to  the  governor's  satisfaction.  The  courts  were  overturned. 
Walter  Barefoote,  the  deputy  governor,  was  judge.  Mason  was 
chancellor.  Chamberlain  was  clerk,  Randolph  was  attorney- 
general,  and  Sherlock  was  provost-marshal  and  sheriff.  Some, 
"awed  by  threats  or  flattered  by  promises,"  took  leases  from 
Mason,  and  served  for  deputy  sheriffs,  jurors  and  witnesses. 
Then  followed  a  multitude  of  lawsuits,  which  were  not  contested 
by  the  landowners ;  and  Mason  came  into  possession  of  most 
of  the  cultivated  land  of  the  Province.  No  attention  was  paid 
to  legal  forms ;  and  as  the  only  redress  laid  in  a  direct  appeal  to 
the  King,  Nathaniel  Weare  of  Hampton  was  privately  fur- 
nished with  petitions  and  statements,  and  sailed  from  Boston 
for  England,  as  the  agent  for  the  towns.  William  Vaughan 
accompanied  Weare  as  far  as  Boston,  and  on  his  return  was 
thrown  into  prison  and  confined  for  nine  months.  In  the  mean- 
while Cranfield  had  assumed  the  whole  legislative  power,  pro- 
hibited vessels  from  Massachusetts  to  enter  the  port,  altered 
the  value  of  silver  money,  changed  the  bounds  of  townships, 
sued  the  former  treasurer  of  the  province,  and  was  altogether 
arbitrary  and  tyrannical.  Finding  that  he  could  not  raise 
money  for  his  wants,  he  summoned  the  Assembly  in  January, 
1684,  and  demanded  that  they  should  pass  an  act  which  had 
been  approved  by  the  council.  They  took  time  to  deliberate, 
going  from  Great  Island  during  the  night  to  Portsmouth 
to  consult  with  Mr.  Moodey,  and  on  their  return  refused  to  do 
as  the  governor  desired.  They  were  dissolved,  and  many  of 
them  were  immediately  appointed  constables,  liable  to  fines  for 
not  collecting  the  rates.  Moodey  became  an  object  of  hatred; 
and  an  early  opportunity  was  taken  to  visit  the  governor's  dis- 
pleasure upon  him.  He  was  prosecuted  as  a  Non-conformist, 
according  to  a  law  in  force  in  England,  sentenced  to  imprison- 
ment, and  confined  with  Major  Vaughan  at  the  house  of  Captain 
Stileman  on  Great  Island  for  thirteen  weeks.  Rev.  Seaborn 
Cotton  of  Hampton  fled  to  Boston  to  escape  persecution.  Mr. 
Moodey  was  released  from  confinement  on  his  promising  to 
leave  the  Province. 


1685]  ROYAL    I'KOVINCE.  IO5 

All  through  the  year  16S4,  disorder  ruled  in  New  Hampshire. 
The  people  united  to  resist  the  oppression  of  Cranfield.  His 
marshals  and  sheriffs  were  treated  to  a  great  variety  of  abuse. 
They  were  welcomed  with  hot  water  and  clubs.  One  was  tied 
to  his  horse  and  carried  to  Salisbury.  The  militia  was  called 
out  to  suppress  the  riot,  but  nut  a  trooper  appeared.  At  length 
Cranfield,  finding  his  authority  all  gone,  was  forced  to  desist. 
In  the  meanwhile  Weare  had  received  a  hearing  in  England, 
and  the  governor  was  called  upon  to  defend  his  course.  Upon 
receiving  the  letter  from  the  Board  of  Trade,  he  suspended 
Mason's  suits  till  the  question  concerning  the  legality  of  the 
courts  should  be  decided. 

At  a  hearing  in  March,  1685,  it  was  decided  by  the  English 
court  that  Cranfield  had  exceeded  his  authority  and  had  not 
pursued  his  instructions.  Having  received  a  leave  of  absence 
with  the  report,  he  gave  over  the  contest,  and  quietly  embarked 
for  Jamaica.  He  was  afterwards  collector  at  Barbadoes,  and 
died  about  the  year  1700. 

After  Cranfield's  departure  in  May,  1685,  his  authority  de- 
volved on  Walter  Barefoote,  deputy  governor  ;  and  he  and  his 
friend  Mason,  the  claimant,  had  a  very  uneasy  time  of  it.  One 
Thomas  Wiggin,  in  company  with  Anthony  Nutter,  a  large  and 
powerful  man,  called  at  Barefoote's  house  on  Great  Island, 
where  Mason  was  sojourning.  Wiggin  took  the  law  into  his 
own  hands  and  gave  Mason  a  thrashing.  Barefoote  interfering, 
received  his  share  of  the  assault,  in  which  he  lost  a  tooth  and 
had  two  ribs  broken.  Nutter  left  his  friend  to  do  the  whipping, 
while  he  stood  by  laughing,  and  prevented  outside  interference. 
The  authority  of  the  deputy  governor  was  held  in  as  much  con- 
tempt as  had  been  that  of  the  governor. 

Charles  II  died  in  February,  1685,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
even  more  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  brother,  James  II,  who 
immediately  put  in  force  a  new  scheme  for  the  government  of 
New  England.  A  commission  was  issued  to  a  president,  Joseph 
Dudley,  a  son  of  the  former  governor,  Thomas  Dudley  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  to  a  council,  only  one  member  of  which,  John 
Hinckes,  was  a  resident  of   New  Hampshire,  for  the  governing 


I06  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1688 

of  all  New  England.  The  territory  was  divided  into  the  four 
counties  of  Suffolk,  Middlesex,  Essex  and  Hampshire,  and  the 
three  provinces  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Narragansett. 
New  courts  were  established.  The  new  form  of  government 
went  into  effect  in  May,  1686  ;  and  from  the  tolerable  decency 
with  which  it  commenced  operations,  the  way  was  paved  for  the 
appointment  of  a  governor  general.  At  the  end  of  the  year  Sir 
Edmund  Andros,  who  had  been  governor  of  New  York,  arrived 
at  Boston,  with  a  commission  appointing  him  captain-general 
and  governor-in-chief  of  the  territory  and  dominion  of  New- 
England,  which  was  made  to  include  Plymouth  colony,  with  the 
counties  and  provinces  before  mentioned.  In  the  council  of 
fifteen,  besides  Hinckes,  were  Robert  Mason  and  Edward  Ran- 
dolph. No  Assembly  was  provided  for.  Members  of  the  council 
were  judges.  The  governor  and  any  five  of  the  council  consti- 
tuted a  quorum  ;  seven  were  a  full  board,  and  were  authorized 
to  make  laws,  execute  them,  and  preside  as  justices.  Andros 
commenced  his  administration  with  the  fairest  professions,  but 
soon  became  a  tyrant.  Those  of  his  council  who  did  not  sustain 
him  in  all  his  designs  were  not  summoned.  Randolph  and 
Mason  were  his  confidants.  The  press  was  restrained,  liberty 
of  conscience  infringed,  and  exorbitant  fees  and  taxes  de- 
manded. The  people  had  no  privilege  of  representation.  Titles 
to  land  were  annulled.  Indian  deeds  were  declared  "  no  better 
than  the  scratch  of  a  bear's  paw."  New  patents  were  issued, 
covering  old  grants,  as  the  charter  was  vacated.  The  only  town 
meeting  allowed  was  for  the  election  of  town  officers.  No  per- 
son was  permitted  to  go  out  of  the  country  without  express 
leave  from  the  governor.  An  appeal  to  the  King  was  of  no 
effect. 

All  through  the  year  1687  and  1688  the  people  submitted  to 
the  encroachments  of  the  government.  In  England,  at  the 
same  time,  the  people  were  subjected  to  like  obnoxious  laws, 
and  were  preparing  for  a  change.  On  the  annexation  of  New 
York  to  New  England,  Andros  found  ready  tools  for  his  service, 
and  neglected  Mason  and  his  claims.  Having  received  a  favor- 
able verdict  before  the  English  court  of  appeal,  Mason  returned 


1690]  KOVAI.    I'KOVINCK.  lO/ 

to  New  England  to  take  possession  of  his  province,  vvlicn  he 
was  met  by  a  new  difficulty.  The  new  authorities  seemed 
jealous  of  liis  increased  importance,  and  would  not  grant  execu- 
tion, or  allow  that  he  had  the  power  to  grant  land  by  leases. 
In  the  midst  of  his  troubles  he  died,  in  Jul\-.  1688,  leaving  his 
claims  and  lawsuits  to  his  two  sons,  John  and  Robert  Mason. 

On  the  news  of  the  landing  in  England  of  William  Prince  of 
Orange  reaching  Boston,  Andros  imprisoned  the  messenger; 
but  the  people  of  Massachusetts  rose  in  April,  1689,  and  seized 
the  governor  and  his  accomplices,  whom  they  imprisoned,  and 
afterward  sent  as  prisoners  of  State  to  the  old  country.  The 
magistrates  under  the  old  charter,  with  Bradstreet,  the  late 
governor,  at  their  head,  assumed  the  name  of  a  Council  of 
Safety,  and  maintq^^ed  a  form  of  government  until  orders  were 
received  from  England. 

New  Hampshire  was  left  without  a  government. 

The  people  of  the  Province  were  persuaded  by  some  of  the 
leading  men  to  meet  in  convention  and  take  measures  for 
their  future  government.  The  following  deputies  were  chosen  : 
From  Portsmouth,  Major  William  Vaughan,  Richard  Waldron, 
Nathaniel  Fryer,  Robert  Elliot,  Thomas  Cobbet  and  Capt.  John 
Pickering ;  from  Dover,  Capt.  John  Woodman,  Capt.  John 
Gerrish,  John  Tuttle,  John^^^^oberts,  Thomas  Edgerly  and 
Nicholas  P'ollet  ;  from  Exeter,  Robert  Wadley,  William  Moore 
and  Samuel  Leavitt.  Hampton  was  in  sympathy  with  the  move- 
ment, but  dissensions  arising  in  town  meeting  no  deputies  were 
sent.  At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  convention  in  January, 
1690,  it  was  decided  to  renew  their  union  with  Massachusetts 
until  the  King's  pleasure  should  be  known.  A  petition  signed 
by  372  "  inhabitants  and  trained  soldiers  of  the  Province  of 
New  Hampshire"  was  presented  to  the  Massachusetts  authori- 
ties, and  favorably  received. 

This  union  was  the  more  desired  on  account  of  the  breaking 
out  of  what  was  known  as  King  William's  War,  and  lasted  until 
the  appointment,  in  1692,  of  Governor  Samuel  Allen  and  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor John  Usher. 


I08  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1692 

During  the  union,  Portsmouth  was  represented  at  the  Massachusetts  Gen- 
eral Court  in  1690,  1691  and  1692,  by  one  or  two  of  their  delegates,  Elias 
Stileman,  John  Foster,  Richard  Waldron  and  John  Pickering.  The  military 
and  civil  officers  of  the  Province  during  the  union  approved  by  the  governor 
and  council  were:  Samuel  Penhallow,  treasurer;  John  Pickering,  recorder; 
"William  Vaughan,  Richard  Martin  and  Nathaniel  Fryer,  justices  of  the  peace, 
at  Portsmouth  :  John  Gerrish,  at  Dover:  Robert  Wadleigh,  at  Exeter;  Major 
William  Vaughan,  commanderof  the  military  forces.  Of  the  military  companj^ 
at  Dover,  John  Gerrish  was  commissioned  captain;  John  Tuttle,  lieutenant; 
William  Furber,  ensign  :  at  Oyster  River  (Durham),  John  Woodman,  captain  ; 
James  Davis,  lieutenant  ;  Stephen  Jones,  ensign  :  at  Portsmouth,  Walter 
Neale,  captain;  John  Pickering,  lieutenant;  Tobias  Langdon,  ensign:  at 
Exeter,  William  Moore,  captain;  Samuel  Leavitt,  lieutenant;  Jonathan 
Thing,  ensign:  at  Great  Island  (New  Castle  ),  Kathaniel  Fryer,  captain; 
Thomas  Cobbet,  lieutenant;  Shadrach  Walton,  ensign  :  at  Hampton,  Sam- 
ueJ_Sherburne,  captain;  Edward  Gove,  lieutenant;  John  Moulton,  ensign. 


CHAPTER  V. 

KING     WILLIAM'S    AND    QUEEN   ANNE'S     WARS, 

1689-1713. 

Causes  —  St.  Castine  —  Grievances  —  Richard  Waldron's  Death  — 
Dover  —  Oyster  River  —  Salmon  Falls  —  Newington — Lamprey 
River —  Wheelwright's  Pond  —  Sandy  Beach  —  Portsmouth  — 
Rangers — Durham  Massacre  —  Widow  Cutt — Breakfast  Hill  — 
Return  of  Captives  —  Treatment  of  Captives  —  Queen  Anne's  War 

—  Peace  at  PEMAqiTio  —  Eastern  Settlements  Ravaged  —  Hampton 

—  Kingston  —  Removal  of  Indians  to  Canada  —  Dunstable  — 
Death  of  Colonel  Winthrop  Hilton  —  Peace  —  Condition  of  Par- 
ties. 

"  I  ^HE  first  Indian  war  resulted  to  the  advantage  of  the  set- 
tlers. A  large  proportion  of  the  New  England  Indians  had 
been  exterminated.  The  most  stalwart  and  the  fiercest,  who 
survived,  nursed  their  wrath-,  magnified  their  grievances,  and 
plotted  future  vengeance.  Their  anger  was  increased  by  artful 
enemies  of  the  English  settlers,  until  the  basest  treachery  and 
demoniac  cruelty  became  a  part  of  their  character  in  their  deal- 
ings with  the  New  England  colonies.  The  war  became  one  of 
extermination  on  both  sides.  The  French  made  it  a  little  less 
fearful  by  offering  a  much  larger  bounty  for  captives  than  for 
scalps.  A  bounty  on  scalps  was  offered  also  by  the  colonial 
authorities.  In  1689  commenced  a  contest  of  races,  which,  with 
but  a  brief  suspension  of  hostilities,  was  destined  to  be  pro- 
longed for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  a  generation,  and  to  result 
in  the  practical  dispersion  of  the  aborigines  from  the  whole  ter- 
ritory of  New  England,  their  former  home  and  hunting  ground. 
King  William's  War  was  the  most  disastrous  as  it  was  the 
most  prolonged  of  the  many  contests  in  which   the  New  Engl- 


no  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l689 

and  colonists  were   engaged.     It  lasted  with  but  an  occasional 
truce  for  ten  years,  and  was  the   more   fierce   because   to  race 
hatred  was  added  religious  fanaticism.     Besides,  the  Indians  had 
a  base  of  supplies  in  Canada,  and  counted   on  the  French  as 
allies   and    confederates.     Before    the   French    monarch,   Louis 
XIV,  had  made  war  on  William  and  Mary,  the   sovereigns   of 
England,  in  the  interest  of  James  II,  the  dethroned  king,  An- 
dres, by  his  overbearing  and  arbitrary  course  in  New  England, 
had  prepared  the  way,  before  he  was  driven  from   office,  for  a 
general  Indian  war,  the  horrors  of  which  were  greatly  increased 
when    war   was    declared    between   the  home    governments  of 
France  and  England.     France  held  all  land  to  the  eastward  of 
Penobscot    river  by  treaty,  and    Baron    de   St.   Castine  had  for 
many  years  resided  on  the  peninsular  of  Castine  and  carried  on 
a  large  trade  with  the  Indians.     A  new  line  was  run  which  left 
Castine  within  English  territory,  and  soon  afterward,  in   1688, 
Andros  went  with  an  armed  force  and  plundered  De  Castine's 
house  and  fort.     Thereupon  the  Frenchman,  who  had  the  sym- 
pathy and  confidence  of  the  Indians  to  the  fullest  extent,  incited 
them  to  open  hostility.     This  was  the  more  easily  done  as  they 
had  grievances  of  their  own  for  which  they  could  obtain   no 
redress.     Their  tribute  of  corn  was  withheld,  seines  obstructed 
their  fishery,   cattle  destroyed  their  crops,  and  their  land  was 
granted  to  settlers  without  their  consent.     To  this  was  added 
the  fact  that   they  had  become  Catholics,  and  considered    the 
English    as    heretics    and    their  natural   enemies.      War   com- 
menced in  Maine.     Andros  led  an  army  of  seven  hundred  men 
into   their  territory  ;  but  the  only  loss  was  sustained  by  his  own 
force,  for  not  an  Indian  was  seen  on  the  march. 

The  treachery  of  Major  Waldron,  a  dozen  years  before,  still 
rankled  in  the  memory  of  the  Cocheco,  the  Pigwacket,  and  the 
Penacook  tribes.  The  strage  Indians,  who  had  been  sold  into 
slavery  in  foreign  countries,  and  had  escaped  and  returned, 
were  thirsting  for  revenge,  and  formed  a  confederacy  for  sur- 
prising the  Cocheco  settlement  and  taking  vengeance.  Their 
plans  were  carefully  matured.  Wannalancet,  as  chief  of  the 
Penacooks,  was  succeeded  by  Hagkins,  who  had  been  treated 


1689]  KING    WIM.I-jVm's    war.  Ill 

with    neglect  by  Cranfield  and  was  ready  to   listen  to  Castine's 
emissaries. 

Ostensibly  they  were  at  peace  with  the  Province,  when  near 
the  last  of  June,  1689^  they  assembled  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Dover.  The  veteran  magistrate,  Richard  Waldron,  feared  no 
treachery.  Some  of  the  inhabitants  were  uneasy  on  account  of 
meeting  so  many  Indians  and  warned  Waldron  without  effect. 
An  official  warning  was  on  its  way  from  Boston,  but  arrived 
too  late.  There  were  at  the  time  five  garrisoned  houses  near  the 
first  falls  of  the  Cocheco  river,  Waldron's,  Otis's  and  Heard's  on 
the  north  side  of  the  river  ;  Peter  Coffin's  and  his  son's  on 
the  south  side.  The  Indians  sent  two  squaws  to  each  of  the 
garrisoned  houses  in  the  evening,  to  ask  shelter  for  the  night,  and 
they  were  welcomed  at  all,  except  the  younger  Coffin's,  and 
allowed  to  sleep  by  the  open  fire  when  the  family  had  retired. 
One  of  the  chiefs,  Mesandowit,  was  hospitably  entertained  by 
Major  Waldron  the  day  before,  and  the  squaws  told  him  to 
expect  a  trading  visit  from  the  Indians  the  following  day. 
When  all  was  quiet,  the  squaws  opened  the  gates  and  admitted 
their  confederates.  Waldron,  on  being  aroused,  sprang  from  his 
bed  and  bravely  defended  himself  until  he  was  overpowered 
and  cruelly  put  to  death,  amid  the  jibes  of  his  captors.  His 
son-in-law,  Abraham  Lee,  was  also  killed.  The  Otis  garrison, 
next  to  Waldron's,  shared  the  same  fate.  Heard's  and  Elder 
Wentworth's  were  accidentally  saved.  The  elder  Coffin's  was 
surprised,  and  his  son  surrendered  to  save  his  father;  but  both 
families  escaped  while  the  Indians  were  plundering  the  houses. 
Twenty-three  people  were  killed  and  twenty-nine  were  carried 
away  captives.  Five  or  six  houses  and  the  mills  were  burned, 
and  the  Indians  had  departed  with  their  prisoners  and  booty 
before  assistance  arrived  from  other  parts  of  the  town.  The 
prisoners  were  carried  to  Canada  and  sold  to  the  French  ;  and 
they  were  said  to  have  been  the  first  ever  carried  there.  A 
pursuing  party,  under  command  of  Captain  Noyes,  destroyed 
the  corn  of  the  Indians  at  Penacook  ;  and  another  party,  under 
Captain  Wincol,  killed  several  Indians  at  Lake  Winnijjiseogee, 
and  despoiled  their  fields. 


I  12 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIKE. 


[1690 


In  August, the  Indians  surprised  Huckin's  garrison  at  Oyster 
River  and  killed  them  all,  to  the  number  of  eighteen,  while  at 


I    « 


1  "  r 


work  in  a  field,  and  took  the  children,  after  killing  three  or  fQQK-.>| 
of  their  number,  and  the  women  into  captivity.  ' 

In  1690,  Count  de  Frontenac,  the  French  governor  of  Canada, 


IC93]  KING  v/illiam's  war.  113 

entered  resolutely  into  the  war  and  furnished  the  hostile  Indians 
with  arms  and  supplies.  He  offered  a  bounty  for  scalps  and 
prisoners.  Salmon  Falls  was  attacked  in  March  by  a  combined 
F'rench  and  Indian  force,  and  twenty-seven  of  its  brave  defenders 
were  slain,  and  fifty-two,  mostly  women  and  children,  were  car- 
ried into  captivity.  After  plundering  the  place,  the  houses,  mills, 
and  barns,  together  with  the  stock  within  them,  were  burned. 
The  assailants  were  followed  on  their  retreat  and  an  engagement 
ensued,  in  which  four  or  five  of  the  pursuing  party  were  killed 
and  the  rest  retired.     The  enemy  lost  two  of  their  number. 

In  May,  the  Indians  made  an  assault  on  Fox-  Point,  in  New- 
ington,  burned  several  houses,  killed  fourteen  people,  and 
retreated  with  syc  captives.  They  were  pursued  by  Captains 
Floyd  and  Greenleaf,  and  some  of  the  captives  escaped,  but  the 
Indians  made  good  their  retreat. 

In  July,  the  enemy  were  very  active.  Within  three  days  they 
killed  eight  at  Lamprey  river,  eight  at  Exeter,  and  sixteen  at 
Wheelwright's  pond,  in  Lee,  taking  only  one  captive.  The  loss 
in  Exeter  was  in  defending  the  Hilton  garrison  house.  The 
loss  at  Wheelwright's  pond  was  in  a  bloody  engagement  in  which 
Captain  Wiswall,  Lieutenant  Flagg  and  Sergeant  Walker  were 
killed.  Both  parties  retreated.  Within  a  week  following  the 
Indians  killed  forty  people  between  Lamprey  river  and  Ames- 
bury.  Captives,  if  not  healthy  and  vigorous,  were  cruelly  tortured 
and  put  out  of  the  way.  There  were  very  few  instances  of 
mercy  during  the  war.  In  the  fall  there  was  a  cessation  of 
hostilities,  which  lasted  until  June,  1691,  when  two  men  were 
killed  at  Exeter.  In  September,  the  Indians  came  from  the 
eastward  in  canoes,  landed  at  Sandy  Beach,  or  Rye,  and  killed 
or  carried  away  twenty-one  persons.  Captain  Sherburne  of 
Portsmouth  was  killed  during  the  year. 

In  1692,  the  frontiers  were  guarded  by  ranging  parties  in  the 
woods,  after  the  destruction  of  York  ;  and  the  Indians  found  it 
difficult  to  surprise  a  garrison.  A  party  of  them  near  Cocheco 
were  themselves  surprised  and  only  one  of  their  number  escaped. 

Tobias  Hanson  of  Dover  was  the  only  victim  during  the  year 
1693,  except  a  poor  family  captured  at   Oyster  River.      A  truce 


114  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1696 

was  agreed  upon  at  Pemaquid  in  August,  and  the  settlers  had  a 
respite  for  the  rest  of  the  year.  They  had  become  so  disheart- 
ened that  they  were  ahnost  persuaded  to  leave  the  Province. 
To  add  to  their  troubles,  there  was  a  misunderstanding  with  the 
Massachusetts  authorities,  who  had  been  rather  occupied  with 
witchcraft  trials  than  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  assistance 
was  sparingly  afforded  to  their  neighbors.  At  length  all  the 
Massachusetts  soldiers  were  withdrawn. 

After  the  middle  of  July,  1694,  a  long  meditated  attack  was  made 
by  two  hundred  and  fifty  Indians,  led  by  Sieur  de  Villieu,  upon 
the  settlement  at  Oyster  River  (Durham).  There  were  block- 
houses for  the  defence  of  the  inhabitants;  but,  not  suspecting 
danger,  many  families  were  at  their  own  unfortified  homes,  and 
the  garrisons  were  unprepared  for  an  attack.  Of  the  twelve 
fortified  houses  five  were  destroyed.  Fourteen  people  were 
surprised  and  killed  in  one.  The  deserted  houses  were  set  on 
fire.  Over  ninety  people  were  killed  or  carried  into  captivity. 
There  were  many  narrow  escapes  and  many  scenes  of  frightful 
cruelty.  A  French  priest  accompanied  the  expedition,  which 
was  composed  of  Maine  and  New  Brunswick  Indians,  from  the 
Kennebec,  Penobscot  and  St.  John  rivers,  and  French  troops. 
Seven  of  the  garrison  houses  were  bravely  and  successfully  de- 
fended. The  enemy,  having  done  what  mischief  they  could, 
retired  ;  and  the  scalps  taken  were  afterward  presented  to  Count 
Frontenac,  in  Canada. 

Within  a  few  days  a  wandering  party  of  Indians  killed  Madam 
Ursula  Cutt,  widow  of  the  first  president,  and  three  of  her 
laborers,  while  haymaking  at  a  place  called  the  Pulpit.  In  July, 
1695,  two  men  were  killed  at  Exeter.  In  May,  1696,  John 
Church  was  killed  at  Cocheco.  Near  the  end  of  June  the  Indians 
came  from  the  Nubble,  at  York,  in  canoes,  and  landed  at  Sandy 
Beach,  or  Rye,  and  made  an  attack  on  five  houses  at  once. 
At  Sagamore's  Creek,  in  Portsmouth,  fourteen  people  were  in- 
stantly killed  and  four  carried  into  captivity.  The  whole  number 
slain,  according  to  John  Farmer,  was  twenty-four.  A  pursuing 
party  recovered  the  prisoners  at  Breakfast  Hill,  but  the  Indians 
escaped  and  eluded  a  fleet  of  boats  sent  to  cut  off  their  retreat 


1697]  KING  William's  war.  115 

to  the  eastward.  In  July,  a  party  in  Dover  were  waylaid  while 
returning  from  church.  Three  were  killed,  three  wounded,  and 
three  carried  away  captives.  In  August,  one  settler  was  killed 
in  Rye  and  another  at  Lubbcrland,  on  Great  Bay.  In  June, 
1697,  an  attack  was  planned  on  the  town  of  Exeter,  which  was 
averted  by  an  accident.  One  person  was  killed,  another  wounded, 
and  a  third  carried  into  captivity.  During  the  year  a  grand  in- 
vasion of  the  country  of  New  England  was  planned  by  the 
French,  but  was  happily  postponed  until  the  towns  were  fortified, 
when  peace  was  declared.  A  final  treaty  was  made  with  the 
Indians  at  Casco  early  in  January,  1699,  and  many  captives 
were  restored  to  their  friends.  Many  of  them,  however,  had 
become  members  of  Indian  tribes  and  did  not  return  to  civili- 
zation. 

During  the  war  of  ten  years  the  four  towns  in  the  province  of 
New  Hampshire  and  the  adjoining  settlements  at  York,  Kittery, 
and  Berwick,  lost,  in  killed,  wounded  and  captives,  about  four 
hundred  of  their  number.  The  stories  narrated  by  the  returning 
captives  were  full  of  woe.  They  had  been  forced  to  look  upon 
the  torture  and  death  of  many  of  their  companions,  who  had 
incurred  the  ill-will  of  the  savages.  They  had  been  forced  to 
hasten  through  a  wilderness,  without  proper  food  or  raiment, 
and  had  beeen  subjected  to  so  many  hardships  that  only  the 
most  robust  and  healthy  survived.  The  Indians,  from  friendly 
neighbors,  had  become  relentless  foes.  The  treachery  of  Major 
Waldron,  from  which  they  had  lost  faith  in  the  E^nglish  settlers, 
and  the  attack  of  the  Mohawks  on  the  peaceably  inclined  Indians, 
had  converted  them  into  fiends  incarnate.  Nothing  seemed  too 
horrible  for  them  to  imagine  and  perpetrate.  From  superstition 
or  some  other  cause  they  respected  the  chastity  of  their  female 
captives,  but  would  as  ruthlessly  murder  them  as  their  male 
prisoners.  During  an  incursion  made  upon  Haverhill,  in  1697. 
the  Indians  attacked  the  house  of  Hannah  Dustin.  Her  husband 
effected  the  rescue  of  his  children,  but  the  mother  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  attacking  party,  who  murdered  her  babe  and  com- 
pelled her  to  rise  from  a  bed  of  sickness,  and,  with  her  nurse,  to 
follow  them  towards  Canada.      During  their  journey,  the  party, 


ii6 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1697 


captors  and  captives,  stopped  for  the  night  at  the  small  island 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Contoocook  river  at  Penacook.  Here  the 
two  captive  women  with  tlie  assistance  of  a  boy,  planned  and 


HANNAH    DUSTIN    AT   THE    MASSACRE. 

Upon  this  spot  (the  island  of  Contoocook,  N.   H.)  stands  a  monument  erected  to  the  memory   of 
Hannah  Dustin,  through  the  efforts  of  Colonel  Robert  B.  Caverly,  poet  and  historian. 

executed  an  escape,  which  was  done  by  killing  ten  of  the  twelve 
Indians  of  the  party,  and  following  the  river  back  to  the  settle- 
ments.    As  a  matter  of  course,  they  were  forced  to  take  their 


1708]  QUEEN    ANNE's    WAR.  11/ 

captors  at  a  disadvantage,  killing  them  while  they  were  asleep, 
and  possibly  drunk. 

The  peace  of  Ryswick,  which  closed  King  William's  War,  was 
of  short  duration.  Louis  XIV  proclaimed  the  Pretender  king 
of  England,  and  his  governor,  Villebon,  had  orders  to  extend  the 
Province  of  Acadia  to  the  Kennebec  river.  The  English  claimed 
to  the  St.  Croi.x  river.  Governor  Dudley  had  particular  orders 
to  rebuild  the  port  at  Pemaquid,  but  the  Massachusetts  Assembly 
would  not  consent  to  the  expense.  He  met  at  Casco  delegates 
from  the  tribes  of  the  Norridgewock,  Penobscot,  Pigwacket, 
Penacook  and  Androscoggin  Indians,  and  concluded  a  firm  peace 
with  them  in  June,  1703.  This  did  not  prevent  the  Indians, 
however,  after  the  declaration  of  the  Queen  Anne  War,  from  join- 
ing the  French  and  invading  New  England.  They  killed  and 
took  captive  one  hundred  and  thirty  people  between  Casco  and 
Wells  in  a  few  weeks,  burning  and  destroying  all  before  them. 
About  the  middle  of  August  a  force  of  thirty  killed  five  people  at 
Hampton,  a  Quakeress  among  the  number,  and  plundered  two 
houses ;  but  fled  before  a  pursuing  party.  Instantly  the  whole 
frontier  was  in  arms.  A  visit  of  a  company  to  Pigwacket  in  the 
fall  led  to  the  death  of  six  and  the  capture  of  six  Indians.  During 
the  winter  the  settlers  were  very  active  in  carrying  the  war  into  the 
enemy's  country,  under  the  command  of  Major  Winthrop  Hilton 
and  Captains  John  Oilman  of  Exeter,  and  Chesley  and  Davis  of 
Oyster  River. 

During  the  year  1704  the  aggressive  policy  of  New  England 
was  continued,  yet  the  Indians  succeeded  in  killing  and  captur- 
ing several  people  in  the  Province,  one  at  Oyster  River  in  April, 
and  several  at  Lamprey  River  the  next  day.  In  August  they 
killed  several  at  Oyster  River.  In  January,  1708,  Colonel  Hilton 
led  a  force  against  Norridgewock,  which  was  only  successful  in 
destroying  the  village.  During  the  year  another  attempt  was 
made  to  settle  the  township  of  Kingston,  which  did  not  succeed. 
Amongst  the  settlers  were  Ebenezer  Webster,  an  ancestor  of 
Daniel  Webster,  Moses  Elkins,  Jonathan  Sanborn,  Ichabod 
Robie,  Aaron  Sleeper,  Thomas  Webster,  Thomas  Philbrick  and 


Il8  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [ I ZOQ 

Jabez  Colman.  The  first  birth  in  the  town  was  that  of  Benjamin 
Webster,  in  1701.  In  1725  the  town  contained  eighty-one  fami- 
Hes.  In  1732,  it  had  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  ratable  inhabi- 
tants and  one  hundred  and  fifteen  dwelHng  houses,  of  which 
sixty-four  were  two  stories  high. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  settle  Rev.  William  Thompson  in 
i7'20.  Rev.  Ward  Clark  was  ordained  and  settled  in  1725  ;  Rev. 
Peter  Coffin,  in  1737;  Rev.  Amos  Tappan,  in  1762  ;  Rev.  Elihu 
Thayer,  D.  D.,  in  1776  ;  Rev.  John  Turner,  the  last  minister 
settled  by  the  town,  in  18 18. 

The  Indians  of  New  England  had  been  encouraged  to  remove 
to  Canada  by  the  French  governor,  and  accordingly  had  been 
incorporated  with  the  St.  Francis  tribe  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
were  thus  more  readily  wielded  against  the  English.  At  the  re- 
opening of  hostilities,  in  1706,  after  a  short  truce,  a  small  party 
of  Indians  attacked  the  house  of  John  Drew,  at  Oyster  River,  in 
April,  and  killed  eight  and  wounded  two;  but  the  women  suc- 
cessfully defended  the  place.  On  the  retreat  of  the  Indians 
they  killed  John  Wheeler,  his  wife  and  two  children,  who  fell 
into  their  hands.  In  June  two  men  were  killed  in  Dover.  In 
July  two  men  were  killed  at  Dunstable.  In  August  an  attack 
was  made  on  Dover,  in  which  ten  men  lost  their  lives  or  were 
carried  into  captivity.  The  Indians  also  killed  several  others 
during  the  summer  at  Dunstable,  Hampton,  and  along  the  fron- 
tier. During  the  winter  of  1707,  Colonel  Hilton  was  successful 
in  cutting  off  a  party  of  twenty-two,  near  Black  Point,  in  Maine. 
During  the  following  summer,  while  a  force  of  a  thousand  men 
were  attacking  Port  Royal,  a  harassing  warfare  was  kept  up  by 
the  enemy  along  the  frontier  and  several  men  were  killed  at  Oyster 
River,  at  Kingston,  and  at  Exeter.  The  Indians  were  accustomed 
at  this  time  to  wander  in  small  parties  and  the  settlers  were 
always  armed  and  generally  within  the  protection  of  their  block- 
houses. In  September,  a  lumbering  party  was  surprised  at 
Oyster  River  by  a  party  of  French  Mohawks  and  eight  of  their 
number  were  instantly  killed. 

New  Hampshire  escaped  any  loss  during  the  year  1708,  but  in 
the  spring  of  1709  several  men  were  captured  in  E.xeter,  and  one 


I7!3J  QUEEN    ANNE  S    WAR.  II9 

was  killed  at  Oyster  River.  One  of  the  Exeter  captives  was  in- 
humanly tortured.  During  the  year  an  expedition  was  planned 
against  Canada,  but  was  not  carried  into  effect. 

In  July,  1 7 10,  the  Indians,  who  had  before  made  several  at- 
tempts, succeeded  in  killing  Colonel  Winthrop  Hilton.  Two  of 
his  companions  were  killed  at  the  same  time,  and  two  others  were 
captured.  Colonel  Hilton  was  the  son  of  Edward  Hilton  and  Ann 
(Dudley)  Hilton.  Edward  Hilton  was  the  son  of  Edward 
Hilton,  the  first  settler  of  Dover.  Ann  Dudley,  Colonel  _ 
Hilton's  mother,  was  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Samuel  and  Mary' 
(Winthrop)  Dudley,  and  was  the  granddaughter  of  Governor 
Thomas  Dudley  and  Governor  John  Winthrop.  His  loss  was 
severely  felt  in  the  Province,  and  he  was  buried  with  military 
honors.  Soon  after  the  attack  on  Hilton's  party,  the  Indians 
killed  or  took  captive  several  persons  at  Exeter,  four  at  Kingston 
and  one  at  Cocheco.  During  the  summer  Colonel  Shadrack 
Walton  led  the  New  Hampshire  quota  of  one  hundred  men  to 
help  capture  Port  Royal.  Late  in  the  fall  he  led  a  force  to  the 
eastward,  and  slew  several  hostile  Indians.  In  the  spring  of 
171 1  five  men  were  killed  at  Dover,  and  a  party  returning  from 
church  fell  into  an  ambush.  During  the  summer  a  formidable 
expedition  of  some  six  thousand  troops  were  sent  to  reduce 
Canada,  but  lost  a  thousand  of  their  number  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
river  during  a  stormy  night,  and  the  balance  of  the  fleet  returned 
to  Boston. 

The  Indians,  encouraged  by  the  failure  of  this  attack,  com- 
menced their  aggressions  in  the  spring  of  1712,  killing  a  settler 
in  Exeter,  another  at  Dover,  and  another  at  Oyster  River.  A 
marauding  party  of  eight  Indians  were  surprised  and  killed  on 
the  Merrimack.  During  June  and  July  the  enemy  attacked  the 
settlers  at  Exeter,  Kingston  and  Dover,  and  caused  some  loss  of 
life.  In  the  autumn  the  news  of  the  peace  of  Utrecht  was 
received  and  a  suspension  of  arms  was  proclaimed  at  Ports- 
mouth, In  July,  1 71 3,  a  formal  treaty  of  peace  was  made  with 
the  Indians,  and  an  exchange  of  prisoners  was  brought  about 
the  next  summer.  During  the  whole  war,  Usher  was  a  faithful 
officer.     He    frequently  came    into    the  province    by    Dudley's 


I20  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  ['7 '3 

direction,  and  sometimes  resided  in  it  several  months,  inquiring^ 
into  the  state  of  the  frontiers  and  garrisons,  visiting  them  in 
person,  and  consulting  with  the  officers  of  the  militia  as  to  the 
proper  methods  of  defence. 

The  drain  of  the  war  had  been  fearful  on  the  little  province 
of  New  Hampshire,  still  it  was  more  than  offset  by  the  large 
families  and  the  natural  increase  within  the  colony.  It  had 
bred  a  race  of  men  skilled  as  the  Indian  in  the  arts  of  wood- 
craft and  the  peculiar  stratagems  of  Indian  warfare.  Children 
had  been  reared  amidst  the  alarms  of  the  dread  war-whoop  and 
the  whistle  of  the  hostile  bullet.  Boys  were  trained  as  soldiers 
at  an  early  age,  and  even  the  women,  on  occasion,  successfully 
defended  their  homes  from  the  prowling  savages.  Hannah 
Dustin  is  a  typical  heroine  of  that  era.  After  such  a  school 
those  boys  could  never  wear  the  yoke  of  servitude.  Henceforth 
they  were  freemen. 

The  Indians,  on  the  other  hand,  suffered  from  war  and  famine. 
Sleuth  hounds,  for  the  sake  of  the  reward  or  to  revenge  the 
massacre  of  a  family,  in  the  shape  of  desperate  man-hunters, 
rangers  and  scouts,  were  continually  on  their  trail  and  diminish- 
ing their  numbers.  In  endurance  the  white  man  was  their  superior 
and  was  bound  to  be  the  victor  in  the  end. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

ROYAL    PROVIXCE,   1692-17 15. 

Samuel  Allen  —  John  Usher  —  New  Council  —  Small  Pox  —  Post 
Office  —  New  Castle  Incorporated  —  Kingston  Incorporated  — 
William  Partridge —  Piscata^ua  Rebellion — .Earl  of  Bellomont 
— Governor  Allen  —  John  Usher  —  Mutilation  of  Records  —  New 
Trial  of  Claim  —  Appeal  to  King— Joseph  Dudley  —  Decision 
OF  English  Courts  — Nashua  —  Offers  of  Compromise  —  Death  of 
Allen  —  Renewal  of  Suit— New  Trial— Death  of  Thomas  Allen — 
Hampton  Falls  —  Newington. 

T^HE  administration    of  John  Usher,  as  lieutenant-governor, 
representing   his  father-in-law,   Samuel  Allen,   and  Gover- 
nor Joseph  Dudley,  was  at  a  time  the  most  mournful  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Province  or  the  State,  and  the  most  illy  suited  for 
the   establishment  of  claims  to  lands  which  were  occupied  by 
people   defending    them   from  a  savage  foe,  and  exciting  sympa- 
thy in  the  minds    of  home  and  foreign   judges  by  their  bravery 
and   sacrifices.       According   to   the   common  law    of  England, 
Allen  was  undoubtedly  right.     The  discovery  and  occupation  of 
a  vast  continent,   however,  brought  different  elements  into   the 
legal  questions  involved.     The  right  of  even  a  prince  to  grant 
land  to  the  exclusion  of    actual  settlers  in  long  and  undisturbed 
possession  is  seriously  questioned.     When  to  the  difficulties  of 
the  case    is    added  the  purchase  of  the   territory  from   its  un- 
doubted owners,  the  Indians,  and  thereafter  the  maintaining  the 
possession  by  right  of  conquest,  one's  sympathy  must  lean  towards 
the  settlers.     In  a  foreign  war,  it  is  the  patriotic  duty  of  a  citi- 
zen to  sustain  his  government,  right  or  wrong  ;  but  even  in  that 
cise,  when    it  becomes  a  matter  of  history,  he  may  question  the 
justice    and  equity  of  the  course  pursued  by  the  public  or  the 
State. 


122 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1692 


In  the  midst  of  the  Indian  war,  the  Province  of  New  Hamp- 
shire was  placed  under  a  new  government.  The  people  desired 
for  the  most  part  to  continue  their  union  with  Massachusetts, 
but  Samuel  Allen  of  London,  who  had  purchased  the  interest 
of  the  heirs  of  Mason  to  New  Hampshire,  claimed  recognition 
of  his  title  from  the  crown,  and  a  commission  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province.  A  petition  from  the  people  for  a  union 
with    Massachusetts  was  neglected,  and  the   power  of  govern- 


^e\\{\X»vgtJ>Mi 


ment  was  conferred  upon  Allen.  His  son-in-law,  John  Usher, 
was  appointed  lieutenant-governor  in  his  absence.  The  coun- 
cillors named  in  the  commission  were  John  Usher,  John  Hinckes, 
Nathaniel  Fryer,  Thomas  Graffort,  Peter  Coffin,  Henry  Greene, 
Robert  Elliot,  John  Gerrish,  John  Walford  and  John  Love. 
To  these  were  afterwards  added  Major  Vaughan,  Nathaniel 
Weare  and  Richard  Waldron. 

The  lately  appointed  lieutenant-governor  arrived  and  pub- 
lished his  commission  in  August,  1692.  His  council  were  gen- 
erally men  who  had  the  confidence  and  good  will  of  the  people, 
but  Usher  himself  was  unpopular  on  account  of  his  connection 


169: 


KOVAL    1>RC)\INXE. 


with  the  government  under  Andros  and  his  interest  in  Allen's 
claim  to  the  lands.  He  was  a  native  of  Boston,  a  tradesman 
of    considcral:)le    wealth,    and    had    successfully    conducted    the 


negotiations  on  the  part  of  Massachusetts  for  the  purchase 
from  Gorges  of  the  Province  of  Maine.  He  had  been  treasurer 
in  the    government    of    Sir  Edmund  Andros,  and  was  largely 


124 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1692 


interested    in   land   speculation.     He  was   good-natured,   open, 
and  generous  ;  but  no  statesman  or  courtier.     He  was  not  affa- 


(\IfcW-(a&tI^  i 


ble,  but  rather  stern  and  severe.  He  prided  himself  on  his 
authority,  was  consequential  and  dictatorial,  but  fairly  gov- 
erned   durinsf    the    Indian  troubles. 


1692]  KOYAI.    I'KOVINCE.  12$ 

During  the  year  1692,  besides  the  terror  of  the  Indian  war, 
a  very  fatal  epidemic  of  small  pox  raged  at  Portsmouth  and 
Greenland. 

In  1793  the  first  post-office  in  the  Province  was  established  at 
Portsmouth.  During  the  same  year  Great  Island,  Sandy  Beach 
(Rye),  and  Little  Harbor  were  incorporated  as  the  town  of 
New  Castle.  Great  Island  had  been  a  place  of  considerable 
importance.  During  Cran field's  administration  it  was  the  seat 
of  government.  It  was  afterwards  reduced  in  size  by  the  incor- 
poration of  Rye,  until  to-day,  with  an  area  of  only  458  acres,  it 
is  the  smallest  township  in  the  State.  It  was  the  home  in  later 
years  of  Theodore  Atkinson,  chief  justice  of  the  Province. 

Rev.  Samuel  Moody  preached  at  New  Castle  before  1700  ;  Rev. 
John  Emerson  was  ordained  in  1704;  Rev.  William  Shurtleff, 
in  1712;  Rev.  John  Blunt,  in  1732  ;  Rev.  David  Robinson,  in 
1748;  Rev.  Stephen  Chase,  in  1750;  Rev.  Oliver  Noble,  in 
1784. 

^  What  was  the  population  of  New  Castle  at  the  date  of  its 
charter,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  determine  accurately.  On  one 
occasion  forty  men  signed  a  petition,  which  list  included  none 
of  the  government  officials.  It  is  probable  that,  in  1693,  there 
were  within  the  whole  territory  of  this  town  not  far  from  five 
hundred  inhabitants. 

The  records  of  the  town  from  1693  to  1726  were  lost  for 
many  years,  and  were  not  recovered  until  1873,  when  they  were 
found  in  the  hands  of  a  private  gentleman  of  England,  who  pre- 
sented them  to  the  town  authorities. 

The  following  description  of  a  New  Hampshire  town  meeting 
is  taken  from  Mr.  Albee's  readable  History  of  New  Castle  : 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  an  occasion  when  some  puljlic  busi- 
ness is  transacted,  of  the  necessary  sort,  and  the  year's  accumulation  of 
criticism,  grievances,  and  personal  grudges  be  discharged.  In  New  Castle 
we  deliberate  with  our  hats  on,  after  the  manner  of  the  British  Parliament. 
We  always  think  there  is  time  enough  to  take  them  off  when  we  go  to  bed. 
No  sooner  is  a  new  town  government  elected  than  it  begins  to  be  watched 
and  found  fault  with.  Then  appears  that  almost  natural  impulse  of  our  race, 
or,  perhaps,  inherited  in  its  long  contests  for  freedom,  which  impels  it  to 

•John  .A.bec. 


126 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1693 


consider  its  civil  rulers  natural  enemies.  In  town  governments  this  watch- 
fulness and  criticism  are  not  always  an  unmixed  good;  thej  often  become 
frivolous,  and  turn  on  personal  or  party  sympathies  and  antipathies. 

"  How  can  I  find  my  family  historii'  ?"  said  a  gentleman  to  a  genealogist- 
"  Simply  by  running  for  an  office,"  was  the  answer.  The  selectmen  are 
seated  behind  a  long  table,  on  which  are  the  records,  the  account  books  and 
papers,  and  a  lawbook  or  two — the  town  officer,  perhaps,  and  the  statutes 
of  the  State.  They  look  nervous,  but  defiant.  Indeed,  it  does  put  a  man  on 
his  mettle  to  face  a  body  of  citizens  to  whom  he  is  directly  accountable. 
Before  the  selectmen  stand  their  fellow  citizens  —  perhaps  fifty,  perhaps  two 
hundred  —  ready  to  listen  to  the  report  of  the  year's  transactions;  ready, 
also,  to  put  the  most  provoking  questions.  The  town  methods  of  conducting 
business  are  clumsy,  absurd,  informal ;  the  manners  of  the  meeting  rough  — 
now  violent,  now  indiflFerent;  matters  proceed  confusedly;  but  the  ends 
attained  are  the  pride  of  our  civilization,  — equitable  taxation,  safe  roads  and 
bridges,  care  of  the  poor,  public  order,  and  equal  and  sufficient  education 
for  all. 

There  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  all  New  England  towns  when  they 
had  the  care  of  religion. 

That  the  ancient  town  meetings  were  much  like  the  modern,  is  evident 
from  careful  reading  of  the  records.  It  is  clear  enough  when  matters  are  in 
contention  ;  it  is  clear  w^hat  is  of  public  interest  from  year  to  year. 

The  first  town  clerk  of  New  Castle,  by  election,  was  Theodore  Atkinson. 


Below  is  the  seal  of  Richard  Jose,  sheriff  of  the  Province  and  town,  in  the 
seventeenth  century. 


There  was  a  regular  night  watch  for  all  parts  of  the  town  ;  and  every  night 
the  constable,  with  four  men  of  the  watch,  visited  all  public  houses  to 
enforce  the  regulations  concerning  them.  No  strangers  were  allowed  in 
New  Castle  above  fourteen  days,  without  notice  to  the  selectmen.     Whoever 


1693] 


ROYAL    PROVINCE. 


127 


sold  liquor  to  a  common  drunkard  was  liable  to  fine ;  and  the  selectmen  gave 

to  the  innkeeper  the  names  of  persons  to  whom  they  were  forbidden  to  sell. 

The  selectmen,   in  earlj  times,   met  monthly  to   attend   to   any  business 


I 


^fonr 


&«r 


Est  in  6iceSio  lungu  l<K.u:>:  inMili  )>urtu 
^tt'Citobjettn.  Iateruiii,tiu.ibu'.  oi.in'nal.  alto 
TrauoiTui;  iiiijue  sinus  scincllt  itic  utnU  reJucToi 
nine  4t<]u«  hi'nc  vjil:Ei-u|>ea,3«minI<lu.<t  tninantotf 
Jn  cctlum  icopuli,  cjuomm  sub  Mcirtice  lalfc 

JEi)uur4  tut*,  iiltnt 

Intu5  i<(i->^a;  Uulcc^,vi\(oniic  sedilii  ^axo; 
Hinipharuiu  clomui.llic  feibai  nou',viucul501iavfc5 
,Ulla  Itiitut:  unco  nun  alllgat  antora.  Mioriu 


brought  before  the  board.     They  also  sat  as  judges,  deciding  trivial  matters 
appertaining  to  the  community. 

Sampson  Sheafe,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  was  the  first  schoolmaster 
Among  the  inhabitants  of  New  Castle  for  two   centuries,  appear  the   names 


128  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1694 

of  Amazeen,  Bell,  Frost,  Lear,  Meloon,  Tarlton,  Vennard,  White  and 
Yeaton.  Here  have  lived  those  of  the  name  of  Atkinson,  Elliot,  Estwick, 
Frjer,  Hinckes,  Jackson,  Jaffrev,  Jones,  Jordan,  Langmaid,  Leach,  Odiorne, 
Parker,  Rand,  Randall,  Seavy,  Stileman,  Trefethen,  Tucker,  Waldron,  Wal- 
ford,  Wallis,  Walton,  Sargent,  and  Prescott. 

The  following  year,  1694,  an  attempt  was  made  to  extend  the 
settlements,  and  the  township  of  Kmgston  was  granted  to  a 
party  of  twent}^  men  from  Hampton  and  the  town  was  incorpo- 
rated ;  but  within  two  years  the  settlers  deserted  the  place  and 
did  not  return  until  peace  was  declared  in  1799. 

Grantees  of  Kingston. 
'James  Prescott,  Sen.  Benjamin  Sanborn.  John  Mason. 

■  Thomas  Philbrook,  Jr.  Daniel  Moulton.  Nathaniel  Sanborn. 

Samuel  Colcord.  Isaac  Godfrey-  John  Moulton. 

Samuel  Dearborn.  -Gershom  Elkins.  Francis  Towle. 

[acob  Garland.  Thomas  Webster. 

Ebenezer  Webster.  William  Godfrey. 

During  the  two  or  three  first  years  of  Usher's  administration 
the  public  charges  were  provided  for  by  an  excise  on  wines  and 
liquors  and  a  tax  on  merchandize,  the  Assembly  voting  them  year 
by  year.  During  the  year  16-^5  the  deputies  became  unmanage- 
able and  refused  to  grant  money,  except  for  the  defence  of  the 
Province.  Nor  could  Usher  obtain  money  from  Allen,  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  Province,  for  his  drafts  were  dishonored.  He  de- 
sired Governor  Allen  to  take  the  government  into  his  own  hands 
or  find  a  successor  to  himself.  The  people,  however,  had  antici- 
pated him,  for  having  removed  Hinckes,  Waldron  and  Vaughan 
from  the  council,  on  account  of  their  opposition  of  the  proprie- 
tary claim,  he  so  irritated  the  leading  men  of  the  Province  that 
they  conspired  for  his  removal,  and  privately  recommended  Wil- 
liam Partridge  as  his  successor  as  lieutenant-governor.  "  Part- 
ridge was  a  native  of  Portsmouth,  a  shipwright,  of  extraordinary 
mechanical  genius,  of  a  politic  turn  of  mind,  and  a  popular 
man."  ^  He  was  treasurer  of  the  Province,  largely  concerned  in 
trade,  well  known  in  England  as  a  dealer  in  masts  and  timber  for 
the  navy,  and  he  received  his  commission  as  lieutenant-governor 

'  Belknap 


1696]  ROVAL    I'KOVINCE.  1 29 

in  June,  1696.  He  returned  to  New  luigland  and  assumed  the 
duties  of  office  in  January,  1697,  and  the  suspended  councillors 
resumed  their  seats.  John  Pickering,  "  a  man  of  rough  and  ad- 
venturous spirit,  and  a  lawyer,"  was  made  King's  attorney,  and 
the  records  which  Usher  had  compelled  him  to  deliver  up  were 
deposited  in  the  hands  of  Major  Vaughan,  who  was  appointed 
recorder. 

Usher,  who  resided  in  Boston,  claimed  these  acts  to  be  illegal, 
and  sent  his  secretary,  Charles  Story,  to  England,  with  an 
account  of  what  he  styled  the  '' Piscataqua  rebellion;"  and  re- 
ceived directions  from  the  P2nglish  authorities  to  keep  his  office 
of  lieutenant-governor  until  "Partridge  was  legally  "  qualified." 
He  was  frustrated  in  his  designs,  for  Partridge  went  through 
the  required  forms  and  duly  "qualified"  himself  the  day  after 
Usher  arrived  in  Portsmouth  with  his  commission,  in  December, 
1697. 

The  Assembly  met  early  in  January,  1698,  and  approved  what 
had  been  done,  and  sent  Ichabod  Plaisted  to  meet  the  Earl  of 
Bellomont,  the  newly-appointed  governor  of  New  England,  upon 
his  arrival  in  New  York.  During  the  year.  Governor  Allen,  a 
man  "  of  a  pacific  and  condescending  disposition,"  came  from 
England,  and,  as  his  commission  was  still  in  force,  took  the  oaths 
and  assumed  the  command.  Usher  was  reinstated  in  the  coun- 
cil. Partridge  was  suspended,  and  an  altercation  ensued  between 
the  governor  on  the  one  part  and  the  council  and  the  Assembly 
on  the  other.  Elliot  withdrew,  and  was  soon  followed  by  Coffin 
and  Waldron  ;  the  Assembly  refused  to  appropriate  money  ;  and 
the  governor  dissolved  them.  Fryer,  of  the  old  board,  alone  re- 
mained in  the  council.  Joseph  Smith  of  Hampton  and  Kingsley 
Hall  of  Exeter  were  appointed  to  the  council,  and  Sampson 
Sheaf e,  the  secretary,  and  Peter  Weare,  made  up  a  quorum. 

In  the  summer  of  1699,  the  new  governor-general,  the  Earl  of 
Bellomont,  "a  nobleman  of  distinguished  figure  and  polite  man- 
ner, a  firm  friend  to  the  revolution,  a  favorite  of  King  William, 
and  one  who  had  no  interest  in  oppressing  them,"  published  his 
commission  in  New  Hampshire,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people. 
Upon  the  change  in  rulers,  Partridge  took  his  seat  as  lieutenant- 


130  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l^OI 

governor,  and  the  displaced  councillors  were  again  called  to  the 
board.  Richard  Jose  was  made  sheriff  in  place  of  William 
Ardell,  and  Charles  Story  secretary  in  the  room  of  Sheafe. 

Peace  within  and  without  the  Province  having  been  tempora- 
rily restored,  and  the  government  modelled  in  favor  of  the  peo- 
ple, both  parties  in  the  land  suits  agreed  to  leave  the  decision  to 
properly  constituted  courts.  The  Assembly  having  voted  Bello- 
mont  ;^5oo,  he  left  the  Province  within  three  weeks  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  his  lieutenant-governor.  Partridge.  Partridge  ap- 
pointed Hinckes  chief  justice  and  Peter  Coffin,  John  Gerrish, 
and  John  Plaisted  assistants  ;  aniWaldron  chief  justice  of  the 
inferior  court,  with  Henry  Dow,  Theodore  Atkinson,  and  John 
Woodman,  for  assistants. 

During  the  summer  of  1700,  Colonel  Romer,  a  Dutch  engineer 
under  Bellomont's  direction,  planned  a  fortification  for  the  harbor 
to  cost  ;^6,ooo,  but  the  Assembly  pleaded  their  poverty  as  an 
excuse  for  not  building  it.  In  the  mean  while,  Allen  saw  very 
little  chance  for  him  to  recover  his  rights  under  the  new  courts 
as  then  constituted.  The  records  of  the  superior  court  having 
been  mutilated,  all  evidence  of  judgments  recovered  by  Mason 
were  lost  and  suits  had  to  be  commenced  from  the  beginning. 
Waldron,  one  of  the  principal  land-holders,  and  a  strenuous 
opposer  of  the  proprietary  claim,  was  singled  out  to  stand 
foremost  in  the  controversy  with  Allen,  as  his  father  had  with 
Mason.  The  decisions  were  invariably  given  in  favor  of  the 
defendant  with  costs.  "Allen's  only  refuge  was  in  an  appeal  to 
the  King,  which  the  courts,  following  the  example  of  their 
brethren  in  Massachusetts,  refused  to  admit."  He  then  petiti- 
oned the  King,  who  granted  an  appeal,  and  censured  the  court  for 
not  permitting  it. 

During  the  year  1701,  Bellomont  died  in  New  York;  and  the 
Assembly  confirmed  the  grants  of  land  within  their  townships 
and  ordered  their  township  lines  to  be  determined.  But  Allen 
prevented  the  laws  being  enacted  and  sent  Usher  to  England 
to  attend  to  his  appeal  before  the  English  courts. 

King  William  having  died,  Queen  Anne,  his  successor,  ap- 
pointed Joseph  Dudley,  a  former  president  of  New  England,  to 


1702]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  I3I 

be  governor  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  and  his 
commission  was  published  in  Portsmouth  in  July,  1702.  The 
Assembly,  by  a  well-timed  present,  interested  him  in  their  favor; 
but  Usher  was  successful  before  the  Queen,  and  not  only  won 
Allen's  case,  but  secured  tor  himself  the  appointment  of  lieu- 
tenant-governor of  the  Province,  against  the  protest  of  Waldron, 
who  represented  the  people  of  New  Hampshire. 

In  1703  the  attorney-general  of  the  English  court  reported 
that  Allen's  claim  to  the  waste  land  of  the  Province  of  New 
Hampshire  was  valid,  and  late  in  the  year  Usher  published  his 
commission  in  Portsmouth. 

^During  the  year  of  1702  the  colonial  court  of  Massa- 
chusetts built  a  trading-house  for  the  Indians,  and  established  a 
fortified  garrison  at  Watanic  —  the  Indian  name  for  Nashua  — 
which  was  afterwards  called  Queen's  garrison,  and  situated  about 
sixty  rods  easterly  of  Main  street,  in  Nashua,  and  about  as  far 
north  of  Salmon  brook.  This  was  the  head-quarters  of  trade 
with  the  Indians  for  many  years. 

If  we  consider  the  appearance  and  extent  of  the  primitive 
forests,  in  the  midst  of  natural  scenes  like  these,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  these  bold  pioneers  should  select  a  place  like  this  in 
which  to  rear  their  log  huts  ;  for,  as  Governor  Wentworth  said, 
the  royal  or  mast  pines  of  Dunstable  plains  were  the  best  in 
New  Hampshire ;  and  they  presented  a  majestic  appearance. 
These  trees  often  grew  to  the  height  of  two  hundred  feet,  and 
as  straight  as  an  arrow,  many  of  them  forty  inches  in  diameter. 
These  pines  were,  by  royal  enactment,  reserved  for  the  king's 
navy,  and  were  designated  by  the  surveyors  of  the  woods  by  a 
mark  made  to  represent  an  Indian  arrow,  and  the  owners  of  the 
land  were  forbidden  to  cut  them. 

The  town  of  Greenland  was  set  off  from  Portsmouth  in  1705, 
and  incorporated  as  a  parish  in  1706.  There  were  at  the  time  about 
320  inhabitants.  Settlements  had  commenced  within  the  terri- 
tory many  years  before  ;  and  men,  women  and  children  had  been 
accustomed  to  walk  six  and  eight  miles  to  attend  services  and 
meetings  at  Portsmouth.     Rev.  William  Allen  was  ordained  and 

'  <  ■ranite  Montlilv. 


132 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1704 


settled  as  their  minister  in  1707  ;  Rev.  Samuel  McClintock,  D.D., 
in  1756;  Rev.  James  Neal,  in  1805;  Rev.  Ephraim  Abbott,  in 
1813;  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Clark,  in  1829;  Rev.  Edwin  Holt,  in 
1848;  Rev.  Edward  Robie,  in  1852. 


John  Allen. 
Daniel  Allen. 
Joseph  Berry. 
Nathaniel  Berrv. 
James  Berrj. 
Robert  Brjant,  Jr, 
John  Bryant. 
John  Gate. 
Samuel  Davis. 
Daniel  Davis. 
John  Docom. 
Robert  Goss. 


Inhabitants  of  Greenland 
William  Haines. 
Matthew  Haines. 
William  Hodge. 
Nathaniel  Hugen. 
Ebenezer  Johnson. 
John  Johnson. 
Nathan  Johnson. 
James  Johnson. 
Sarah  Jackson. 
James  March. 
Israel  March. 
Samuel  Neal. 


IN  1714. 
John  Neal. 
Thomas  Perkins. 
Thomas  Packer. 
Joshua  Peirce. 
John  Philbrook. 
John  Philbrook. 
Benjamin  Skilan. 
Nathaniel  Watson. 
Joshua  Weeks. 
Jonathan  Weeks. 
Joseph  Weeks. 
Samuel  Weeks. 


The  year  1704  was  remarkable  for  the  renewal  of  the  Indian 
-war  and  dissensions  between  the  lieutenant-governor  and  his 
council  and  the  Assembly.  The  recorder  refused  to  deliver  the 
records  to  Penhallow,  the  secretary,  without  a  vote  of  the  Assem- 
bly. The  latter  appropriated  thirty-eight  shillings  towards 
Usher's  support,  and  voted  him  the  use  of  two  rooms  at  New 
Castle,  —  a  rather  meagre  allowance,  considering  the  wealth  and 
state  of  the  lieutenant  governor.  The  decision  of  the  English 
courts  having  been  communicated  to  the  Assembly  by  Gover- 
nor Dudley,  they  signified  their  consent  to  the  proprietor's  claim 
to  the  waste  lands  of  the  Province,  but  asserted  that  he  had 
gone  beyond  his  rights  in  taking  possession  of  the  commons 
within  the  incorporated  township.  In  fact,  Allen  had  served 
legal  papers  upon  Waldron,  and  urged  the  governor's  presence 
to  enforce  the  Queen's  decree  ;  but  Dudley  was  attacked  by  a 
seasonable  fit  of  sickness  at  Newbur}^  which  prevented  his 
attendance  at  court.  At  length,  fairly  worn  out  by  the  contro- 
versy with  such  determined  adversaries,  Allen  made  advan- 
tageous offers  of  compromise,  in  1705,  accepting  for  himself  a 
tract  forty  miles  long  and  twenty  miles  wide,  at  the  head  of  the 
old  township,  and  reasonably  large  farms  in  each  of  the  settled 


I715]  ROYAL    PROVINCE.  IT,^ 

towns  and  ^2,000  in  cash,  while  he  released  all  title  to  the  bal- 
ance of  the  territory  of  the  province.  Death  again  prevented 
this  happy  arrangement,  for  Samuel  Allen  died  in  May,  1705, 
the  day  after  the  necessary  papers  were  to  have  been  signed. 
Me  was  "a  gentleman  of  no  remarkable  abilities,  and  of  a  soli- 
tary rather  than  a  social  disposition  ;  but  mild,  obliging,  and 
charitable.  His  character  as  a  merchant  was  fair  and  upright, 
and  his  domestic  deportment  amiable  and  exemplary.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  attended  the  Congre- 
gational services  at  New  Castle."  He  died  in  his  seventieth 
year,  leaving  one  son  and  four  daughters. 

The  year  after  his  death,  his  son,  Thomas  Allen  of  London, 
renewed  the  suit  in  the  inferior  court  of  the  Province,  in  1706, 
and  was  defeated.  On  an  appeal  to  the  superior  court,  in  1707, 
he  was  again  defeated.  This  was  the  most  celebrated  trial  of 
the  case.  James  IMenzies  and  John  Valentine  appeared  for  the 
proprietor  and  John  Pickering  and  Charles  Story  for  the  de- 
fence. The  jury  paid  no  attention  to  the  Queen's  directions, 
and  the  case  was  again  appealed  to  the  English  courts.  Then, 
on  the  account  of  the  loyalty  of  the  people,  and  their  sufferings 
during  the  war,  no  decision  was  arrived  at  until  the  case  was 
abruptly  closed  by  the  death  of  Allen,  in  171 5. 

Hampton  Falls,  originally  a  part  of  Hampton,  set  off  in  1709, 
was  incorporated  in  171 2,  when  Rev.  Theophilus  Cotton  was 
settled  as  the  minister.  He  was  succeeded  in  1727  by  Rev. 
Joseph  Whipple;  in  1757,  by  Rev.  Josiah  Bayley ;  in  1763,  by 
Rev.  Paine  Wingate ;  in  1781,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Langdon,  D.  D., 
for  several  years  president  of  Harvard  College;  in  1798.  by 
Rev.  Jacob  Abbott,  the  last  Congregational  minister,  who  was 
dismissed  in  1827. 

Petitioners  for  Incorporation  of  H.\mpton  F.\lls. 

John  Brown.  Jonathan  Fifield.  Robert  Reed. 

William  Brown.  Jonathan  Filbrook  John  Swavn. 

Israel  Black.  John  French.  Caleb  Swavn. 

Nath.  Bacheler.  John  Gove.  Joseph  Sweet,  Jr. 

Benj.  Bacheler.  Ebenezer  Gove.  Jacob  Stanvan. 

Moses  Blake.  Isaac  Green.  John  Sanborn. 

Philemon  Blake.  Nathan  Green.  Wm.  Sanborn. 


134 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1716 


Timothy  Blake. 
John  Cass. 
Joseph  Cass. 
John  Cram. 
John  Cram. 
Thomas  Cram. 
Benjamin  Cram. 
Zachariah  Clifford. 
Israel  Clifford,  Jr. 
Jacob  Clifford. 
John  Drown. 
John  Eaton. 
Joseph  Emons. 
Benjamin  Fifield. 


Ephraim  Hoit. 
Timothy  Hutchins. 
Benj.  Hillyard. 
Saml.  Healy, 
Nehemiah  Heath. 
John  Morginn. 
Saml.  Melcher. 
Bonos  Norton. 
Benj.  Perkins. 
Caleb  Perkins. 
Jonathan  Prescott. 
Nath.  Prescott. 
James  Prescott,  Sen. 
Thos.  Philbrook. 


Joseph  Swett. 
Samuel  Shaw. 
Caleb  Shaw. 
Joseph  Sanborn. 
Enoch  Sanborn, 
William  Shipperd. 
Joseph  Tilton. 
Daniel  Tilton. 
Jethro  Tilton. 
David  Tilton. 
Peter   Weare. 
Nathl.  Weare. 
Nathl.  Weare,  Jr. 
Edward  Wilkins. 


During  all  these  years  of  war,  John  Usher  continued  in  his 
office  of  lieutenant-governor.  "  His  austere  and  ungracious 
manners,  and  the  interest  he  had  in  Allen's  claim,  prevented 
him  from  acquiring  that  popularity  which  he  seems  to  have 
deserved."  What  was  most  remarkable,  he  had  to  serve  for  the 
honor  of  the  office  without  any  of  the  emoluments.  His  prede- 
cessor had  been  liberally  paid,  but  even  the  great  popularity  of 
Dudley  could  not  induce  the  Assembly  to  give  Usher  a  salary. 
Their  first  allowance  to  him  was  less  than  ^2  for  travelling- 
expenses  from  Boston,  which  amount  they  increased  to  ^^5,  and 
in  a  fit  of  generosity,  at  Dudley's  suggestion,  they  again  in- 
creased it  to  ^10.  Thsy  also  provided  him  with  quarters  on 
Great  Island,  which  he  complained  of  as  not  fit  for  his  servants. 
Upon  his  retiring  from  office,  in  171 5,  he  returned  to  Medford, 
where  he  lived  in  state  for  nearly  a  dozen  years,  dying  at  the 
age  of  seventy-eight  years. 

He  was  succeeded  in  office  by  George  Vaughan,  in  October, 
171 5.  Governor  Dudley  had  become  very  popular.  His  salary 
was  freely  appropriated,  and  petitions  were  sent  to  the  Queen 
to  keep  hJm  in  office;  but  he  was  superseded  in  October,  1716, 
by  Samuel  Shute. 

With  the  departure  of  Usher  and  the  death  of  Allen,  the 
Masonian  claim  was  taken  from  the  courts  for  the  last  time,  but 
in  ano':her  generation  it  was  destined  to  arise  and  trouble 
people  in  another  way  for  many  years  to  come. 


I7I4] 


ROYAL    PROVINCE. 


135 


Newington  was  named,  in  17 14,  by  Governor  Dudley,  and  had 
already  been  incorporated  as  a  parish.  It  included  the  disputed 
territory  called  Bloody  Point,  which,  in  1644,  had  contained 
twelve  families.  The  settlers  at  that  time  were  :  James  John- 
son, Thomas  Canning,  Henry  Longstaff,  Thomas  Fursen,  John 
Fayes,  William  Frayser,  Oliver  Trimings,  William  Jones,  Philip 
Lewis,  Thomas  Trickey,  John  Goddard  and  one  other.  It  had 
town  privileges  as  early  as  1737.  Rev.  Joseph  Adams  was 
ordained  and  settled  in  the  town  in  171 5,  and  was  followed,  in. 
1795,  by  Rev.  James  Langdon,  the  last  settled  Congregational'' 
minister. 


■  /lu-r^.^,,^ 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ROYAL  PROVINCE,   1715-1722. 

Tn'troduction  —  George  Vaughan  —  Samuel  Shute — John  Wentworth 
— Commerce — Two-Mile  Slip  — Scotch-  Irish  —  Londonderry  — Early 

Settlers  —  Chester. 

"pEACE  having  been  assured,  by  a  treaty  with  the  French  and 
Indians,  from  171 5  to  1722  the  Province  took  rapid  strides  in 
the  line  of  progress.  Commerce  was  fostered,  and  settlements 
were  rapidly  advanced  upon  hitherto  ungranted  lands.  The 
power  of  the  Indians  had  been  broken  by  repeated  contests, 
and  only  a  few  of  them  remained,  scattered  over  the  Province, 
to  impede  the  advance  of  settlers.  The  rights  of  the  proprietors, 
under  the  Masonian  grant,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  minors, 
or  non-resident  claimants,  and  were  not  very  definite.  From 
repeated  suits  the  representatives  of  the  claim  had  come  to 
realize  that  the  people  of  the  Province  would  never  submit  to 
hold  their  lands  as  tenants  under  a  landlord.  The  claimants 
watched  the  progress  of  events,  but  could  not  control  them. 

Up  to  this  time  the  settlements  had  been  confined  to  a  narrow 
territory  bordering  upon  the  ocean  and  Great  Bay.  On  account 
of  the  uncertainty  of  title,  the  inland  valleys  and  meadows  had 
not  been  occupied.  Within  ten  years,  the  frontiers  were  advanced 
nearly  fifty  miles  into  the  interior. 

George  Vaughan,  the  lieutenant-governor,  who  superseded 
John  Usher,  arrived  in  the  Province  and  opened  his  commission 
in  October,  17 15.  After  his  arrival,  Governor  Dudley,  daily  ex- 
pecting his  successor,  did  not  come  into  New  Hampshire,  but  left 
the  government  to  Vaughan.  George  Vaughan  was  the  son  of 
Major  WilHam  Vaughan  and  received  the  office  as  a  recognition 


I717]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  1 37 

of  the  services  cf  his  father,  who  had  suffered  financially  and 
physically  in  defendinj^  the  colonists  from  the  rapacity  of  the  pro- 
prietors. Lieutenant-Governor  Vaughan  held  the  office  of  chief 
magistrate  one  year  before  the  arrival,  in  October,  1717,  of 
Governor  Samuel  Shute.  He  summoned  the  Assembly,  who  re- 
fused to  make  appropriations  for  a  longer  time  than  one  year, 
whereupon  he  dissolved  them. 

Samuel  Shute,  governor  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire, 
made  several  changes  in  the  council  upon  his  arrival  in  Ports- 
mouth, confining  his  new  appointments  to  residents  of  that 
town.  This  was  not  satisfactory  to  the  rural  portion  of  the 
Province,  who  remonstrated  with  the  governor,  and  complained 
that  the  traders  of  Portsmouth  were  favored  in  imposing  taxes 
to  the  injurv  of  the  farmers.  The  governor  judiciously  left  the 
matter  to  be  settled  by  his  council. 

In  171 7,  the  authorities,  at  the  recommendation  of  the  gover- 
nor, issued  bills  of  credit  or  bonds,  to  the  amount  of  ^15,000, 
bearing  10  per  cent,  interest.  A  difficulty  soon  arose  between 
Governor  Shute  and  Lieutenant-Governor  Vaughan.  The  latter 
claimed  to  be  chief  magistrate  in  the  absence  of  the  former  and 
suspended  councillors  and  dissolved  the  Assembly  on  his  own 
authority.  To  this  Governor  Shute  objected,  and  the  council 
sustained  him  ;  whereupon  he  suspended  Vaughan,  reinstated 
Penhallow,  a  deposed  councillor,  and  recalled  the  dissolved  Assem- 
bly. John  Wentworth,  sometime  later  in  the  year,  received 
the  appointment  of  lieutenant-governor,  his  commission  arriv- 
ing early  in  December. 

Wentworth  had  accumulated  considerable  property.  He  was 
prudent,  obliging,  and  popular  with  the  people  ;  and,  having 
served  five  years  in  the  council  before  he  was  appointed  lieuten- 
ant-governor, he  was  familiar  with  the  forms  and  duties  of  the 
office.  As  a  merchant,  he  could  develop  the  resources  of  the 
Province  to  the  best  advantage,  and,  as  it  was  a  time  of  peace, 
find  for  the  lumber  and  naval  stores  a  ready  and  profitable 
market. 

Under  Wentworth's  wise  admmistration  various  industries 
were  fostered.     An  old   Massachusetts  grant  was  revived,  and  a 


138  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  [1/22 

strip  of  land  bordering  on  Dover,  called  the  two-mile  slip,  was 
given  to  encourage  the  mining  of  iron  ore.  Besides  masts,  there 
was  considerable  commerce  in  tar,  pitch,  and  turpentine  ;  and  a 
start  was  made  in  raising  hemp.  All  the  available  land  in  the 
Province  already  granted  was  not  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  the 
people. 

At  this  juncture,  a  large  party  of  emigrants  from  the  north  of 
Ireland  arrived  in  New  England  and  requested  of  Governor  Shute 
the  grant  of  a  township  on  which  to  settle.  He  sent  a  party  of 
them  along  the  eastern  coast,  but  they  returned  to  Boston  with- 
out finding  land  that  suited  them.  Hearing  of  a  desirable  place 
ungranted  above  Haverhill,  they  chose  to  locate  their  grant  of 
a  township  there.  This  was  in  17 19.  A  new  difficulty  now 
arose.  Who  could  grant  the  territory  ?  The  King  could  not  do 
so  without  interfering  with  private  property,  for  his  predeces- 
sors had  already  granted  it.  Some  three  years  before,  the 
authorities  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  had  attempted 
to  decide  their  boundary  line,  but  could  not  agree.  There  were 
many  claimants  under  the  Masonian  grant  ;  and  there  was  an 
Indian  title.  The  new  settlers  at  first  bought  the  latter  title 
and  applied  to  Usher,  representative  of  the  Masonian  claim,  for 
a  deed  from  him  for  his  interests,  but  could  not  obtain  one.  So 
they  laid  out  their  township,  and,  as  they  could  do  so,  perfected 
their  titles.  They  brought  with  them  the  cultivation  of  the  Irish 
potatoes,  and  the  necessary  materials  for  the  manufacture  of 
linen.  They  came  with  their  ministers  and  their  school-masters  ; 
and  were  pious,  brave  and  frugal.  They  at  once  organized  a 
church,  and  receiving  an  act  of  protection  from  the  New  Hamp- 
shire authorities,  were  permitted  to  have  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
James  McKeen,  and  a  deputy  sheriff,  Robert  Weir,  among 
them.  Their  number  was  rapidly  increased  by  later  arrivals, 
so  that,  in  1722,  the  town  was  incorporated  by  the  name  of 
Londonderry. 

The  Scotch-Irish,  so  called  in  New  England  history,  were  of 
Saxon  lineage,  with  their  blood  unmixed,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  with  the  half  barbaric  Scotch  highlanders,  or  their  rude 
cousins,  the  Irish   Celts.     They  were    rigid    Presbyterians,  fol- 


1722]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  I39 

lowers  and  admirers  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  enemies  of  Popery  and 
the  Established  Church  of  JCngland,  brave,  zealous,  lovers  of 
learning  and  libertv,  and  withal  bigoted  in  their  advanced 
notions.  Cromwell  had  peopled  the  waste  districts  of  northern 
Ireland  witli  these,  his  most  trusted  and  reliable  troops,  to  pacify 
that  land  most  effectually.  A  change  in  the  government 
brought  careless  King  Charles  II  to  the  throne,  a  Catholic  at 
lieart,  an  ICpiscopalian  b\'  profession,  a  voluptuary  in  practice,  who 
withdrew  his  support  from,  and  deprived  of  arms  for  defence, 
the  Scotch  colony  planted  in  Ireland,  leaving  them  to  the  mercy 
of  a  revengeful  peasantry.  Who  so  ready  to  welcome  a  revolu- 
tion as  these  brave  Scots,  oppressed  by  the  government,  cruelly 
])ersecuted  by  their  neighbors,  and  powerless  to  oppose  ?  William 
of  Orange  became  their  champion,  and,  like  the  Ironsides  of 
Croniwell,  their  fathers,  they  drove  the  Irish  from  their  borders, 
and  withstood  the  most  determined  siege  in  history  within  the 
walls  of  Londonderry,  resisting  the  power  of  the  Irish  and 
French  troops  seeking  to  reduce  them. 

They  could  present  a  brave  front  to  an  open  attack,  but  they 
were  not  equal  to  withstanding  the  petty  encroachments  of  the 
Established  Church  insidiously  undermining  their  beloved  Kirk. 
The  Pilgrims  had  found  religious  freedom  in  a  new  and  undeve- 
loped country,  and  thither  the  Scotch-Irish  sent  agents  to  s[)y 
out  and  report  the  condition  of  the  land  and  its  fitness  for 
occupation.  The  Irish  had  not  intimidated  them  ;  they  scorned 
the  untutored  Indian.  Like  an  invading  host  they  flocked  to 
the  sea-board  and  poured  into  New  England,  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  southern  provinces,  pushing  the  frontiers  rapidly  into  the 
untrodden  wilderness,  and  settling  the  fertile  valleys  and  hill- 
sides far  in  advance  of  their  predecessors.  One  stream  striking 
Boston  was  diverted  to  Londonderry.  The  Scotch-Irish  colony 
located  there  in  17 19  came  to  stay.  Hundreds  followed  in  their 
footsteps,  tarried  awhile  with  their  friends  so  happily  settled, 
and  pressed  on  into  the  wilderness,  over  the  hills  to  the  Falls  of 
Amoskeag,  up  the  Merrimack,  by  Hooksett  Falls,  to  the  fertile 
valley  of  the  Suncook.  still  further  to  the  blooming  intervales  of 
Penacook  and  the    wide    meadows    of    the    Contoocook.     They 


140  HISTORY    Or    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/22 

were  cultivating  fields  in  Epsom  before  the  township  was  laid 
out  to  the  grantees.  The  Massachusetts  surveying  party  laying 
out  Concord  reported  that  they  were  in  possession  of  the  inter- 
vales, and  were  protected  by  a  fort  from  disturbance  of  friend  or 
foe.  The  law  dislodged  them  from  that  favored  spot,  now  the 
site  of  the  village  of  East  Concord,  and  was  invoked  to  keep 
them  out  by  the  first  settlers :  for  among  the  first  regulations 
adopted  by  the  proprietors  of  "  Penacook  "  was  one  forbidding 
the  alienation  of  any  lot  without  the  consent  of  the  community 
under  penalty  of  forfeiting  the  right  to  the  lot  to  the  proprietors 
—  a  rule  evidently  intended  to  exclude  a  "  parcel  of  Irish  people  " 
known  to  be  seeking  homes  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  proprietors  of  Suncook  no  doubt  found  the  land  occupied 
by  these  same  strangers  and  aliens,  but  the  same  prejudice  did 
not  prevail,  for  early  in  the  records  of  the  township  the  Scotch- 
Irish  were  holding  "  original  rights,"  were  admitted  as  pro- 
prietors and  freeholders,  and  even  as  early  as  1737  were  claiming 
a  majority.  No  doubt  they  held  the  title  to  their  lands  first  by 
possession  and  occupation,  next  by  legal  conveyance  from  the 
Suncook  proprietors.  Being  in  a  majority  they  claimed  a  voice 
in  the  settlement  of  a  minister  to  preach  the  gospel,  but  were 
"  counted  out,"  and  paid  their  rates  towards  the  support  of  a 
minister  not  to  their  liking  with  evident  disrelish. 

1  What  wealth  of  associations  is  connected  with  the  name  of 
Londonderry  !  The  Scotch  Covenanters,  stern,  brave  men,  who 
made  a  garden  of  the  north  of  Ireland,  who  so  stubbornly  and 
successfully  defended  their  devoted  city,  who  helped  so  manfully 
to  maintain  the  monarch  and  the  cause  that  later  would  oppress 
them  as  aliens,  surrounded  by  enemies  at  home,  burdened  by 
obnoxious  laws  enforced  by  their  allies  of  the  Established 
Church,  sought  in  the  wilderness  of  America  liberty  and  that 
religious  freedom  which  the  Puritans,  a  century  earlier,  had  suc- 
cessfully gained.  A  young  man,  Holmes  by  name,  son  of  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  brought  a  good  account  of  the  promised 
land.  Four  congregations,  led  by  their  respective  clergymen, 
commenced  the  exodus,  which,  in  a  few  years,  rendered  possible 

I  Hon.  L.  A.  Morrison,  A.  M. 


I719]  KOVAI.     l'K()\-IXCE.  141 

the  American  Revolution.  Governor  Shute,  of  Massachusetts, 
was  above  the  narrow  prejudices  of  his  contemporaries  in  the 
colony,  and  welcomed  this  band  of  hardy  settlers,  resolute 
warriors,  scholars  and  skilled  artisans,  and  generously  granted 
them  a  large  section  of  land.  April  11,  1719,  the  congregation, 
under  the  spiritual  guidance  of  Rev.  James  MacGregore,  arrived 
at  Horse  Hill  and  commenced  the  settlement  of  the  township  of 
Londonderry,  a  tract,  as  originally  granted,  twelve  miles  square. 
It  cornered  on  the  present  Massachusetts  State  line,  and  was 
bounded  on  the  south  by  Pelham,  on  the  west  by  Litchfield,  on 
the  north  by  Chester,  and  on  the  east  by  Hampstead.  It  in- 
cluded the  present  towns  of  Londonderry,  Derry,  and  Windham, 
and  tracts  now  embraced  within  the  towns  of  Salem,  Hudson, 
and  the  city  of  Manchester. 

These  settlers,  whose  descendants  have  removed  the  odium  at- 
tached to  the  name  of  Scotch-Irish,  and  have  written  their 
names  on  the  imperishable  pages  of  history,  receiving  their 
original  grant  from  Massachusetts,  had  it  confirmed  to  them  by 
the  authorities  of  New  Hampshire,  purchased  the  right  claimed 
under  the  Wheelwright  deed  and  evidently  entered  into  a  compact 
with  the  Indians,  for  they  were  never  disturbed  in  their  possess- 
ions, although  a  frontier  town.  During  the  first  summer  they 
united  in  cultivating  a  field  in  common,  amicably  dividing  the 
produce  in  the  autumn.  Although  not  rich,  they  brought  with 
them  considerable  property  from  the  old  country,  and  very  soon 
were  surrounded  with  many  of  the  comforts  and  even  luxuries 
of  civilization.  A  two-story  house  was  built  for  their  minister, 
and  a  commodious  church  for  public  worship.  Schools  were  estab- 
lished in  different  parts  of  the  town  and  much  attention 
given  to  the  education  of  the  young.  It  is  a  characteristic  fact 
that  ninety-five  out  of  one  hundred  of  the  original  proprietors 
left  their  autographs  in  a  fairly  legible  hand  on  various  j^etitions. 

The  progress  made  by  the  town  of  Londonderry  was  remark- 
able. Its  wealth  and  population  increased  rapidly.  In  1775 
it  contained  2,590  inhabitants,  ranking  next  to  Portsmouth  in  im- 
portance. By  1820  Gilmanton  and  Sanbornton  had  outstri])ped 
it,  and  it  held  the  fourth  position  among  the  New  Hami)shire 
towns. 


142 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1719 


The  vanguard  of  the  Scotch-Irish  invasion  which  settled  Londonderry,  ac- 
cording to  John  Farmer,  were  : 


Randel  Alexander. 
Samuel  Allison. 
Allen  Anderson. 
James  Anderson. 
John  Barnet. 
Archibald  Clendenin. 


James  Clark. 
James  Gregg. 
John  Mitchell. 
John  Morrison. 
James  McKean 


M  ir.John  Nesmith. 
Thomas  Steele. 
Sterrett. 
John  Steward. 
Robert  Weir. 


Within  a  few  years  they  were  followed  by 


James  Adams. 

John  Adams. 

James  Aiken. 

Nathaniel  Aiken. 

James  Alexander. 

John  Andersen, 

Robert  Arbuckel. 

John  Archbald. 

John  Barnett. 

Moses  Barnett. 

John  Barr. 

Samuel  Barr. 

John  Bell. 

James  Blair. 

John  Blair. 

James  Caldwell. 

James  Campbell. 

David  Cargill. 

Benjamin  Chamberlain. 

Matthew  Clark. 

Andrew  Clendenin. 

Ninin  Cochran. 

Peter  Cochran. 

Robert  Cochran. 

William  Cochran. 

Thomas  Cochran. 

John  Conaghie. 

Hugh  Craige. 

John  Craig. 

Jesse  Cristi. 

John  Cromay. 
•John  Dinsmore. 

Patrick  Douglass. 

William  Eayrs. 
James  Gillmor. 


Robert  Gillmor. 
John  Gofte. 
John  Goffe,  Jr. 
Samuel  Graves. 
John  Gregg. 
William  Harper. 
James  Harvey. 
John  Harvey.  -»«»" 

William  Hogg. 
Abraham  Holmes. 
Jonathan  Hollme. 
John  Hopkins. 
Solomon  Hopkins^ 
Thomas  Horner. 
Samuel  Houston. 
William  Humphrey. 
David  Hunter. 
Alexander  Kelsey. 
Robert  Kennedy. 
Benjamin  Kidder, 
James  Leslie. 
Jaines  Lindsay. 
Edward  Linkfield. 
Daniel  McDuffie. 
Robert  McFarlin. 
Nathan  McFarlin. 
James  MacGregore. 
David  MacGregore. 
Robert  McKean. 
Samuel  McKean. 
Archibald  Mackmurphy, 
John  McMurphy. 
Alexander  MacNeal. 
John  McNeill. 
William  Michel). 


Hugh  Montgomery. 

John  Moore. 

William  Moore. 

James  Morrison- 
Robert  Morrison. 

Samuel  Morrison. 

David  Morrison. 
'James  Nesmith. 

Alexander  Nickels. 

Hugh  Ramsey. 
James  Reid. 

Matthew  Reid. 
Alexander  Renkine. 

Samuel  Renkin. 
James  Rodgers. 

Hugh  Rogers. 

John  Shields. 
Archibald  Stark. 
Charles  Stewart. 
Thomas  Stewart. 
James  Taggart. 
John  Taggart. 
James  Thomson. 
William  Thomson, 
Robert  Thompson. 
Andrew  Todd. 
Samuel  Todd. 
Alexander  Walker. 
James  Walles. 
Archibald  Wear. 
Robert  Weir. 
Benjamin  Willson. 
James  Willson. 
Hugh  Wilson. 
Thomas  Wilson. 


I720J  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  I43 

And  later  by  those  of  the  name  of 

^       T-i-1 —  Pierce.  McAIester. 

Gibson.  Spaulding.  Livermorc. 

Burns.  Prentice.  McCiintock. 

^^^   Parker.  Wallace.  Knox. 

Proctor.  Choate.  Mann. 

Thornton.  Patterson.  Cunningham. 

Thorn.  Fisher.  Daniels. 

Simonds.  Pinkerton.  Martin. 

The  granting  and  incorporation  of  Londonderry  to  new  com- 
ers was  distasteful  to  men  who  for  a  generation  had  suffered  to 
maintain  a  foothold  along  the  coast  against  the  attacks  of  a 
cruel  and  treacherous  enemy,  cramped  for  land  as  they  and  their 
large  families  had  become  ;  and  immediately  all  kinds  of  reasons 
were  advanced  why  townships  should  be  granted,  both  in  New 
Hampshire  and  in  what  was  then  claimed  as  Massachusetts, 
bounded  by  a  line  parallel  with  the  Merrimack  river,  extending  to 
Governor's  Island  in  Lake  Winnipiseogee,  and  thence  running 
due  west  across  the  present  State  of  Vermont  to  the  east  line 
of  the  Province  of  New  York.  Some  of  these  petitions  were 
favorably  received  and  acted  upon.  In  1722,  Governor  Shute, 
as  his  last  official  act,  granted  and  incorporated,  in  the  name  of 
the  King,  the  four  townships  of  Chester,  Nottingham,  Barrington, 
and  Rochester. 

1  The  records  of  Chester  commence  with  the  proceedings  of 
a  meeting  of  the  "  Society  for  settling  the  Chestnut  Country, 
held  at  said  country,  the  fifteenth  of  October,  17 19."  The 
society  had  probably  existed  some  time,  and  was  composed 
principally  of  men  of  Hampton  and  Portsmouth.  Afterward 
duplicate  records  were  kept  at  Hampton.  The  number  of  the 
society  was  restricted  to  ninety.  They  had  preferred  a  petition 
to  the  governor  and  council,  and  in  March,  1720,  it  was  with- 
drawn, and  another  presented.  They  also  voted  to  keep  three 
men  on  the  ground,  and  a  possession  fence  was  built.  They 
also  laid  out  lots  before  obtaining  any  grant.  This  meeting  was 
probably  at  Walnut  Hill,  near  the  south  east  corner  of  the  town- 
ship.    There  was  also  another  company  of  Massachusetts  men, 

'   Benjamin  Chase. 


144  HISTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/22 

headed  by  John  Calf,  who  were  endeavoring  to  procure  a  grant. 
John  Calf  was  a  clothier  at  the  Falls,  in  Newbury,  and  was  a 
grantee  under  the  charter  of  Chester,  and  moved  and  carried 
on  the  trade  there.  They  also  tried  to  have  possession.  There 
is  a  deed  on  the  records  to  Samuel  Ingalls  of  "Cheshire," 
blacksmith,  dated  Oct.  23,  1717.  He  appears  afterward,  indeed, 
to  be  of  Haverhill,  but  he  had  a  constructive  residence  in 
Chester,  and  a  constructive  possession  of  the  territory.  There 
seems,  by  the  House  and  council  records,  to  have  been  other 
parties  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  grant.  There  is  a  deed  on 
Rockingham  records,  dated  May,  1722,  wherein  Stephen  Dud- 
ley, of  Freetown  (Raymond),  in  consideration  of  affection,  con- 
veys to  Francis  James  of  Gloucester,  his  right  to  400  acres  in 
Freetown,  to  be  taken  out  of  that  tract  bought  of  Peter  Penuit, 
and  Abigail  his  squaw,  by  deed,  dated  on  Jan.  17,  171 8. 

This  was  probably  a  move  for  color  of  title  and  possession 
for  some  of  the  parties.  There  was  a  compromise  made  by 
admitting  certain  persons  of  the  Massachusetts  party,  and  also 
of  PZxeter,  and  a  grant  was  obtained  Jan.  4,  1/20;  but  the  char- 
ter of  the  town  was  dated  May  8,  1722.  The  governor  and 
lieutenant-governor  had  each  a  farm  of  500  acres,  and  a  home 
lot,  by  a  vote  of  the  society  ;  and  the  charter  provided  that  the 
first  settled  minister  should  have  a  right,  also  one  for  a  parson- 
age, and  one  for  a  school.  The  boundaries  commenced  at  the 
south-east  corner,  at  the  supposed  intersection  of  Haverhill 
and  Kingston  lines.  In  1674,  Haverhill  lines  were  run  from 
Holt's  Rocks  (a  little  east  of  the  Rock  bridge),  north-west  ;  and 
from  Merrimack  river  due  north,  until  it  cut  the  first  line. 

At  this  spot  was  "  erected  a  great  pillar  of  stones,"  which 
two  old  men,  more  than  sixty  years  ago,  told  Benjamin  Chase 
they  had  seen  in  Chester  South  Woods.  When  the  Province 
line  was  settled  in  1741,  Daniel  McDuffee  and  Hugh  McDuffee, 
who  lived  near  Kimball's  corner  in  Derry,  were  cut  off  from 
Haverhill. 

When  the  town  was  laid  out  into  lots,  there  were  1 17  grantees  ; 
and  each  member  of  the  council  had  a  right.  The  home  lots 
of  20  acres,  from  the  corner   by  Kingston,  and    the  old  Haver- 


^^22]  KOVAL    PKOVIXCE.  145 

liill  line,  to  the  head  of  Chester  street,  and  a  ten  rod  way  cross- 
ing at  right  angles  where  the  Centre  now  is,  on  which  the 
first  meeting-house  was  built,  were  laid  out  in  17 19,  before  any 
grant  was  made.  In  1724,  an  additional  lot  of  fifty  acres  was 
laid  out  to  each  grantee.  The  beavers  had  built  dams  on  the 
.stream,  which  killed  the  growth,  and  when  the  beavers  were 
killed  and  the  dams  went  down,  the  grass  came  in,  and  in 
1728  a  meadow  lot  was  laid  out  to  each  right.  There  is  a 
stream,  which  heads  near  the  Congregational  church  in  Auburn, 
extending  into  Londonderry,  with  meadows,  which  was  called 
the  "Long  Meadows";  and  what  is  now  Auburn  was  the 
"Long  Meadows."  In  1728,  the  first  part  of  the  second 
division  of  lOO  acres,  called  the  "  Old  Hundreds,"  which  is  the 
present  town  of  Raymond  ;  in  1736  the  second  part  of  the 
second  division  of  100  acres  ;  in  1739  the  third  division  of  80 
acres,  all  in  Candia  ;  in  1745  the  fourth  division  of  60  acres; 
and  in  1752  the  fifth  division  of  40  acres,  all  in  Hooksett,  were 
laid  out.  Maps  of  these  divisions  were  made  at  the  time,  and 
have  been  preserved  by  copying,  and  all  deeds  gave  the  number 
and  division  of  the  lot,  so  that  one  can  locate  every  settler 
whose  deed  is  on  record.  The  first  settler  was  Samuel  Ingalls, 
born  in  Andover,  1683,  and  moved  to  Haverhill,  and  had  six 
children  before  coming  to  Chester  ;  and  his  daughter  Meheta- 
ble,  born  1723,  was  the  first  child  born  in  Chester.  She  married 
Samuel  Moore,  -who  afterwards  lived  at  Candia  corner.  She 
died  in  18 18.  There  is  a  tradition  that  he  came  to  Chester 
in  1720.  In  March,  1722,  Samuel  Ingalls  of  Winfield,  otherwise 
Cheshire,  sold  a  right,  reserving  the  home  lot,  number  64,  "on 
which  I  live."  He  built  the  first  farmhouse  about  1732  ;  held 
the  ofifice  of  moderator,  selectman  and  town  clerk.  In  1731, 
Samuel  Ingalls  is  styled  captain  on  the  record  and  Ebenezer 
Dearborn,  lieutenant,  and  Jacob  Sargent,  ensign,  which  was  the 
first  military  organization.  January,  1720,  he  and  three  others 
had  land  and  a  privilege  granted  to  build  a  saw-mill,  and  in 
1730  John  Aiken  had  a  grant  of  land  to  build  a  grist-mill. 

Londonderry  was  granted  to  settlers,  already  on  the  ground, 
but  there  were  but  si.x  of  the  original  grantees  of  Chester  who 


146  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/22 

ever  lived  here,  except  the  Rev.  Moses  Hale,  the  first  minister 
who  settled  on  the  minister's  lot.  The  first  settlement  was  at 
Walnut  Hill,  near  the  south-east  corner,  but  settlers  soon  came 
in  from  different  parts  and  settled  in  different  places.  The 
charter  provided  that  every  proprietor  should  build  a  house  and 
settle  a  family  in  three  years,  and  break  up  and  plant  three 
acres  in  four  years,  and  a  meeting-house  should  be  built  in 
four  years,  provided  that  there  should  be  no  Indian  war  in  that 
time.  The  settlers,  who  were  grantees,  were  Samuel  Ingalls, 
William  Healey  of  Hampton  Falls,  Dea.  Ebenezer  Dearborn  of 
Hampton,  who  had  five  sons;  Nathan  Webster  of  Bradford,  who 
had  three  sons ;  John  Calf,  who  lived  in  Chester,  and  Thomas 
Smith  of  Hampton. 

The  sons  of  grantees  were  John  and  Samuel  Robinson,  sons 
of  Ichabod  of  Hampton  Falls  ;  Ephraim,  Thomas,  and  John 
Haselton,  sons  of  Richard  of  Bradford ;  Anthony  and  Francis 
Towle,  sons  of  Caleb  of  Hampton,  and  Elisha,  a  grandson, 
settled  in  Raymond  ;  and  John  Shackford,  son  of  Samuel  of 
Portsmouth  ;  and  Samuel  Emerson,  son  of  Jonathan  of  Haver- 
hill. His  name  first  appears  on  the  records  in  1731,  when  he 
was  elected  town  clerk,  and  was  re-elected  every  year  until 
1787,  when  he  died.  His  son  John  succeeded  him  until  1817. 
He  was  a  land  surveyor,  and  laid  out  the  second  part  of  the 
second  division  in  1736,  and  all  subsequent  divisions.  He  did 
all  the  surveying  and  wrote  most  of  the  deeds.  He  was  a  man 
of  such  judgment  and  integrity,  and  the  people  had  such  confi- 
dence in  him,  that  nearly  all  the  minor  controversies  were 
referred  to  him  without  any  legal  formalities,  and  his  decision 
was  beyond  appeal  or  review.  His  son,  Nathaniel,  was  a  promi- 
nent man  in  Candia.  Among  the  early  settlers  were  Enoch 
and  Benaiah  Colby,  and  Paul  and  Sylvanus  Smith  of  Hampton  ;. 
Ensign  Jacob  Sargent  from  Amesbury,  Sampson  Underbill 
from  Salisbury,  Cornet  John  Lane  from  Rye;  Henry,  Jonathan,' 
and  Nathaniel  Hall  from  Bradford ;  Thomas,  Moses,  Daniel, 
and  Caleb  Richardson ;  also,  Benjamin  Hill,  who  was  the  first 
representative  elected,  but  not  received ;  and  Abel  Morse,  who 
was  the  first  representative  received,  from  Newbury:  who  were 


1722]  ROVAL    I>KOVINCE,  [4/ 

Congregationalists.  Then  of  the  Scotch-Irish,  who  were  Pres- 
byterians ;  the  grandfather,  James  Wilson,  who  died  1739,  aged 
100;  the  son,  James,  and  his  four  sons,  William,  James,  Robert, 
and  Hugh.  They  came  from  Ireland  to  Stratham,  thence  to 
Chester  in  1728;  Alexander  Craige,  William  White,  William 
Crawford,  John  Talford,  William  and  Robert  Graham,  John 
Aiken,  and  James  Shirley.  In  1 728,  the  meeting-house  was  located 
at  "Centre  where  four  principal  roads  met,"  near  the  minister's 
lot.  The  dimensions  were  fifty  by  thirty-five  feet,  and  each 
proprietor  was  to  pay  forty  shillings.  The  house  was  not  fin- 
ished until  several  years  afterwards,  and  in  1737  land  was 
granted  to  Peter  and  Thomas  Cochran,  the  builders.  This 
house  stood  until  1773,  when  a  new  and  noble  house  was 
erected,  and  since  has  been  modernized. 

In  1729,  Mr.  John  Tuck  of  Hampton  was  called  to  be  the 
minister,  with  a  salary  of  ^120,  which  he  declined.  January 
15,  1729,  Rev.  Moses  Hale  was  called  to  be  the  minister  with  a 
salary  of  ;^  120.  He  was  ordained  October  20,  1731.  He  was 
born  at  Newbury,  1702;  graduated.  Harvard,  1722.  He  built 
a  house  on  the  minister's  lot,  and  purchased  Governor 
Wentworth's  home  lot,  which  was  sold  to  his  successor,  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Flagg.  Mr.  Hale  soon  became  deranged,  and  was 
dismissed  in  1735,  and  moved  to  Haverhill.  June,  1735,  Rev. 
Timothy  White  was  called,  but  declined.  June  23,  1736,  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Fiagg  was  called,  with  a  salary  of  ^^120,  silver  at 
twenty  shillings  per  ounce.  He  was  ordained  September,  1736. 
He  was  born  at  Woburn,  October  18,  1704;  graduated  Harvard, 
1725;  died  November  14,  1796,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Nathan  Bradstreet,  1792. 

The  Presbyterians  joined  in  building  the  meeting-house  and 
paying  Mr.  Hale;  but  before  he  left  they  had  hired  the  Rev. 
John  Wilson,  and  afterwards  built  a  meeting-house  about  a  mile 
south  of  the  other,  and  they  protested  against  hiring  or  settling 
any  other  minister.  They  appealed  to  the  governor  and  coun- 
cil by  a  document,  in  an  excellent  handwriting  and  language 
and  noble  sentiments  ;  and  the  result  was  an  act  was  passed, 
1740,  incorporating  two  parishes.     There  is  in  e.xistence  one  of 


148  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/22 

Mr.  Wilson's  manuscript  sermons,  dated  1734.  There  was  a 
small  meeting-house  built  at  the  Long  Meadows,  and  about  one 
third  of  the  preaching  was  there.  In  1793,  the  two  were  taken 
down  and  a  new  one  built  at  the  Long  Meadows.  Mr.  Wilson 
died  February  i,  1778,  succeeded  in  stated  supplies  by  a  Mr. 
Clark,  Mr.  Amran  and  others,  and  Mr.  Colby,  installed  1863. 

The  first  grant  for  a  saw-mill  was  made  to  Samuel  Ingalls 
and  others,  and  a  grist-mill  to  John  Aiken.  About  1734,  John 
Calf  moved  to  Chester,  and  in  1735,  had  a  grant  of  land  and 
privilege  to  build  a  fulling  mill  on  the  stream  running  into  the 
pond,  above  the  present  mill-pond.  There  probably  was  none 
to  the  north  of  it  for  a  long  time,  and  an  extensive  business 
was  done.  His  son  Robert  succeeded  him,  and  built  a  saw- 
mill there.  Samuel  Shirley  had  built  a  corn-mill  on  the  present 
:site,  and  Calf's  dam  being  cut  away,  he  and  his  son-in-law, 
Joseph  Blanchard,  purchased  Shirley's  in  1777,  and  the  privi- 
lege has  been  used  for  a  grist-mill,  saw-mill,  clothing-mill  and 
for  other  manufactures. 

In  1739,  land  and  privilege  was  granted  to  John  McMurphy 
to  build  a  grist-mill  on  Massabesic  river,  below  the  pond,  re- 
serving the  right  to  build  iron  works,  should  ore  be  found. 
The  first  inventory  on  record  was,  in  1741,  returned  to  the 
secretary's  office  to  make  a  proportion  of  Province  rates,  on 
which  are  150  names,  124  houses,  97  horses,  78  oxen.  In  1776, 
there  were  916  inhabitants.  In  1744,  a  writ  for  the  election  of 
a  representative  was  sent  to  Chester  by  the  governor,  and 
Benjamin  Hill  was  elected,  but  was  sent  back  because  the  writ 
was  not  issued  by  the  Assembly.  In  1748,  Captain  Abel  Morse 
was  received. 

The  committee  of  the  society  voted  that  when  the  next  pro- 
prietor forfeited  his  lot,  it  should  be  appropriated  to  a  school  ; 
January,  1721.  In  1737,  ;^30  were  raised  for  a  school  ;  the 
master  to  be  removed  to  different  parts  of  the  town.  In  1740, 
it  was  voted  that  a  school  should  be  maintained  through  the 
year,  partly  by  masters  and  partly  by  dames.  In  1744,  the  town 
was  divided,  and  school-houses  built  probably  then.  It  was 
voted  in  1750,  that  Charming  Fare  (Candia)  and  Freetown  (Ray- 


1/22]  ROYAI.    PROVINCE.  I  49 

mond)  should  have  their  share  of  the  school  money.  The  town 
was  required  by  law,  having  lOO  families,  to  have  a  grammar 
school.  The  selectmen  were  once  indicted  for  not  having  such 
a  school. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Chester  was  a  very  large  town,  and  now 
constitutes  several  towns.  At  the  annual  meeting,  March,  175 1, 
it  was  voted  that  "a  tract  at  tiie  south-west  corner  of  the  town, 
four  miles  long  and  five  miles  and  three  quarters  wide,  may  be 
adjoined  to  a  part  of  Lontlondcrry,  and  the  lands  about  Amos- 
keag  may  be  set  off  as  a  separate  parish."  The  land  between 
Chester  and  the  river  called  Harrytown  had  never  been  incorpo- 
rated into  any  town. 

Chester  old  line  was  about  a  mile  from  the  city  hall  of  Man- 
chester. This  was  incorporated  into  a  township,  called  Derry- 
field,  September  3,  1751.  The  name  was  altered  to  Manchester, 
in  1 8 10. 

At  the  annual  meeting,  March,  1762,  "voted  that  a  tract 
about  four  miles  and  a  half  long,  and  four  miles  wide,  may  be 
incorporated  into  a  parish;"  incorporated  December  17,  1793; 
named  Candia.  At  a  meeting,  January  22,  1763,  it  was  voted 
"that  the  north  parish  or  Freetown  shall  be  set  off  as  a  town  or 
parish  ;  "  incorporated  bv  the  name  of  Raymond,  May  9,  1764. 

The  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  Chester,  commonly  called 
"Chester  Woods,"  extending  to  Allenstown,  suffering  inconven- 
iencies,  the  farthest  having  to  travel  seventeen  miles  to  town 
meeting,  preferred  a  petition  to  be  set  off,  and  at  the  annual 
meeting,  March,  1822,  the  town  passed  a  vote  in  favor,  and  July 
2,  this,  with  a  part  of  Dunbarton,  was  incorporated  by  the  name 
of  Hooksett. 

In  1845  the  town  was  divided,  and  the  west  part,  which  had 
been  called  the  Long  Meadows,  containing  about  two-fifths  of 
the  territory  and  inhabitants,  was  incorporated  by  the  name  of 
Auburn. 

Settlements  were  not  commenced  at  Nottingham  and  Roches- 
ter until  after  the  Lovewell  war.  Barrington  was  settled  about 
1732. 


ISO 


HISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


I  1722 


In  February,  1717,  occurred  the  greatest  fall  of  snow  recorded  in  the  an- 
nals of  New  England  — almost  burying  under  the  frozen  mass  the  small  log- 
houses  of  the  new  plantations.  In  Boston  the  snow  was  six  feet  deep.  Dur- 
ing the  year  the  laws  of  the  Province  were  printed  for  the  first  time,  at  Boston, 
in  a  folio  volume  of  sixty  pages.' 

'  Whiton. 


>ftwCAsrl-e    Y'^*^^'^"'^'^  ■ 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ROYAL  PROVINCE,   1 722-1 740. 

Lieutenant-Governor  John  Wf.ntworth  —  Governor  Samuel  Shute  — 
Fourth  Indian,  or  Lovewell's  War  —  Indian  Grievances  —  Depre- 
dations IN  New  Hampshire  —  Attack  ox  Nashua  —  John  Lovewell's 
Three  Expeditions  —  Suncook  —  Peace  —  Penacook  —  Rye  — Rum- 
ford —  Timothy  Walker  —  First  Church  of  Concord  —  Hollis  — 
Bow  —  Suncook  Settled  —  Other  Settlements  —  Newmarket  — 
William  Burnet — Jonathan  Belcher  —  Death  of  Wentworth  — 
Character  —  David  Dunbar —  Durham  —  Amherst  —  Boscawen  — 
Charlestown  —  Riot  at  Exeter  —  Commerce  —  Episcopal  Chapel — • 
Throat  Distemper  —  Suncook  —  Boundary  Line  Adjusted  —  Massa- 
chusetts Documents —  Windham  —  Retirement  of  Belcher. 

npH  ERE  were  within  New  Hampshire  at  this  period  not  far 
from  ten  thousand  inhabitants.  Except  for  the  Lovewell 
War,  in  which  the  Indians  were  by  far  the  heaviest  losers,  it  was  a 
time  of  foreign  and  domestic  peace  ;  and  the  Province  advanced 
rapid!}'  in  numbers  and  in  wealth.  From  the  unfortunate 
quarrel  between  the  royal  governor  and  many  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  Province,  the  way  was  prepared  for  an  independent 
and  a  separate  government.  The  older  towns  continued  to  be 
nurseries  for  hardy  and  stalwart  pioneers,  who  steadily  pushed 
the  settlements  further  and  further  into  the  wilderness.  The 
gun  had  done  its  share  in  conquering  the  land,  and  now  the 
axe  and  the  plough  became  the  instruments  of  civilization. 
The  log  huts  of  the  settlers  were  rapidly  replaced  by  the  old- 
fashioned  frame  houses,  and  the  adjoining  fields  became  more 
and  more  extended.  Husbandry,  the  chief  occupation  of  the 
people,  produced  a  race  of  men  hardy,  healthy  and  happy. 
Large  families  were  the  rule  ;  and  sons,  when  they  had  chosen 


152  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^72$, 

their  mates,  were  sure  of  obtaining  a  home  in  the  woods,  where 
their  industry  would  soon  provide  them  with  a  farm. 

Lieutenant-Governor  John  Wentworth  was  chief  magistrate 
of  New  Hampshire  from  the  date  when  Governor  Samuel  Shute 
left  the  colonies  for  England,  in  June,  1723,  to  the  arrival  in 
America  of  his  successor,  Governor  William  Burnet,  in  1728. 

A  violent  party  in  Massachusetts  had  made  such  strenuous 
opposition  to  him,  and  caused  him  so  much  vexation,  that 
Governor  Shute  found  it  desirable  to  ask  leave  to  return  to 
England.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  humane,  obliging^ 
and  friendly  disposition  ;  but  having  been  used  to  military  com- 
mand, for  he  was  a  colonel  in  the  English  army  before  his  ap- 
pointment, he  could  not  bear  with  patience  the  collision  of 
parties,  nor  could  he  keep  his  temper  when  provoked.  Fond  of 
ease,  and  now  in  the  decline  of  life,  he  would  gladly  have  spent 
his  days  in  America,  if  he  could  have  avoided  controversy.  The 
people  of  New  Hampshire  were  satisfied  with  his  administra- 
tion, as  far  as  it  respected  them  ;  and  were  more  liberal  to  him 
in  voting  him  a  salary  than  Massachusetts,  in  proportion  to 
their  means.  He  died  April  15,  1742,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years. ^ 

Governor  Shute  left  New  England  suddenly,  while  the  people 
were  in  the  distress  and  perplexities  of  Lovewell's  Indian  war. 
Upon  his  departure  Lieutenant-Governor  Wentworth  conducted 
the  affairs  of  the  Province  with  prudence  and  energy.  A 
system  of  garrisons  and  scouts  being  adopted,  he  saw  that  the 
garrisons  were  supplied  with  stores,  and  frequently  visited  the 
frontier  posts  personally,  to  see  that  duty  was  performed.  He 
joined  with  Lieutenant-Governor  William  Dummer  of  Mass- 
achusetts in  remonstrating  with  the  governor  of  Canada  for 
assisting  the  Indians. 

The  fourth  Indian  war,  commonly  called  Lovewell's  War, 
broke  out  in  the  summer  of  1722.  France  and  England  were 
at  peace  at  the  time.  The  Indians  were  thought  to  have  been 
instigated  to  assume  the  offensive  by  the  P'rench  of  Canada 
and    by  Jesuit    priests     resident     among    them.      Fr.    Ralle,  at 

I   Farmer's  Delknap. 


1724]  ROYAL    PROVINCE.  1 53 

Norrido'evvock,  escaped  from  a  lorcc  sent  to  arrest  him  ;  but  his 
papers,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  tlie  English,  confirmed  their 
belief  in  French  intervention.  The  chief  grievance  of  the 
Indians  was  the  rapid  growth  of  the  settlement  along  the  coast 
of  Maine,  interfering  with  their  fishing  and  hunting  privileges. 
At  first  disputes  arose  between  the  settlers  and  the  Indians^ 
quickly  followed  by  active  hostilities,  until  the  authorities  of 
Massachusetts  were  at  length  forced  to  declare  war.  New  Hamp- 
sliire,  situated  between  the  two  divisions  of  Massachusetts,  was 
(h-awn  into  the  controversy.  Colonel  Shadrach  Walton,  Col- 
onel Thomas  Westbrooke  of  the  council,  and  Captain  John 
Peniiallow,  were  New  Hampshire  men,  who  were  active  in  carr\ - 
ing  on  the  war  to  the  eastward.  The  military  of  the  Province 
was  organized,  garrison  houses  fortified,  and  scouting  parties 
were  kept  in  the  field.  A  bounty  of  one  hundred  pounds  was 
offered  for  every  Indian  scalp  ;  a  sum  equal  at  that  time  to 
about  two  hundred  Spanish  dollars. 

The  first  appearance  of  the  enemy  in  New  Hampshire  was 
at  Dover,  in  1723,  where  they  surprised  and  killed  Joseph  Ham, 
and  took  three  of  his  children  caj^tives.  The  rest  of  his  family 
escaped  into  the  garrison.  Soon  afterwards  they  killed  Tristram 
Heard.  At  Lamprey  River,  in  August,  they  killed  Aaron 
Rawlins  and  one  of  his  children,  taking  his  wife  and  three  other 
children  into  captivity 

In  the  spring  of  1724,  the  Indians  killed  James  Nock,  at 
Oyster  River,  and  in  May,  captured  Peter  Colcord  and  Ephraim 
Stephens  and  two  children.  Colcord  soon  afterwards  escaped. 
A  week  later  they  killed  George  Chesley  and  Elizabeth  Burn- 
ham  at  Oyster  River  ;  and  took  Thomas  Smith  and  John  Carr 
at  Chester,  who  both  escaped.  In  June,  Moses  Davis  and  his 
son  were  killed  at  Oyster  River  ;  and  one  Indian  was  killed  and 
two  were  wounded.  In  Dover,  Ebenczer  Downes,  a  Quaker, 
was  taken  ;  and  a  part  of  the  family  of  John  Hawson,  another 
Quaker,  were  killed  and  the  rest  taken  into  captivit)'.  On 
account  of  these  atrocities  an  expedition  was  planned  to 
Norridgewock,  which  resulted  in  the  death  of  Vr.  Ralle  and 
eighty  Indians,  the  release  of  several  captives,  and  the  recovery 


154  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.'  [^7^4 

of  considerable  plunder.  The  Indians  who  were  out  on  the  war 
path  continued  their  depredations,  killing  Jabez  Colman  and  son 
at  Kingston,  but  avoided  their  own  villages,  to  escape  a  similar 
fate  to  what  befell  Norridgewock. 

On  the  morning  of  September  4,  1724,  Thomas  Blanchard 
and  Nathan  Cross  started  from  the  harbor  with  a  basket  of 
lunch,  a  jug,  and  the  indispensable  gun,  for  the  pine  forest  on 
the  north  side  of  Nashua  river,  to  "  box"  trees  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  turpentine.  Tradition  in  the  Cross  family  locates  their 
operations  .on  Lock  street,  immediately  back  of  the  cemetery. 
The  day  proving  wet  and  drizzly,  they  put  the  gun  and  dinner 
basket  into  a  hollow  log,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  powder 
and  food  from  getting  wet.  How  long  they  pursued  their  work 
is  unknown,  but  some  time  before  night  a  party  of  seventy 
French  Mohawks  from  Canada  fell  upon  them  and  made  them 
prisoners.  The  people* at  the  Harbor,  or  Salmon  Brook,  finding 
they  did  not  return  at  night-fall,  started  out  a  party  of  ten  to 
look  for  them.  Arriving  at  the  place  where  they  had  been  at 
work,  they  found  several  barrels  of  turpentine  had  been  spilled 
on  the  ground,  and  judged,  from  several  marks  made  upon  the 
trees  with  wax  and  grease,  that  the  men  had  been  carried  away 
alive.  The  party,  under  the  lead  of  Lieutenant  French,  decided 
to  follow  them  and  rescue  their  friends,  if  possible;  but  on 
arriving  near  the  brook  which  flows  from  Horse  Shoe  pond,  in 
Merrimack,  to  the  Merrimack  river,  they  were  ambushed  by  the 
savages,  and  all  killed  except  Josiah  Farwell.  ^  This,  of  course, 
ended  pursuit,  and  Blanchard  and  Cross  were  taken  to  Canada 
as  prisoners.  After  nearly  a  year's  confinement  they  succeeded 
in  effecting  their  own  ransom,  and  returned  home,  finding  their 
basket,  jug  and  gun  ^  in  the  hollow  log  as  they  had  left  tnem. 

Aroused  by  these  depredations,  John  Lovewell,  Josiah  Far- 
well,  and  Jonathan  Robbins  petitioned  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts  for  authority  to  raise  and  equip  a  com- 
pany of  scouts  to  "  kill  and  destroy"  their  enemy,  the  Indians. 
Receiving  proper  encouragement,  Capt.   Lovewell,  with  a  com- 

'  Josiah  Farwell  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  Suncook. 

2  At  the  January  meeting  of  the  Nashua  Historical  Society,  in  1874,  the  musket  was  presented  to 
the  society  by  Levi  S.  Cross. 


1725]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  155 

paiiy  of  men  zealous  to  revenge  their  injuries,  caried  the  war 
into  the  country  of  the  enemy,  ranged  up  the  Merrimack  valley 
and  to  the  northward  of  Lake  Winnipiseogee,  and  succeeded 
in  obtaining  one  captive  and  slaying  one  Indian. 

On  the  second  expedition  of  Captain  John  Lovewell's  com- 
pany, the  following  January,  1725,  they  surprised  and  killed  ten 
Indians  in  the  neighborhood  of  Tamvvorth.  The  third  expedi- 
tion, of  forty-six  men,  left  Dunstable  April  16,  1725. 

The  following  detailed  account  of  the  battle  is  taken  from  the 
work  of  Rev.  Thomas  Symmes,  edited  by  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Bouton,  and  published  in  May,  1861: 

They  had  travelled  but  a  short  distance  before  Toby,  an  Indian, 
falling  sick,  was  obliged  to  return,  which  he  did  with  great  re 
luctance. 

When  they  had  marched  as  far  as  Contodcook,  Mr.  William 
Cummings  of  Dunstable  became  so  disabled  by  a  wound  that 
he  had  received  from  the  enemy  some  time  before  that  the  cap- 
tain dismissed  him,  together  with  a  kinsman  of  his  to  accompany 
him  back. 

They  proceeded  on  to  Ossipee,  and  at  this  place  Mr.  Benjamin 
Kidder  of  Nutfield,  falling  sick,  the  caj^tain  made  a  halt,  and 
tarried  while  they  built  a  small  fortification  for  a  place  of  refuge 
to  resort  to  if  there  should  be  occasion. 

Here  he  left  his  doctor,  a  sergeant  and  seven  other  men,  to 
take  care  of  Kidder.  And  they  left  at  this  place,  also,  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  their  provisions,  to  lighten  the  loads  of  the 
men  and  facilitate  their  march,  and  which  they  intended  should 
serve  as  a  recruit  on  their  return. 

With  his  company  now  reduced  to  only  thirty-four  men,  with 
himself,  Captain  Lovewell,  not  at  all  disheartened  bv  his  n.iis- 
fortunes,  proceeded  on  his  march  from  his  fortification  at  Ossipee 
for  Pigwacket,  about  forty  miles  distant  from  said  fort,  through 
a  rough  wilderness. 

The  names  of  those  who  proceeded  on  from  Ossipee,  and  who 
engaged  Paugus,  with  his  gang  of  about  eighty  Indians,  are  as 
follows  (except  one  who,  like  a  coward,  ran  from  them  at  the  be- 
ginning of   the  engagement,  and    sneaked  back  to  the  fort,  and 


156  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^5 

whose  name  is  unworthy  of  being  transmitted  to  posterity),  — 
being  those  brave  fellows  who  boldly  and  successfully  contended 
with  more  than  twice  their  number,  namely, 

Capt.  John  Lovewell, 
Lieut.  Joseph  Farwell,  Sergeant  Noah  Johnson,^ 

Lieut.  Jonathan  Robbins,  Robert  Usher, 

Ensign  John  Harwood,  Samuel  Whiting, 

all  of  Dunstable. 
Ensign  Seth  Wyman,  Ichabod  Johnson, 

Corp.  Thomas  Richardson,  Josiah  Johnson, 

Timothy  Richardson, 

all  of  Woburn. 
Eleazer  Davis,  Eleazer  Melvin, 

Josiah  Davis,  Jacob  Farrar, 

Josiab  Jones,  Joseph  Farrar, 

David  Melvin, 

all  of  Concord,  Mass. 

Chaplain  Jonathan  Frye,  of  Andover. 

Sergeant  Jacob  Fullam,  of  Weston. 

Corp.  Edward  Lingfield,  of  Nutfield. 

Jonathan  Kittridge,  and  Solomon  Keyes, 

of  Billerica. 
John  Jefts,  Elias  Barron, 

Daniel  Woods,  Isaac  Lakin, 

Thomas  Woods,  Joseph  Gilson, 

John  Chamberlain, 

all  of  Groton. 
Ebenezer  Ayer,  and  Abiel  Asten, 

of  Haverhill. 
From  the  Thursday  before  the  battle  the  company  were  ap- 
prehensive they  were  discovered  and  dogged  by  the  enemy ; 
and  on  Friday  night  the  watch  heard  the  Indians  about  the 
canij)  and  alarmed  the  company,  but  it  being  very  dark,  they 
could  make  no  further  discovery. 

On  Saturday,  the  8th  of  May,  while  they  were  at  prayers, 

'  Noah  Johnson  was  the  last  survivor  of  this  company.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Pem- 
broke, where  he  was  a  deacon  of  the  church.  He  received  a  pension  from  the  Massachusetts  govern- 
ment of  /15  per  year.  He  removed  to  Plymouth,  N.  H.,  in  his  old  age,  and  died  there  August  13, 
1708,  in  the  one  hundredth  year  of  his  age. 


1725  j  ROVAL    I'ROVIXCE.  1 57 

very  early  in  the  morning,  they  heard  a  gun  ;  and  some  little 
time  after  they  espied  an  Indian  on  a  point  that  ran  into  Saco 
pond. 

They  now  concluded  that  the  design  of  the  gun  and  the 
Indian's  discovering  himself  was  to  draw  them  that  way.  They 
expected  now  without  fail  to  be  attacked,  and  it  was  proposed 
and  consulted  whether  it  would  be  prudent  to  venture  an  en- 
gagement with  the  enemy  (who  they  perceived  were  now 
sufficiently  alarmed),  or  endeavor  a  speedy  retreat.  The  men 
generally  and  boldly  answered  :  "  We  came  to  see  the  enemy  ; 
we  have  all  along  prayed  God  we  might  find  them  ;  and  we  had 
rather  trust  Providence  with  our  lives,  yea,  die  for  our  countr)', 
than  try  to  return  without  seeing  them,  if  we  might,  and  be 
called  cowards  for  our  pains." 

The  captain  readily  complied  to  lead  them  on,  though  not 
without  manifesting  some  apprehensions  ;  and,  supposing  the 
enemy  were  ahead  of  them  (when,  as  it  proved,  they  were  in  the 
rear),  ordered  the  men  to  lay  down  their  packs,  and  march  with 
the  greatest  caution,  and  in  the  utmost  readiness. 

When  they  had  marched  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  or  two  miles, 
Ensign  Wyman  espied  an  Indian  coming  toward  them,  where- 
upon he  gave  a  signal,  and  they  all  squatted,  and  let  the  Indian 
come  on.  In  a  short  time  several  guns  were  fired  at  him  ;  upon 
■which  the  Indian  fired  upon  Captain  Lovewell  with  beaver-shot, 
and  wounded  him  mortally  (as  is  supposed),  though  he  made  but 
little  complaint,  and  was  still  able  to  travel,  and  at  the  same  time 
wounded  Mr.  Samuel  Whiting.  Ensign  Wyman  immediately 
fired  at  and  killed  the  Indian,  and  Mr.  Fry  and  another  scalped 
him.  ^ 

'Gov.  Hutchinson,  in  his  history  of  Massachusetts,  has  ranked  this  Indian  with  the  Roman 
Curtius,  who  devoted  himself  to  deatli  to  save  his  country.  Dr.  Belknap,  who  visited  the  spot  in 
1784,  thinks  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  idea  that  he  was  placed  there  as  a  decoy  ;  and  that  he  had 
no  claim  to  the  character  of  a  hero.  The  point  on  which  he  stood  was  a  noted  fishing  place;  the 
gun  which  alarmed  Lovewell's  company  was  fired  at  a  flock  of  ducks  ;  and  wlien  they  met  him  he 
was  returning  home  with  his  game,  and  two  fowling  pieces.  The  village  was  situated  nt  the  edge  of 
the  meadow,  on  Saco  river,  which  here  forms  a  large  bend.  The  remains  of  the  stockade  were  found  by 
the  first  settlers  of  Fryeburg  forty  years  afterward.  Walter  Bryant,  of  Bow,  who  was  employed  as 
surveyor  in  a  company  engaged  in  the  intended  expedition  against  Canada,  in  1747,  passed  over  the 
ground  where  the  sanguinary  conflict  took  place.  He  there  "  discovered  Indian  camps  large  enough 
lo  hold  tliirty  men  —saw  the  spot  where  Lovewell  was  killed,  and  the  trees  full  of  bullet-holes,  liav- 


158  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^5 

They  then  marched  back  toward  their  packs  (which  the  enemy- 
had  found  in  the  mean  time  and  seized),  and  about  ten  of  the 
clock,  when  they  came  pretty  near  to  where  they  had  laid  them, 
at  the  north-east  end  of  Saco  pond,  on  a  plain  place,  where  there 
were  few  trees  and  but  little  brush,  the  Indians  rose  up  in  front 
and  rear  in  two  parties,  and  ran  toward  the  English,  three  or 
four  deep,  with  their  guns  presented.  The  English  also  in- 
stantly presented  their  guns,  and  rushed  on  to  meet  them. 

When  they  had  advanced  to  within  a  few  yards  of  each  other 
they  fired  on  both  sides,  and  the  Indians  fell  in  considerable 
numbers  ;  but  the  English,  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  escaped  the 
first  shot,  and  drove  the  Indians  several  rods.  Three  or  four 
rounds  were  fired  on  both  sides ;  but  the  Indians  being  more 
than  double  in  number  to  our  men,  and  having  already  killed 
Captain  Lovewell,  Mr.  Fullam  (only  son  of  Major  P'ullam  of 
Weston),  Ensign  Harwood,John  Jefts,  Jonathan  Kittredge,  Dan- 
iel Woods,  Ichabod  Johnson,  Thomas  Woods,  and  Josiah  Davis, 
and  wounded  Lieutenants  Farwell  and  Robbins  and  Robert 
Usher,  in  the  place  where  the  fight  began,  and  striving  tc^ 
surround  the  rest,  the  word  was  given  to  retreat  to  the  pond, 
which  was  done  with  a  great  deal  of  good  conduct,  and  proved 
a  great  service  to  the  English  (the  pond  covering  their  rear), 
though  the  Indians  got  the  ground  where  the  dead  of  our  party 
lay. 

The  fight  continued  very  furious  and  obstinate,  till  towards 
night — the  Indians  roaring  and  yelling  and  howling  like  wolves, 
barking  like  dogs,  and  making  all  sorts  of  hideous  noises — the 
English  frequently  shouting  and  huzzaing,  as  they  did  after  the 
first  round.  At  one  time  Capt.  Wyman  is  confident  the  Indians 
were  diverting  themselves  in  pov>^owing,  by  their  striking  upon 
the  ground,  and  other  odd  motions  ;  but  Wyman,  creeping  up 
and  shooting  their  chief  actor,  broke  up  their  meeting. 

Some  of  the  Indians,  holding  up  ropes,  asked  the  English  if 
they  would  take  quarter ;  but  were  briskly  answered,  that  they 
would  have  no  quarter  but  at  the  muzzles  of  their  guns. 

ing,  also,  imitations  of  men'a  faces  cut  out  upon  tliem."  When  Dr.  Belknap  was  there  the  names  of 
the  dead,  on  the  trees,  and  the  lioles  where  balls  had  entered  and  been  cut  out,  were  plainly  visible. 
The  trees  htd  tlie  appearance  of  being  very  old,  and  one  of  them  was  fallen. —  //I'sL  Coll.,  vol.  i,  pp- 
29>  30- 


1725]  ROVAL    PROVINCE.  1 59 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  the  ingenious  Mr.  Jon- 
athan Frye  (only  son  of  Captain  James  Frye  of  Andover),  a 
young  gentleman  of  liberal  education,  who  took  his  degree  at 
Harvard  College,  1723,  and  was  chaplain  to  the  company  and 
greatly  beloved  by  them  for  his  excellent  performances  and 
good  behavior,  and  who  fought  with  undaunted  courage  till  that 
time  of  day,  was  mortally  wounded.  But  when  he  could  fight 
no  longer  he  prayed  audibly  several  times  for  the  preservation 
and  success  of  the  residue  of  the  company. 

Sometime  after  sunset  the  enemy  drew  off  and  left  the  field 
to  our  men.  It  was  supposed  and  believed  that  not  more  than- 
twenty  of  the  enemy  went  off  well.  About  midnight  the  Eng- 
lish assembled  themselves,  and  upon  examination  into  their 
situation  they  found  Jacob  Farrar  just  expiring  by  the  pond,, 
and  Lieutenant  Robbins  and  Robert  Usher  unable  to  travel. 

Lieutenant  Robbins  desired  his  companions  to  charge  his  gun^ 
and  leave  it  with  him,  which  they  did;  he  declaring  that  "As 
the  Indians  will  come  in  the  morning  to  scalp  me,  I  will  kill  one 
more  of  them  if  I  can." 

There  were  eleven  more  of  the  English  who  were  badly 
wounded,  namely,  Lieut.  Farwell,  Mr.  Frye,  Sergeant  Johnson, 
Samuel  Whiting,  Elias  Barron,  John  Chamberlain,  Isaac  Lakin, 
Eleazer  Davis  and  Josiah  Jones  ;  but  they,  however,  marched 
off  the  ground  with  the  nine  others  who  received  no  consider- 
able wounds,  namely.  Ensign  Wyman,  Edward  Lingfield, 
Thomas  Richardson,  the  two  Melvins,  Ebenezer  Ayer,  Abiel 
Asten,  Joseph  Farrar  and  Joseph  Gilson.  These  all  proceeded 
on  their  return  for  the  fort,  and  did  not  perceive  that  they  werp 
waylaid  or  pursued  by  the  enemy,  though  they  knew  our  men 
had  no  provision,  and  must  therefore  be  very  faint. 

Four  of  the  wounded  men,  namely,  Farwell,  Frye,  Davis  and 
Jones,  after  they  had  travelled  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  found 
themselves  unable  to  go  any  further,  and  with  their  free  consent 
the  rest  kept  on  their  march,  hoping  to  find  a  recruit  at  the 
fort,  and  to  return  with  fresh  hands  to  relieve  them 

As  they  proceeded  on  they  divided  into  three  companies  one 
morning,  as  they  were  passing  a  thick  wood,  for  fear  of  making 


l6o  IlIrfTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/25 

a  track  by  which  the  enemy  might  follow  them.  One  of  the 
•companies  came  upon  three  Indians,  who  pursued  them  some 
time.  Meanwhile  Elias  Barron,  one  of  this  party,  strayed  from 
the  others,  and  got  over  Ossipee  river,  by  the  side  of  which  his 
gun  case  was  found,  and  he  was  not  heard  of  afterward. 
Eleven,  in  another  party,  reached  the  fort  at  Ossipee  ;  but  to 
their  great  surprise  found  it  deserted.  The  coward  who  fled  in 
the  beginning  of  the  battle  ran  directly  to  the  fort,  and  gave 
the  men  posted  there  such  a  frightful  account  of  what  had  hap- 
pened that  they  all  fled  from  the  fort  and  made  the  best  of  their 
way  home. 

Solomon  Keyes  also  came  to  the  fort.  When  he  had  fought 
in  the  battle  till  he  had  received  three  wounds,  and  had  become 
so  weak  by  the  loss  of  blood  that  he  could  not  stand,  he  crawled 
up  to  Ensign  Wyman,  in  the  heat  of  the  battle,  and  told  him  he 
was  a  dead  man  ;  but  (said  he)  if  it  be  possible  I  will  get  out  of 
the  way  of  the  Indians  that  they  may  not  get  my  scalp.  Keyes 
then  crept  off  by  the  side  of  the  pond  to  where  he  provident- 
ially found  a  canoe,  when  he  rolled  himself  into  it,  and  was 
•driven  by  the  wind  several  miles  toward  the  fort  ;  he  gained 
strength  fast,  and  reached  the  fort  as  soon  as  the  eleven  before 
mentioned,  and  they  all  arrived  at  Dunstable  on  the  13th  of 
May,  at  night. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  Ensign  Wyman,  and  three  others,  arrived 
at  Dunstable.  They  suffered  greatly  for  want  of  provisions. 
They  informed  that  they  were  wholly  destitute  of  all  kinds  of 
food  from  a  Saturday  morning  till  the  Wednesday  following, 
when  they  caught  two  mouse-squirrels,  which  they  roasted  whole, 
and  found  to  be  a  sweet  morsel.  They  afterwards  killed  some 
partridges  and  other  game,  and  were  comfortably  supplied  till 
they  got  home. 

Eleazer  Davis  arrived  at  Berwick,  and  reported  that  he  and 
the  other  three  who  were  left  with  him  waited  some  days  for  the 
return  of  the  men  from  the  fort,  and  at  length  despairing  of 
their  return,  though  their  wounds  were  putrefied  and  stank,  and 
they  were  almost  dead  with  famine,  yet  they  all  travelled  on 
several  miles  together,  till  Mr.  Frye  desired  Davis  and  Farwell 


1725]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  16I 

not  to  hinder  themselves  any  longer  on  his  account,  for  he  found 
himself  dying-,  and  he  laid  himself  down,  telling  them  he  should 
never  rise  more,  and  charged  Davis,  if  it  should  please  God  to 
bring  him  home,  to  goto  his  father  and  tell  him  that  he  expected 
in  a  few  hours  to  be  in  eternity,  and  that  he  was  not  afraid  to  die. 
They  left  him,  and  this  amiable  and  promising  young  gentleman, 
who  had  the  journal  of  the  march  in  his  pocket,  was  not  heard 
of  again. 

Lieutenant  Farwell,  who  was  greatly  and  no  doubt  deservedly 
applauded  and  lamented,  was  also  left  by  Davis  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  fort,  and  was  not  afterward  heard  of.  But  Davis, 
getting  to  the  fort,  and  finding  provision  there,  tarried  and  re- 
freshed himself,  and  recovered  strength  to  travel  to  Berwick. 

Josiah  Jones,  another  of  the  four  wounded  who  were  left  the 
day  after  the  fight  but  a  short  distance  from  the  scene  of  action, 
traversed  Saco  river,  and  after  a  fatiguing  ramble  arrived  at 
Saco  (now  Biddeford),  emaciated  and  almost  dead  from  the  loss 
of  blood,  the  putrefaction  of  his  wounds,  and  the  want  of  food. 
He  had  subsisted  upon  the  spontaneous  vegetables  of  the  forest, 
and  cranberries,  &c.,  which  he  had  eaten  came  out  at  a  wound 
he  had  received  in  his  body.  He  was  kindly  treated  by  the  peo- 
ple at  Saco,  and  recovered  of  his  wounds. 

Several  of  the  Indians,  particularly  Paugus,  their  chief,  were 
well  known  to  Lovewell's  men,  and  frequently  conversed  with 
each  other  during  the  engagement. 

After  the  return  of  the  English  from  their  fight.  Colonel  Tyng, 
with  a  company,  went  to  the  place  of  action,  where  he  found 
and  buried  the  slain. 

Colonel  Tyng  found  where  the  Indians  had  buried  three  of  their 
men,  which  were  dug  up,  and  one  of  them  was  known  to  be  the 
bold  Paugus,  who  had  been  a  great  scourge  to  Dunstable. 

This  encounter  resulted  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  in  the 
grant  by  Massachusetts  authority  of  the  township  of  Suncook, 
or  Lovewell's  township,  to  the  survivors  and  to  the  heirs  of  those 
who  had  perished  of  Captain  Lovewell's  heroic  company.  With 
Rumford  this  township  conflicted  with  the  township  of  Bow  and 
the  matter  was  not  settled  until  the  incorporation  of  Pembroke, 


l62  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  [1726 

many  years  after,  and  the  grantins:  of  another  township  within 
the  district  of  Maine. 

Early  in  the  year  1725,  Theodore  Atkinson,  joined  with  two 
commissioners  from  Massachusetts,  visited  the  French  governor 
at  Montreal  and  entered  a  formal  protest  against  his  encourag- 
ing the  Indians  in  the  war.  He  denied  the  responsibility,  but 
admitted  having  much  influence  with  them  ;  and  brought  about 
a  meeting  of  some  of  the  chiefs  with  the  commissioners.  Upon 
their  return  to  New  England,  by  way  of  Crown  Point  and  Albany, 
under  escort  to  the  frontiers,  they  brought  sixteen  captives  whom 
they  had  ransomed,  and  made  arrangements  for  the  ransom  of 
others. 

The  last  attack  of  the  Indians  during  the  war  was  upon  a 
party  in  Dover.  Benjamin  and  William  Evans  were  killed. 
John  Evans  was  wounded,  scalped  and  left  for  dead,  but  re- 
covered, and  lived  fifty  years  after.  The  attacking  party  eluded 
pursuit,  and  took  Benjamin  Evans,  Jr.,  a  lad  of  thirteen,  captive 
with  them  to  Canada. 

A  treaty  of  peace  was  brought  about  in  December. 

That  New  Hampshire  escaped  with  so  little  loss  during  this 
war  is  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  fury  of  the  enemy  was  di- 
rected to  the  destruction  of  the  eastern  settlements,  and  because 
the  men  of  the  whole  Province,  by  training,  had  become  veterans, 
soldiers,  and  scouts. 

In  May,  1726,  the  governor  and  council  appointed  Nathaniel 
Weare,  Theodore  Atkinson  and  Richard  Waldron,  Jr.,  a  commit- 
tee to  warn  off  the  settlers  at  Penacook  ;  a  commission  promptly 
attended  to,  for  they  reported  the  same  month  that  they  had 
visited  the  locality  known  as  Penacook,  where  they  had  found 
forty  men  clearing  the  land  and  laying  out  a  town.  In  April,  the 
Lieutenant-Governor,  John  Wentworth,  addressed  the  General. 
Assembly,  held  at  Portsmouth,  stating  the  case,  and  called  for 
supplies  to  press  upon  the  home  government  the  need  of  deter- 
mining the  boundary  of  the  Province  adjoining  the  Massachusetts 
colony.  The  Assembly  voted  ;^ioo  to  Mr.  Agent  Newman,  for 
him  "to  prosecute  and  endeavor  a  speedy  settlement  of  the  lines 
between  this  Government  and  that  of  the  Mass." 


1726]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  163 

The  township  of  Rye,  taken  from  Portsmouth,  Greenland,  and 
Hampton,  was  incorporated  in  1726.  It  was  settled  as  early  as 
1635,  and  for  many  \'ears  it  was  i<nown  as  Sandy  Beach.  The 
inhabitants  haxinj;"  been  obliged  to  attend  religious  services  in 
neighboring-  towns,  had  at  length  built  a  meeting  house  of  their 
own,  in  1725,  and  demanded  and  received  a  town  cliarter  the 
following  year.  They  had  suffered,  in  common  with  adjoining 
towns,  by  the  depredations  of  the  Indians  during  the  forty  years 
of  alternate  war  and  peace  j^receding  their  incorporation. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Menill  was  settled  in  1726;  Rev.  Samuel 
Parsons,  in  1736  ;  Rev.  Huntington  Porter,  in  1784,  who 
preached  his  half  century  sermon  in  1835.  He  died  in  Lynn 
in  1844,  aged  nearly  eighty-nine  years. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  town  were  of  the  names  of  Berry, 
Seavey,  Rand,  Brackett,  Wallis,  Jenness  and  Locke. 

The  Puritans  were  distinguished  for  their  large  families  ;  and 
the  older  settlements,  near  tide-water,  in  the  course  of  several 
generations,  had  become  crowded.  The  young  men  viewed 
with  envy  the  prosperity  of  the  Scotch-Irish  new  comers.  Why 
should  not  they  receive  land  for  actual  settlement  as  well  as 
aliens  and  strangers .''  Had  not  their  fathers  and  grandfathers 
done  good  service  in  the  various  Indian  wars.'*  Manv  petitions 
were  sent  to  the  Great  and  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
claiming  grants  on  a  multitude  of  pretexts.  This  northern  part 
of  the  colony  was  even  then  in  dispute,  and  might  at  any  time, 
by  decision  of  the  home  government,  be  decided  to  be  within 
the  limits  of  the  Royal  Province  of  New  Hampshire. 

The  township  of  Penacook  was  granted  by  Massachusetts, 
January  11,  1725,  to  Benjamin  Stevens,  Ebenezer  ICastman  and 
others,  and  included  seven  miles  square.  Settlement  was  com- 
menced the  following  year  In  1727,  Captain  Ebenezer  East- 
man moved  his  family  into  the  place.  In  1728,  the  south  boun- 
daries of  the  town  were  extended,  as  an  equivalent  for  lands 
within  the  limits  before  granted  to  Governor  P^ndicott,  and 
claimed  by  heirs  of  Judge  Sewall. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  plantation  of  Penacook  were  carefully 
selected     men,    brave,    law-ai>i.ling.    God-fearing,    chosen    from 


164  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1726 

among  their  fellows  by  a  committee  of  the  court,  to  establish  a 
model  community.  They  came  to  stay.  Very  many  of  the 
first  families  are  represented  by  their  descendants  to  this  day. 
They  laid  out  wide  and  beautiful  Main  street  substantially  as  it 
is  now;  they  divided  the  land  into  home  lots  and  farms,  cleared 
away  the  forest  trees,  built  log-houses  at  first  (which  were  soon 
replaced  by  frame  buildings,  some  still  standing),  and  a  meeting- 
house. Their  plantation  was  incorporated,  under  the  name  of 
Rumford,  in  1733.  They  built  several  garrison-houses  for  the 
protection  of  their  families,  for  an  Indian  Avar  broke  out  soon 
after  the  settlement  was  effected.  For  a  number  of  years  this 
was  a  frontier  post,  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  savages.  Of 
a  Sunday  their  minister  would  go  into  the  pulpit,  armed  with 
the  best  gun  in  the  parish,  and  preach  to  a  congregation  armed 
and  equipped  to  repulse  a  possible  Indian  surprise.  Men  went 
to  their  work  in  the  fields  with  an  armed  escort. 
^  ^The  First  Congregational  Church  in  Penacook  or  Rumford 
or  Concord  was  organized  in  November,  1730.  The  proprietors 
ot  the  town,  at  a  meeting  in  Andover,  Mass.,  in  February,  1726, 
voted  to  build  a  block-house,  which  should  serve  the  double  pur- 
pose of  a  fort  and  a  meeting-house.  Early  in  1727,  the  first 
family  moved  into  the  town,  and  Rev.  Bezaleel  Toppan  was 
employed  to  preach  one  year  from  May.  Mr. Toppan  and  Rev. 
Enoch  Coffin,  both  proprietors  of  the  town,  were  employed  by 
the  settlers  to  preach  till  October,  1730,  when  it  was  resolved 
to  establish  a  permanent  ministry.  Rev.  Timothy  Walker  was 
at  once  called  to  be  the  minister  of  the  town. 

He  was  a  native  of  Woburn,  Mass.,  and  a  graduate  of  Har- 
vard College,  in  the  class  of  1725.  He  died  suddenly,  on 
Sabbath  morning,  in  September,  1782,  aged  seventy-seven  years, 
deeply  mourned  by  the  people  he  had  so  faithfully  served  and 
led,  and  between  whom  and  himself  the  mutual  attachment  had 
remamed  strong  to  the  last. 

The  deep  impress  of  this  early  ministry  has  never  been 
effaced,  and  the  influence  of  Mr.  Walker,  to  a  large  degree, 
decided  the  moral  tone  and  habits  of  the  town.     For  more  than 

I  Rev.  F.  D.  Ayer. 


1/26]  KOVAL    J'KOVIXCE.  165 

half  a  century  he  directeil  the  thought,  and  was  the  religious 
teicher  of  the  early  settlers  ;  and  his  clear  convictions,  his  bold 
utterances,  and  his  firm  adherence  to  practical  principles,  made 
him  a  wise  leader.  He  served  the  town  as  well  as  the  church. 
His  wise  counsel  and  prompt  and  judicious  action  m  relation  to 
every  matter  of  public  interest  were  of  great  benefit  to  the 
people,  antl  gavj  hini  a  witle  and  acknowledged  influence.  Three 
times  he  visited  ICngland,  as  agent  for  the  town,  to  confirm  its 
endangered  rights,  and  was  enal^led  by  his  personal  influence 
and  wisdom  to  make  secure  forever  the  claims  and  privileges  of 
the  settlers.  His  influence  will  be  acknowledged,  and  his  name 
remembered  with  gratitude  by  future  generations.  His  daugh- 
ter married  Benjamin  Thompson,  afterwards  Count  Rumfortl, 
and  was  the  mother  of  the  Countess  of  Rumford. 

The  first  meeting-house  of  Concord  was  built  of  logs,  in 
1727,  and  served  as  a  fort  anl  a  place  of  worship.  It  stood  near 
West's  brook,  and  was  occupied  by  this  chuich  twenty-three 
years.  Tiie  second  house  was  that  so  long  known  as  the  "Old 
North."  The  main  body  of  the  house  was  built  in  1751.  In 
1783  it  was  completed  with  porches  and  a  spire,  and  in  1802 
enlarged  so  as  to  furnish  sittings  for  twelve  hundred  people,  and 
a  bell  was  placed  in  the  tower.  Central  in  its  location,  it  was 
for  a  long  time  the  only  place  of  public  worshij)  in  the  town, 
and  was  used  by  the  Church  for  ninety  years.  It  served  the 
State  also.  In  this  house  the  Convention  of  1788  met  "  to  form 
a  permanent  plan  of  government  for  the  State."  Here,  with 
religious  services,  in  1784.  the  new  State  Constitution  was  first 
introduced,  and  here,  too,  in  June,  1788,  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion was  adopted,  by  which  New  Hampshire  became  one  of  the 
States  of  the  Union.  Tiiis  was  the  ninth  State  to  adopt  that 
Constitution,  the  number  required  to  render  it  operative  ;  so 
that,  by  this  vote,  it  became  binding  upon  the  United  States. 
After  another  church  edifice  was  built  this  was  used  by  the 
"Methodist  Biblical  Institute"  till  1866.  When  it  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  in  November,  1870,  there  passed  from  sight 
the  church  building  which  had  associated  with  it  more  of 
marked  and  precious  hi.^^tory  than  witli  any  other  in  the  State. 


1 66 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    llAMPSIIIKI 


[1727 


The  third  house  of  worshii)  was  dedicated  in  1842  and  t-Mrned 
in  1873.     The  present  house  of  worship  was  dedicated  in  1876. 


FIRST  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH  AT  CONCORD. 

From  the  parent  cluirch  have  been  separated  the  South  church 
and  the  cliurches  at   East  and  West   Concord.      To  Mr.  Walker 


1727]  KOVAL  PROVINCE.  167 

succeeded  Rev.  Israel  Evans,  a  chaplain  in  the  continental  army, 
Rev.  Asa  McFarland,  Rev.  Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.  D.,  the  State 
historian,  and  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  Franklin  D.  Ayer,  D.  D. 

Concord  was  incorporated  by  New  Hampshire,  June  7,  1765. 

^  So  great  was  the  security  felt  by  the  settlers  at  the  close  of 
Lovewell's  war,  that  they  emigrated  into  the  wilderness  in  every 
direction.  The  first  settlement  in  that  part  of  West  Dunstable 
known  as  Witch  Brook  Valley  was  made  about  the  year  1728 
by  Caleb  Fry,  according  to  a  copy  of  an  original  draft  or  plan 
of  the  township  of  Dunstable  by  Jonathan  Blanchard,  dated  June,  ' 
1720.  This  plan  is  now  in  a  tolerable  state  of  preservation,  to 
be  seen  at  the  office  of  the  Hillsborough  county  registry  of  deeds 
at  Nashua.  Mr.  Fry  held  a  land  grant  west  of  Timothy  Rogers's 
grant,  lying  on  the  west  of  Penichuck  pond,  and  embraced 
nearly  all  the  territory  now  included  in  District  No.  8  in  the  town 
of  Hollis,  lying  west  of  the  school-house.  According  to  tradi- 
tion, he  came  from  Andover,  was  a  son  of  James  Fry,  who  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Narragansett  war  of  1676,  and  a  brother  of  James 
Fry,  of  Andover,  one  of  the  grantees  of  Souhegan  West,  after- 
wards called  Amherst. 

That  Mr.  Fry  was  the  first  one  to  occupy  his  own  land  grant 
in  all  this  section  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  built  a  turn- 
ing mill,  and  operated  it  a  number  of  years.  This  mill  was  sit- 
uated on  the  Little  Gulf  brook,  east  side  of  Ridge  hill,  so  called, 
about  twenty  rods  south  of  the  road  at  the  Spaulding  place,  in 
the  north  part  of  Hollis.  At  a  short  distance  easterly  from 
this  mill  is  still  to  be  seen  the  place  of  an  old  cellar-hole,  indi- 
cating that  a  dwelling  once  stood  there.  It  was  on  this  spot 
in  the  v/ilderness  that  Mr.  Fry  erected  his  log-hut.  It  is  evident 
that  he  cultivated  a  piece  of  land,  and  set  out  thereon  three 
apple-trees,  one  of  which  is  now  standing,  and  in  bearing  con- 
dition, over  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  and  is  the  largest 
apple-tree  in  the  town  of  Hollis.  Mr.  Fry  also  manufactured 
wooden  ware,  and  was  employed  a  portion  of  the  time  in  trap- 
ping.    At  what  time  he  left  is  unknown,  but  it  was  before  1746. 

The  early  landmarks  have  disappeared,  and  it  is  not  easy  to 

'  C.  S.  Spaulding. 


l68  HISTORY    OF    MEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [172/ 

reproduce  the  scenes  in  which  they  planted  their  habitations. 
To  men  employed  in  subjugating  the  forests,  fighting  wild  men 
and  wild  beasts,  clearing  lots,  and  making  paths,  there  was  no 
leisure,  and  little  disposition,  to  make  records  of  their  doings. 

The  survivors  of  Captain  John  Lovewell's  expedition  to  Pig- 
wacket  petitioned  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  for  the 
grant  of  a  township  as  a  recompense  for  their  sufferings,  and 
received  the  grant  of  Suncook,  or  "  Lovewell's  Township." 

Meanwhile  the  authorities  of  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire 
had  jealously  watched  the  proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  people.  The  township  of  Bow  was  incorporated  May  20, 
1727,  conflicting  with  the  grants  of  Penacook  and  Suncook. 
The  township  was  laid  out  January  28,  1728-9,  by  Andrew 
Wiggin,  William  Moor,  and  Edward  P'ifield. 

April  5,  1725,  Colonel  Tyng,  in  command  of  a  scouting  party 
ascending  the  Merrimack  valley  to  Lake  Winnipiseogee,  reported 
meeting  a  company  of  "Irish,"  who  were  located  on  and  occupy- 
ing the  lands  on  the  intervale  about  the  village  of  East  Concord. 
They  had  built  a  fort  for  protection  against  the  savages.  Later 
they  were  dislodged  from  those  fair  fields  and  forced  to  move 
on.  Previous  to  the  granting  of  Epsom,  in  May,  1727,  certain 
ScotchTrish  families,  from  Londonderry,  had  settled  within  that 
territory.  It  is  probable  that  the  fruitful  and  fertile  lands  of 
Lovewell's  township  had  been  thoroughly  examined  by  these 
hardy  pioneers  before  it  was  granted  by  either  Province.  They 
were  not  allowed  to  purchase  land  in  Penacook  ;  the  proprietor 
forfeited  his  right  if  he  sold  to  one  of  the  race.  No  such  re- 
striction kept  them  from  purchasing  the  rights  of  the  proprietors 
of  Suncook,  or  Lovewell's  township  ;  and  a  fair  field  was  opened 
for  their  settlement. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  first  movement  toward  a 
settlement  of  Suncook  was  in  the  summer  of  1728.  It  was  the 
custom  of  the  young  men  to  start  early  in  the  spring  for  the 
newly-granted  wild  lands,  build  a  rude  log  shanty  for  temporary 
shelter,  and  proceed  at  once  to  clear  away  the  forest  growth 
from  their  lots.  The  axe  and  fire-brand  were  the  means  em- 
ployed.     Not  uiifrequently  the  crop  of  the  first  season  nearly 


1729]  KOVAI.    I'KOVIXCK,  169 

paid  for  the  land.  After  the  harvest  the  toilers  would  return 
to  a  more  settled  community  in  which  to  pass  the  winter. 

Tradition  asserts  that  Francis  Doyne  and  his  wife  were  tiie 
first  white  mhabitants  who  ever  wintered  in  the  township, 
1728-9,  and  they  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  first  permanent 
settlers.  Their  log  hut  is  said  to  have  been  located  about  in 
the  middle  of  tlie  field  west  of  Pembroke  street,  just  north  of 
the  road  le?dinj^  toward  Garvin's  falls.  After  a  severe  snow- 
storm they  were  visited  by  a  party  from  Penacook,  who  were 
anxious  as  to  their  safety,  and  were  found  in  a  roughly-built 
cabin,  comfortable,  contented,  and  protected  against  the  incle- 
mency of  the  weather.  Doyne  was  one  of  Captain  Lovewell's 
soldiers.  During  the  same  summer,  1728,  the  property  was 
probably  visited,  both  by  many  of  the  original  grantees,  their 
heirs,  and  others  wanting  to  purchase.  The  amount  of  work 
accomplished  during  this  first  year  towards  effecting  a  perma- 
nent settlement  is  unknown  ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  active  settlement  was  undertaken  during  the  summer  of 
1729.  Land  certainly  was  not  at  a  premium  at  that  time, 
wlicn  the  right  to  three  huntlrcd  and  sixty-five  acres,  with  the 
chance  of  drawing  the  best  lands  in  the  township,  was  sold  for 
twenty-four  pounds.  As  silver  was  reckoned  at  twenty  shillings, 
or  one  pound,  to  the  ounce  then,  the  land  brought  but  six  and  a 
half  cents  for  an  acre. 

In  a  general  sense  the  settlers  of  the  township  displaced  the 
Indians,  but  no  particular  tribe  is  known  to  have  occupied  the 
territory  save  as  a  hunting-ground  and  fishing  rendezvous.  The 
name  of  one  Indian  only  has  come  down  to  us  as  having  any 
connection  with  the  place,  and  his  record  is  very  traditional  and 
vague.  Plausawa,  in  whose  honor  the  hill  in  North  Pembroke 
is  named,  is  said  to  have  had  his  wigwam  in  that  locality.  With 
his  comrades,  Sabatis  and  Christi,  he  was  a  frequent  visitor  to 
this  and  neighboring  sections,  until  war  was  declared,  when  he 
cast  his  lot  with  the  St.  Francis  tribe.  The  three  are  charged 
with  having  led  or  instigated  the  attack  upon  Suncook  and  F])- 
som  in  after  years.  During  a  cessation  of  liostilities,  Plausawa 
and  Sabatis  were  killed  while  on  a  friendly  visit  to  Poscawen^ 
in  1753- 


I/O 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1730 


Lovewell's  township,  or  Suncook,  was  a  frontier  town  for 
many  years  after  its  settlement.  That  it  suffered  no  more  dur- 
ing the  contest  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  its  young  men  were 
constantly  on  the  scout  toward  the  enemy. 


&9WeWS'£i.''S  TQWMaHN' 


1739 


J 


The  settlers  were  the  Puritans,  from  the  old  Bay  Colony  ;  the 
Scotch-Irish    Presbyterians,    from    the    settlement    of    London- 


I730J  KOVAI.    I'KOVIN'CK.  l/I 

deiTV  ;  and,  lastly,  the  New  Hampshire  settlers  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Exeter,  Dover  and  Kingston,  who  came  in  later  under 
l^ow  titles.  Truly  the  town  was  not  homogeneous.  A  French 
family  was  the  first  to  locate  in  town,  and  sevend  Welsh  families 
settled  there  later. 

The  inroad  of  settlers  in  1730  was  probably  rapid.  The 
giants  of  the  forest  fell  before  the  woodman's  axe,  and  the  log 
cabin  was  rendered  homelike  by  the  presence  of  women  and 
■children.  The  few  scattering  Indians  remaining  in  the  neigh- 
borhood were  indifferent  or  friendly,  and  doubtless  the  settlers 
received  occasional  calls  from  them. 

The  log  houses  built  by  the  pioneers  of  the  last  century  have 
been  replaced  by  framed  buildings,  but  they  may  still  be  seen 
in  the  logging  camps  of  Grafton  and  Coos  counties,  and  in  all 
new  countries.  In  summer  the  life  was  not  unpleasant  ;  the 
river  teemed  with  shad,  salmon,  and  trout  ;  the  deer  and  the 
i:)ear  wandered  in  the  neighboring  forests  ;  the  virgin  soil  yielded 
wonderful  harvests.  Their  fare  was  simple,  but  with  prudence 
;uid  foresight  one  could  provide  for  the  family  during  the  long 
winter  months,  with  ordinary  exertion.  b\iel  was  at  their  very 
tloors,  to  be  had  for  the  chopping,  and  pitch  pine  knots  answered 
for  candles  and  gas. 

Wolves,  lean  and  hungry,  might  howl  about  their  safely 
l)arred  windows,  but  could  not  enter  their  dwellings  ;  nor  could 
the  cold  affect  them,  with  logs  hospitably  piled  in  the  open  fire- 
place. The  Bible  and  New  England  Primer  might  form  their 
thoroughly  read  librar\-,  but  tradition  was  a  never  failing  source 
of  interest  to  them 

James  INbxjre  probably  erected  his  house  this  year,  said  to 
bave  been  the  first  framed  building  in  the  township,  and  the 
frame  to-day  forms  a  part  of  Samuel  Emery  Moore's  house. 
Neighbors  from  Buckstreet  and  Concord  assisted  at  the  raising, 
and  a  few  Indians  are  said  to  have  helped.  Tradition  asserts 
that  one  of  the  latter  was  worsted  in  a  friendly  contest  and  trial 
of  strength,  usual  from  time  immemorial  on  such  occasions,  and 
became  very  angry  at  his  overthrow,  threatening  vengeance. 
His  wrath  was  appeased  by  a  potation  from  a  brown  jug  which 


172 


mSTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1730 


Note.  Very  early  in  the  Suncook  records  is  a  mention  of  a  conflict  between  the  Orthodox  and 
Presbyterian  cliurches.  By  the  former  Rev.  Aaron  Wh'ttemore  was  settled  as  the  minister  of  the 
parish,  the  latter  entering  a  formal  protest.  At  the  time  of  his  settlement  the  Presbyterians  were  in 
a  majority  in  the  township  ;  but  absent  grantees,  residents  in  Massachusetts,  claimed  the  right  of 
voting  by  proxy,  and  maintained  control  of  the  political  and  religious  affairs  of  the  town. 

Rev.  Aaron  Whittemore  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  and  for  a  third  of  a  century  sus- 
tained a  leading  position  in  the  affairs  of  Suncook  and  Pembroke.  During  the  French  and  Indian 
war  his  house  was  garrisoned  by  an  armed  force,  and  he  had  a  commission  in  the  militia.  Many 
prominent  families  in  the  State  trace  back  their  ancestry  to  him,  and  his  descendants  are  very 
numerous  and  influential.  Among  them  are  the  Kittredges  and  Woodmans,  besides  the  Whitteniores 
scattered  throughout  the  State  from  Nashua  to  the  Upper  Coos. 

Submitting  to  the  inevitable  the  Presbyterian  members  of  the  parish  became  reconciled ;  and  for 
many  years  listened  to  the  preaching,  and  paid  their  rates  towards  the  support,  of  Mr.  V/hittemore. 

The  Province  line,  as  determined,  must  have  been  to  the  latter  a  grievance,  for  he  was  a  faithful 
son  of  the  Bay  Colony  and  in  favor  of  its  laws  and  institutions. 


1730]  KdVAL    I'KOVIXCE.  173 

had  already  come  into  use.  iMuoie  was  very  sagacious  in  his 
treatment  of  the  Indians,  and  trained  their  friendship  ;  iiis  place 
was  avoided  by  them  in  after  years  during  the  hostilities, 
although  it  was  fortified  to  repel  an  attack. 

Besides  granting  the  township  of  Bow,  the  New  Hampshire 
authorities,  in  1727,  granted  Kpsom,  Barnstead,  Chichester,  Can- 
terbury and  Gilmanton  to  companies  intending  to  form  perma- 
nent settlements,  thus  extending  the  frontier  out  into  the  interior. 
Epsom  and  Canterbury  were  immediately  occupied  and  garri- 
soned later  during  the  French  and  Indian  wars,  while  the  other 
townships  were  not  reclaimed  from  the  wilderness  until  the  re- 
turn of  peace. 

Newmarket  was  cut  off  from  Exeter  in  1727.  Rev.  John 
Moody  was  ordained  and  settled  in  1730;  Rev.  S.  Tombs,  in 
1794;   Rev.  James  Thurston,  in  1800. 

Governor  William  Burnet  assumed  the  ofBce  of  chief  magis- 
trate of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  in  July  1728,  com- 
ing from  New  York,  where  he  had  acted  in  the  same  capacity. 
He  was  welcomed  at  Boston  by  a  committee  of  the  council  and 
assembly  of  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  and  was  after- 
wards granted  a  regular  salary.  He  died  in  September,  1729, 
having  visited  New  England  but  once,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Governor  Jonathan  Belcher. 

Governor  Burnet  had  been  very  popular  in  New  York,  and 
was  described  by  Lieutenant-Governor  Wentworth,  in  one  of  his 
speeches,  as  "  a  gentleman  of  known  worth,  having  justly  ob- 
tained a  universal  regard  from  all  who  have  had  the  honor  to 
be  under  his  government."  He  died  at  the  early  age  of  forty- 
one  years. 

Belcher,  a  native  of  New  England,  was  a  merchant  of  large 
fortune  and  unblemished  leputation.  He  had  spent  six  years  in 
Europe  and  had  been  ]:)resented  at  court.  "  He  was  graceful  in 
his  person,  elegant  and  polite  in  his  manners  ;  of  a  lofty  and 
aspiring  disposition  ;  a  steady,  generous  friend  ;  a  vindictive,  but 
not  implacable  enemy."  ^ 

A  controversy  soon   arose    between    the   new    governor  and 

'    ISelknap. 


ly^  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l730 

Wentworth,  the  lieutenant-governor  of  the  Province,  on  account 
of  a  letter  which  Wentworth  had  written  to  Governor  Shute^ 
and  all  friendly  relations  between  the  two  ceased.  Belcher  took 
active  measures  to  express  his  enmity,  curtailing  the  importance 
and  emoluments  of  the  office  of  lieutenant-governor,  to  the  dis- 
gust and  disappointment  of  Wentworth  and  his  many  friends. 
Wentworth  himself  did  not  long  survive,  but  died  Dec.  12,  1730, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  years. 

Lieutenant-Governor  John  Wentworth  was  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  Mary  (Benning)  Wentworth  of  New  Castle,  and  the  grand- 
son of  Elder  William  Wentworth  of  Exeter,  who  signed  the 
"combination  "  in  1639.  ^^^  '^^^s  born  in  June  16,  1672,  and  in 
early  life  was  a  sea-captain.  After  leaving  the  sea  he  was  a  mer- 
chant, and  was  reputed  a  fair  and  generous  dealer.  "  He  was  a 
gentleman  of  good  natural  abilities,  much  improved  by  conver- 
sation ;  remarkably  civil  and  kind  to  strangers  ;  respectful  to 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel  ;  a  lover  of  good  men  of  all  denomi- 
nations ;  compassionate  and  bountiful  to  the  poor  ;  courteous 
and  affable  to  all."  ^  In  February,  1711-12,  he  was  appointed 
a  councillor  by  Queen  Anne,  in  place  of  Winthrop  Hilton,  de- 
ceased, and  was  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  from  171 3 
to  1 7 18.  He  was  appointed  lieutenant-governor  in  1717,  and 
held  the  office  until  his  death.  Of  his  sixteen  children,  fourteen 
survived  him,  of  whom  one  was  Benning  Wentworth  and  another 
the  wife  of  Theodore  Atkinson. 

The  course  pursued  by  Governor  Belcher  was  resented  by  the 
friends  of  Wentworth  and  the  opposition  was  led  by  Benning 
Wentworth  and  Theodore  Atkinson  ;  but  Belcher  disregarded 
his  opponents  and  apprehended  no  danger  from  their  resent- 
ment. 

Mr.  Wentworth  was  succeeded  as  lieutenant-governor  by 
David  Dunbar,  a  native  of  Ireland,  formerly  a  colonel  in  the 
British  service,  and  unfriendly  to  Governor  Belcher.  He  had 
been  commander  of  the  fort  at  Peraaquid,  and  upon  his  aj^pear- 
ance  in  New  Hampshire,  in  173 1,  he  joinetl  the  party  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  governor.      Soon  after  his  arrival  a  petition  was  sent 

'    Uelknap. 


173  l]  '  KOVAI.    I'KOVINCE.  1/5 

to  England,  praying  for  the  removal  of  Governor  Belcher,  "  alleg- 
ing that  his  government  was  grievous,  oppressive,  and  arbitrary." 
Richard  Waldron,  with  a  party  friendly  to  the  governor,  drew  up 
an  address  in  Belcher's  favor,  and  forwarded  it  at  the  same  time. 
As  a  result  of  letters  and  petitions,  Theodore  Atkinson,  Benning 
Wentworth,  and  Joshua  Peirce  were  appointed  councillors,  but 
being  kept  out  of  office  for  two  years,  the  two  former  were  elected 
to  the  Assembly,  where  they  maintained  their  opposition. 

Dr.  Belknap  is  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  the  design  of  Gov- 
ernor Belcher  to  effect  a  union  of  New  Hampshire  with  Massa- 
chusetts ;  but  the  people  could  not  be  brought  to  ask  for  it. 
The  opposition  favored  a  government  entirely  distinct  from 
Massachusetts.  The  chief  trouble  which  they  encountered  was 
the  poverty  and  limited  area  of  the  Province,  and  so  they  ad- 
vocated its  enlargement.  They  were  in  favor  of  determining- 
the  boundary  lines  of  the  Province,  which  the  governor  and  his 
friends  were  by  no  means  anxious  to  settle.  The  New  Hamp- 
shire authorities  became  more  zealous  to  have  the  line  deter- 
mined than  Massachusett.s,  although  they  realized  that  it  would 
not  greatly  benefit  them  personally,  as  the  territory  would  either 
revert  to  the  King,  to  again  grant,  or  become  the  proi)erty  of 
the  heirs  of  Mason  and  Allen. 

The  governor,  as  obliged  by  his  instructions,  frequently  urged 
the  settlement  of  the  lines  in  his  speeches;  and  a  committee 
from  both  provinces  met  at  Newbury,  in  the  autumn  of  1731,  ta 
arrange  the  affair  ;  but  the  Massachusetts  party  prevented  an 
accommodation  ;  whereupon  the  New  Hampshire  authorities  de- 
'termined  no  longer  to  treat  with  Massachusetts,  but  to  petition 
the  King  to  decide  the  controversy. 

Accordingly,  in  1732,  John  Rindge,  a  merchant  of  Portsmouth, 
who  had  influential  friends  in  England,  was  appointed  by  the 
Assembly  agent  for  the  Province.  He  visited  the  old  country, 
and  presented  to  the  King  a  petition,  requesting  the  establish- 
ment of  the  line  between  the  two  provinces  ;  and  upon  his  re- 
turn to  America  the  affair  was  left  to  the  management  of  Cap- 
tain John  Thomlinson,  a  merchant  of  London,  a  gentleman  of 
great  penetration,   industry  and  address.       This  petition,  how- 


1^6  inSTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l732 

■ever,  was  not  endorsed  by  the  governor  or  by  his  council ;  but 
was  authorized  by  the  Assembly  and  the  lieutenant-governor. 

Governor  Belcher  charged  Dunbar  with  being  "  false,  perfidi- 
ous, malicious,  and  revengeful,  a  plague  to  the  governor  and  a  de- 
ceiver of  the  people."  The  opposition  alleged  that  the  governor 
consented  at  every  session  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly  to 
grants  of  land  within  the  disputed  territory. 

In  1732,  a  vote  of  the  proprietors  of  Suncook  is  the  first 
mention  in  the  town  records  of  the  Bow  controversy.  In  case 
the  claim  of  Massachusetts  was  sustained,  the  right  of  the  gran- 
tees of  Suncook  would  be  established  ;  in  case  New  Hampshire 
obtained  jurisdiction,  the  right  to  the  land  would  be  legally 
vested  in  the  heirs  of  John  Mason. 

Oyster  River,  a  parish  of  Dover,  was  incorporated  as  Durham 
in  1732.  It  had  been  made  a  parish  in  165 1  ;  separated  in  1675  ; 
incorporated  in  1716.  It  had  suffered  severely  during  the  Indian 
wars,  the  enemy  frequently  committing  depredations  within  its 
limits.  A  church  was  built  in  1655.  The  first  minister,  settled  in 
the  parish  in  1674,  was  John  Russ,  who  died  in  1736,  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  and  eight  years.  He  was  also  the  parish  physician. 
Rev.  Hugh  Adams  was  settled  in  1718  ;  Rev.  Nicholas  Oilman, 
in  1741  ;  Rev.  John  Adams,  in  1748;  Rev.  Curtis  Coe,  in  1780, 
who  was  dismissed  in  1806. 

The  township  of  Narragansett  No.  3,  Souhegan  West,  or  Am- 
herst, was  granted,  in  1733,  by  Massachusetts.  The  first  settle- 
ment was  commenced,  in  1734,  by  Samuel  Walton  and  Samuel 
Lampson  and  others  from  Essex  county.  A  meeting  house  was 
built  in  1739.  The  town  was  incorporated  in  1760,  as  Amherst, 
and  upon  the  organization  of  Hillsborough  County  it  was  made 
the  shire  town.  Milford,  in  1794,  and  Mount  Vernon,  in  i803> 
were  separated  from  Amherst.  A  church  was  organized  in 
1 74 1,  and  Daniel  Wilkins  was  settled  as  minister,  and  continued 
there  until  his  death,  in  February,  1784.  Rev.  Jeremiah  Bar- 
nard was  settled  in  1779;  Rev.  Nathan  Lord,  in  18 16,  after- 
wards president  of  Dartmouth  College. 

The  township  of  Contoocook,  afterwards  Boscawen,  was 
granted   bv   Massachusetts  in  1733,  and  a  settlement  was  made 


1733]  ROYAL  PROVINCE  I77 

the  next  year  by  Nathaniel  Danforth,  Andrew  Bohonnon,  Moses 
Burbank,  Stephen  Gerrish  and  Edward  Emery,  a  colony  from 
Newbury,  Massachusetts.  Soon  twenty  or  thirty  families  were 
settled  within  the  township.  A  fort,  one  hundred  feet  square 
and  ten  feet  high,  was  built  in  1739,  ""^  which  the  inhabitants 
were  obliged  to  take  refuge  for  a  period  of  twenty-two  years. 
Rev.  Phinehas  Stevens  was  settled  as  minister  in  1737,  and  a 
meeting  house  was  built  the  next  year,  as  large  as  that  at  Rum- 
ford  and  "  two  feet  higher."  Mr.  Stevens  was  succeeded,  in 
1 761,  by  Rev.  Robie  Morrill  ;  in  1768,  by  Rev.  Nathaniel  Merrill  ; 
in  1 78 1,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Wood,  who  continued  in  the  ministry 
for  over  fifty  years.  The  town  was  incorporated  in  1760,  and 
named  in  honor  of    Admiral  Boscawen. 

Settlements  were  pushed  up  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  as 
far  as  Charlestown  soon  after  1735,  in  which  year  that  town,  by 
the  name  of  No.  4,  was  granted  by  Massachusetts  to  the  citizens 
of  Northampton,  Hadley,  Hatfield,  Deerfield  and  Sunderland. 
The  first  settlers  were  several  families  by  the  name  of  Parker, 
Farnsworth,  Sartwill  from  Groton,  Hastings  from  Lunenburg, 
and  Stevens  from  Rutland.  In  1743  a  fort  was  built,  under  the 
direction  of  Colonel  Stoddard  of  Northampton  ;  and  the  first 
mills  were  erected  the  following  year.  The  town  was  temporarily 
abandoned  by  the  inhabitants  in  1747,  on  account  of  the  Indian 
war,  but  a  garrison  was  stationed  at  the  fort  as  a  protection 
to  the  frontiers.  Charlestown  was  incorporated  in  July,  1753. 
Rev.  John  Dennis  was  settled  as  minister  in  1754  ;  Rev.  Bulkley 
Olcott,  in  1761  ;  Rev.  Jaazaniah  Crosby,  in  1810;  Rev.  J.  De 
F.  Richards,  in  1841  ;   Rev.  Worthington  Wright,  in  185 1. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  relations  between  Governor  Belcher 
and  his  lieutenant-governor,  Dunbar,  were  not  of  an  amicable 
character.  Dunbar  had  no  seat  in  the  council,  and  was  de- 
prived of  command  of  the  fort  at  New  Castle,  and  as  many  of 
his  perquisites  as  possible,  by  the  governor.  In  anger,  Dunbar 
retired  to  his  fort  at  Pemaquid,  where  he  remained  two  years, 
Upon  his  return,  he  was  treated  with  less  severity  by  the 
governor. 

Dunbar,  in  his  office  of  surveyor-general  of  the  King's  woods, 


1/8  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l737 

was  frequently  arbitrary  in  his  dealings  with  the  people  upon 
the  Piscataqua,  and  incurred  their  enmity.  At  Exeter,  while 
enforcing  some  of  his  obnoxious  regulations,  he  was  set  upon  by 
a  force  disguised  as  Indians,  and,  together  with  his  party,  re- 
ceived rough  usage.  They  were  obliged  to  tramp  back  to 
Portsmouth,  as  their  boat  was  rendered  unserviceable.  For  this 
offence  he  could  receive  no  legal  redress,  as  his  assailants  were 
unknown.  As  a  retaliation,  he  ordered  that  courts  should  be 
holden  only  at  Portsmouth,  instead  of  at  Exeter,  Dover,  and 
Hampton,  as  formerly.  He  was  caressed  by  the  opponents  of 
Belcher,  and,  in  1737,  went  to  England  to  prosecute  his  design 
of  creating  New  Hampshire  into  an  independent  province,  of 
which  he  desired  to  obtain  control.  Disappointed  in  his  ambi- 
tion, he  accepted  an  office  offered  by  the  East  India  Company, 
and  was  appointed  governor  of  St.  Helena. 

The  trade  of  the  Province  at  this  time  consisted  chiefly  in 
the  exportation  of  lumber  and  fish  to  Spain  and  Portugal,  and 
the  Caribbee  Islands.  The  mast  trade  was  wholly  confined  to 
Great  Britain.  In  the  winter,  small  vessels  went  to  the  south- 
ern colonies  with  English  and  West  India  goods,  and  returned 
with  corn  and  pork.  Woollen  manufacture  was  diminished,  as 
sheep  were  scarce,  but  the  manufacture  of  linen  had  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  emigration  from  the  north  of  Ireland. ^ 

In  1732,  an  Episcopal  church  was  organized  at  Portsmouth, 
and  a  chapel  built,  which  was  consecrated  in  1734  ;  and  two  years 
later.  Rev.  Arthur  Brown  was  settled  as  their  minister,  with  a 
salary  from  the  "  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts."  In  1735,  the  Province  was  visited  with  a  new  epidemic, 
known  as  the  throat  distemper ;  and  of  the  first  forty  who  had 
it  none  recovered.  It  first  appeared  at  Kingston.  In  the 
whole  Province  not  less  than  one  thousand  persons  died  of  the 
disease,  of  whom  some  nine  hundred  were  children.  Over  two 
hundred  died  at  Hampton  Falls,  and  over  one  hundred  at 
Exeter,  Kingston,  and  Durham. 

In  1737,  the  settlers  at  Suncook  bargained  with  John  Coch- 
ran of  Londonderry  to  erect  a  saw-mill  and  a  grist-mill  on  the 

'  Belknap. 


/J 


7]  KOVAI.      I'K()\!N-CE,  I  79 


Suncook  river,  and  agreed  to  deed  to  him  lot  No.  i,  which 
embraced  the  compact  part  of  the  present  village  of  Suncook, 
in  the  town  of  Pembroke.  The  conditions  of  the  grant  he  evi- 
dently complied  with,  for  the  deeds  of  all  property  within  tJKit 
area  can  be  traced  to  him. 

In  accordance  with  a  vote  the  first  road  to  Rumford  was  laid 
out.  It  led  diagonally  across  the  lots,  very  directly  from  the 
first  meeting  house,  built  in  1733,  at  the  north-east  corner  of  the 
cemetery,  over  intervening  land  to  the  bridge  over  the  Sou- 
cook,  thence  by  the  river  bank  to  the  great  bend  in  the  Merri- 
mack, where  a  ferry  was  early  established,  about  a  mile  below 
the  lower  bridge  in  Concord,  and  nearly  as  far  above  the  rail- 
road bridge. 

A  bounty  of  sixpence  a  tail  was  voted  for  every  rattlesnake 
killed  in  the  township. 

The  north  and  east  part  of  the  town  was  then  a  wilderness, 
covered  by  the  primeval  forest.  The  Suncook  settlers,  for  the 
most  part,  were  on  the  home  lots,  which  were  on  each  side  of 
what  is  now  Pembroke  street.  Their  meadow  lots,  on  the  Sun- 
cook, Merrimack  and  Soucook  rivers,  were  reached  by  winding 
paths  through  the  forest,  and  were  valuable  to  the  pioneers 
from  the  wild  grass  that  grew  upon  them.  The  intervale  lots 
along  the  Merrimack  are  said  to  have  been  open  at  the  first 
settlement,  from  inundations  of  the  river,  or  kept  so  by  the 
Indians,  the  former  occupants  of  the  land,  as  corn  fields. 

An  old  man  once  said  that  the  pioneers  settled  on  high  land, 
not  on  account  of  its  fertility,  but  to  avoid  the  trails  of  the 
savages,  which  were  made  by  the  river  bank  ;  that  the  Indians 
would  never  turn  from  their  march  to  do  malicious  injury, 
except  when  on  the  war  path  ;  and  because  from  an  elevation 
the  clearings  could  be  better  protected  by  a  stockade  and 
garrison  house. 

ThomUnson,  the  agent  of  New  Hampshire  in  England,  was 
indefatigable  in  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  little  Provipce.  It 
was  greatly  due  to  him  that  the  chapel  was  built  at  Portsmouth* 
and  that  a  minister  was  settled  over  the  parish.  Through  his 
instrumentalitv,  commissioners  from   among   the   councillors  of 


l80  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l737 

New  York,  New  Jersey,  Rhode  Island,  and  Nova  Scotia,  all 
from  royal  governments  except  those  from  Rhode  Island,  and 
with  that  colony  Massachusetts  had  a  controversy  respecting 
boundaries,  were  appointed  to  adjudicate  the  dispute  on  boun- 
dary line.  The  commissioners,  three  from  Nova  Scotia,  and 
five  from  Rhode  Island,  met  at  Hampton,  August  i,  1737. 
Here  they  were  met  by  a  committee  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Assembly,  who  presented  the  demands  of  the  Province,  while 
agents  of  Massachusetts  stated  their  claims.  On  the  loth  of 
August,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  met  at  Salisbury, 
while  the  General  Court  of  New  Hampshire  met  at  Hampton 
Falls.  The  latter,  however,  were  not  united,  as  the  Council 
were  of  the  Massachusetts  party,  while  the  Assembly  favored 
the  New  Hampshire  pretensions.  The  commissioners,  how- 
ever, could  not  determine  definitely  the  line  between  the  two 
Provinces,  but  referred  the  matter  to  the  King  and  Council. 
Here  the  New  Hampshire  interests  were  again  entrusted  to 
Thomlinson,  who  was  a  host  in  himself.  Not  receiving  the  nec- 
essary papers  from  the  New  Hampshire  authorities  to  prosecute 
their  claim,  he  manufactured  such  as  he  thought  would  be  most 
powerful  for  the  benefit  of  his  clients  of  New  Hampshire. 
While  the  matter  was  pending,  in  1738,  Thomlinson  bought  up 
the  Masonian  claim  to  the  Province  for  ;^  1,000,  on  his  own 
responsibility,  in  behalf  of  the  New  Hampshire  Assembly. 

In  this  appeal.  New  Hampshire  had  the  advantage  of  the 
most  skilful  advocates,  who  represented  the  "  poor,  little,  loyal, 
distressed  Province  of  New  Hampshire  "  as  crowded  and  op- 
pressed by  the  "vast,  opulent,  overgrown  Province  of  Massa- 
chusetts ; "  and  New  Hampshire  won  the  case.  The  question 
was  settled  by  his  Majesty,  in  council,  March  5,  1740,  and  the 
present  southern  and  eastern  boundary  of  New  Hampshire  was 
established.  Many  townships  granted  by  Massachusetts  were 
found  to  be  without  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Province  that  had 
granted  their  charters,  and  within  a  Province  governed  by  differ- 
■ '  ent  laws,  and  where  the  title  to  the  wild  land  was  in  dispute. 

This  was  the  more  bitter  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  territory 
because  of  the  Masonian  claim.     This  hung  over  their  heads. 


1737]  ROVAI.    PKOVINCE.  I  ,S  I 

aiul  affected  their  ownership  in  the  lands  which  they  had 
recovered  from  a  wilderness  by  years  of  toil  and  exposure.  The 
Province  of  New  Hampshire  gained  jurisdiction  over  a  strip  of 
land  fourteen  miles  wide,  extending  its  whole  width,  and  was 
supposed  to  include  the  present  State  of  Vermont.  Twenty- 
eight  newly  granted  townships,  between  the  Merrimack  and 
Connecticut  rivers,  were  cut  off  from  Massachusetts  and 
annexed  to  New  Hampshire.  The  latter  Province  gained  seven 
hundred  square  miles  more  than  the  authorities  had  claimed, 
besides  the  territory  west  of  the  Connecticut  river.' 

Kensington  was  detached  from  Hampton,  and  incorporated 
in  1737,  when  Rev.  Jeremiah  Fogg  was  settled  as  minister  over 
the  town.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1793,  by  Rev.  Napthali  Shaw  ; 
in  18 1 2,  by  Rev.  Nathaniel  Kennedy. 

1  Civil  Engineer  Nelson  Spoft'ord,  of  Haverhill,  boundary  line  surveyor  on 
the  part  of  Massachusetts  in  the  present  controversy  Avith  New  Hampshire, 
is  in  receipt  of  valuable  and  important  copies  of  maps  and  other  documents 
relative  to  this  subject  from  the  Public  Records  office  of  England. 

In  1SS3  Mr.  Spoftord  made  inquiries  of  Minister  Lowell  as  to  the  necessarv 
proceedings  in  order  to  ascertain  what  documents  might  be  found  on  record 
relative  to  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  line  controversy  in  1741. 

Mr.  Stevens  was  employed  to  search  the  records,  and  he  forwarded  to  Mr. 
Spofford  a  list  of  twenty-five  documents  and  maps  relating  to  this  subject, 
with  the  cost  of  copying;  and  here  the  matter  rested  until  the  Boundary 
Line  Commission  was  organized,  in  1S85,  when  Mr.  Spofford  was  directed 
to  order  copies  of  such  documents  as  might  appear  to  be  of  the  most  import- 
ance, but  owing  to  delays  from  various  causes  these  documents  have  been 
but  recently  received. 

The  list  embraces  some  three  hundred  pages  foolscap  of  closely  written 
matter,  and  copies  of  three  maps.  Among  the  documents  appear  the 
following : 

No.  I. 
Public  Record  Office  of  Emfland. 
Colonial  Correspondence  Bd.  of  Trade  New  England. 
Oreder  of  the  King  in  Council.     9  April  1740. 
Indorszd,  New  England,  Massachusetts  Bay  New  Hampshire  Order  of  Council 
dated  April  9th   1740  directing  the  Board  to  prepare  an  Instruction 
to  the  Governor  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New  Hampshire  for 
settling  the  Bounds  of  these  Provinces  ])ursuant  to  a  report  of  llje 
Committee  of  Council. 

At  the  Court  of  St.  James  the  9th.  April  1740 

Present 

The   Kin;,'>   nio.st   Kvceilant   Mnj-stv  in  Council 


l82  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^737 

Wkcyeas:  His  Majesty  was  this  day  pleased  by  his  order  in  Council,  to 
signify  his  approbation  of  a  Report  made  by  the  Lords  of  the  Committee  in 
Council  upon  the  respective  Appeales  of  the  Provinces  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  and  New  Hampshire  for  the  Determination  of  the  Commissioners  —  ap- 
pointed to  settle  the  Boundarys  between  the  said  Provinces,  and  to  direct  in 
what  manner  the  said  Boundarys  should  be  settled,  and  also  to  require  the 
Governor  and  the  respective  Councils  and  Assemblys  of  the  said  Provinces 
to  take  especial  care  to  carry  His  Majestys  commands  thereby  signified  into 
due  execution, as  by  a  copy  of  the  said  Order  hereto  annexed  may  more  fully 
appear.  And  His  Majesty  being  desirous  to  remove  all  further  pretence  for 
continuing  the  Disputes  which  have  subsisted  for  many  years  between  the 
said  Provinces  on  Account  of  the  said  Boundary,  and  to  prevent  any  delay 
in  ascertaining  the  Boundary  pursuant  to  the  said  order  in  Council,  Doth 
Hereby  Order  that  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations  do 
prepare  the  Draught  of  such  an  instruction  as  they  shall  conceive  proper  to 
be  sent  to  the  Governor  of  those  Provinces,  for  enforcing  the  due  execution 
of  the  said  order  and  requiring  him  in  the  strongest  terms  to  cause  His 
Majestys  Commands  in  this  behalf  to  be  executed  in  the  most  effectual  and 
expeditious  manner,  to  the  end  that  his  Majestys  Intentions  for  promoting 
the  Peace  and  Qjiiet  of  the  said  Provinces,  may  not  be  frustrated  or  delayed. 
And  they  are  to  lay  the  said  Draught  before  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lords 
of  the  Committee  of  Council  for  Plantation  Affairs. — 

(Signed)  Temple  Stanyan 

No.  H. 
Order  of  Committee  of  Council  9  April  1741 
Indorsed  (with  petitions)  Massachusetts  Oreder  of  the  Lords  of  ye    Com- 
mittee of  Council  dated  ye  9th  of  April  1741  referring  to  this  board  ye 
Petition  of  Thomas  Hutchinson  of  Boston  Esq.  praying  his  Majesty 
to  direct  that  the  several  Line  Townships  which  by  the  Line  directed 
to  be  run  by  his  Majestys  Order  in  Council  of  ye  9th  April  1740  will 
be  cut  off  from  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  may  be  united  to 
that  Province. 
At  the  Council  Chamber  Whitehall 

the  9th.  of  April  1741  By  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lords  of  the 
Committee  of  Council  for  Plantation  Affairs. 

His  Majesty,  having  been  pleased  by  his  order  in  Council  of  the  9th  of 
February  last,  to  refer  unto  this  Committee  the  humble  petition  of  Thomas 
Hutchinson  of  Boston  in  his  Majesty  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Esqr. 
humbly  praying  that  His  Majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  direct  that 
the  several  Townships,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  the  line  townships, 
which  by  the  Line  directed  to  be  run  by  his  Majestys  Order  in  Council  of  the 
9th  of  April  1740,  will  be  cut  off  from  the  said  Province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  mav  be  United  in  that  Province  — The  Lords  of  the  Committee  this  day 
took  the  said  petition,  together  with  several  others  thereto  annexed,  from  the 
said  Township  into  Consideration,  and  are  hereby  pleased  to  refer  the  same 


1737]  KOVAL  PROVINCE.  183 

to  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations,  to  examine  into  tlie 
said  Petitions,  and  report  tlieir  Opinion  thereupon  to  this  Committee 

(Signed)  Temple  Stanyan. 

Benning  Wentworth  to  the  Board  of  Trade  8th  December  1742 
Indorsed  New  Hampshire  Letter  from  Mr.   Wentworth  Governor  of  New 
Hampshire  to  the  Board,  dated  Portsmouth  ye  Sth  December  1742 

Referring  to  the  petitions  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  without  their  consent 
been  summarily  transferred  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  to  that  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  who  had  petitioned  the  King  to  be  returned  to  Massa- 
chusetts, Wentworth    says, — 

And  unless  it  should  be  His  Majesty's  pleasure  to  put  an  end  to  iVpplications 
of  this  Nature,  It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  carry  his  Royal  Instructions 
into  Executi  on. 

New  Hampshire  sits  down  by  his  Majesty's  determination,  and  has  showed 
the  greatest  obedience  thereto  by  paying  the  whole  expense  of  running  and 
marking  out  the  boundaries  in  exact  conformity  to  the  royal  deter- 
mination, and  therefore  thinks  it  a  great  hardship  that  Massachusetts  should 
lead  them  into  any  new  charge,  in  a  dispute  that  had  subsisted  near  four 
score  years,  and  which  has  been  so  solemnly  determined. 

And  it  may  be  added  here,  also,  that  the  legislature  of  New  Hampshire 
supplemented  the  above  appeal  of  Governor  Wentworth  with  a  prayer  to  the 
King,  never,  under  any  circumstances,  to  admit  of  the  slightest  infraction 
of  the  boundary  line,  thus  determined  and  established  according  to  his  royal 
will  and  pleasure;  and  to  the  credit  of  that  Province  and  State  it  may  also 
be  stated  here  that  that  work,  the  boundary  line  as  then  established  and  recorded, 
has  never  been  called  in  question  by  either,  and  the  State  has  never  gone  hack 
on  her  own  record 

Jonathan  Belcher  to  the  Board  of  Trade. 
7  May  1 741. 
Indorsed  Massachusetts,  new  Hampshire  Letter  from  Mr.  Belcher  Governor 
of  New  England,  dated  at  Boston  ye  7th  of  May  1741,  concerning  a  difficulty, 
arisen  upon  ye  construction  of  His  Mi.jesty's  Judgment  respecting  ye  Bounda- 
ries betwixt  ye  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  that  of  New  Hampshire. 

This  is  a  very  important  document,  and,  as  will  be  seen,  effectually  disposes 
of  all  claims  New  Hampshire  may  have  been  supposed  to  have  to  a  slice  of 
Massachusetts,  and  forms  a  very  valuable  and  important  State  paper. 

In  connection  with  these  documents,  Mr.  Spofford  has  also  received  co|iies 
of  three  very  important  and  valuable  maps  relating  to  the  boundary  line  con- 
troversy of  1 741. 

No.  I  is  a  map  of  Merrimack  river  and  the  boundary  line  at  three  miles 
distant  on  the  north  side  thereof,  by  George  Mitchell,  surveyor.  This  map 
is  about  18x24  inches,  and  bears  the  following  in.scription  on  the  upper  left 
hand  corner,  enclosed  in  scroll  work: 


l84  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  {^717 

To 

His  Excellency  Benning  VVentworth  Esqr. 
Captain  General  &  Commander  in  Chief  over  His  Majesty's  Province  of  New 

Hampshire 
This  map  is  humbly  inscribed  by 
His  Excellencys 
Most  Obdt.  Servt. 

George  Mitchell  Surv'r. 
And  immediately  under  this  we  find  the  following  note  : 

By  Lines  drawn  on  the  North  side  of  ye  River  there  is  as  much  land  as 
water,  which  have  their  corresponding  parallels  at  three  miles  distance;  but 
as  ye  Sudden  Bends  renders  it  impracticable  to  come  up  to  the  Truth,  the  dif- 
ference is  divided  equally  in  General. 

In  the  lower  left  hand  corner  is  the  following  note  : 

Received  April  20th,  with  Governor  Wentworth's  Letter  dated  at  Portsmouth 
in  New  Hampshire  6th  March  1741&2 

In  the  lower  right  hand  corner  is  the  title  enclosed  in  scroll  work. 

A  MAP 
Of  the  River  Merrimack 
from  the  Atiantick  Ocean 
to    Pawtucket    Falls    de- 
scribing Bounds  between 
His  Majesty's  Province  of 
New  Hampshire  and  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,  agree- 
able to  His  Majestys  Or- 
der in  Council  1741 
On  the  back  of  the  map  we  find  the  following  sworn  statement: 
George  Mitchell  makes  Oath,  that  this  survey  made  by  him  of  the  River 
Merrimack,  from  the  mouth  of  said  River  to  Pawtucket  Falls,  is  true  and  exact 
to  the  best  of  his  skill  and  knowledge,  and  that  the  line  described  in  the  plan 
is  as  conformable  to  His  Majestys  determination  in  Council,  as  was  in  his 
power  to  draw,  but  finding  it  impracticable  to  stick  to  the  letter  of  said  deter- 
mination, has  in  some  places  taken  from  one  Province,  and  made  ample  allow- 
ance for  the  same  in  the  next  reach  of  the  River. 
Portsmouth.  New  Hampshire,  March  8th,  1741. 
George  Mitchell, 

Svv-orn    f    Jothan;  Odiorne  )      Jus. 

)  Uf    the 

before    [    H.  Sherburne        J    Peace , 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Mitchell  was  no  tool  or  emissarv  of  Belcher's,  but 
he  drew  the  boundary  line  according  to  his  interpretation  of  the  King's  De- 
cree, as  it  appears  from  examination  of  the  map  that  he  i;urveyed  the  river, 
made  his  plan,  and  then  proceeded  to  lay  off  a  strip  of  land  three  miles  wide 
on  the  north  side  thereof.     This  he  did  by  first  drawing  straight  lines  along 


1737]  ROVAL    PROVINXE.  I.S5 

the  north  shore  of  the  river,  passing  so  as  to  take  one  half  of  the  river  into 
his  estimate,  projecting  these  lines  from  the  ocean  to  Pawtucket  falls,  and  then 
draws  the  boundary  line  at  three  miles  distance  from  these  straight  lines. 
Consequently  no  part  of  his  line  appears  on  the  south  side  of  the  river. 
Mitchell  does  not  seem  to  have  understood  the  gymnastics  of  modern  survey- 
ing. 

This  map  shows  no  small  degree  of  artistic  ability  in  the  surveyor  who  pro- 
jected it,  so  much  so  that  Mr.  Spoftbrd  already  has  applications  for  copies 
from  parties  interested  in  works  of  this  description. 

But  this  map  not  only  indicates  a  superior  draughtsman,  hut  a  remarkably- 
skilful  and  accurate  surveyor. 

His  plan  of  the  river,  reduced  by  pantograph  to  the  scale  of  the  map  accom- 
panying the  recent  report  of  the  New  Hampshire  Commissioners  to  the  leg- 
islature of  that  State,  shows  the  survey  to  have  been  made  and  platted  with  a 
wonderful  degree  of  accuracv. 

This  latest  survey  and  plan  were  executed  with  the  very  best  of  modern  ap- 
pliances, by  a  skilful  and  experienced  surveyor  but  recently  from  the  United 
States  Government  survey  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  neither  time  nor  ex- 
pense was  spared  to  make  it  as  accurate  as  could  be  platted  on  a  scale  of  j. 500 
feet  to  one  inch;  still,  on  comparing  the  latest  product  of  modern  skill,  it  is 
little  more  than  a  fac  simile  of  Mitchell's  work  done  with  the  rude  instru- 
ments of  a  century  and  a  half  ago. 

Map  No.  3. 
This  map  is  on  a  sheet  about  24x36  inches,  and  is  the  work  of  the  same 
surveyor,  and  executed  in  the  same  general  style  as  No.  2.     The  title  reads 
as  follows  : 

A  Plan  of  the  Rivers  and  Boundary  Lines  referred  to  in  the  Proceedings  and 
Judgment  to  which  this  is  annexed.  George  Mitchell  Surveyor 

Note 

Reed.  Dec.  20  1737,  with  Letter  from  ye  Commissioners  for  settling  the 
Boundary  Lines  between  ye  provinces  of  Massachusetts  Bay  &  New  Hamp- 
shire Cenr  79 

The  commission  of  1737,  it  will  be  remembered  by  persons  familiar  with 
this  question,  reported  in  substance  as  follows  : 

That  if  the  second  charter  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  covered 
all  the  territory  that  the  first  charter  covered,  then  the  line  should  commence 
at  the  Atlantic  ocean,  three  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Merrimack  river, 
and  thence  running  westerly  and  northerly,  keeping  at  three  miles'  distance 
from  the  river  to  the  junction  of  the  Winnipiseogee  and  three  miles  further 
north,  thence  due  west  to  his  majesty's  other  dominions;  but  if  it  did  not, 
then  the  dividing  line  should  begin  at  a  point  three  miles  north  of  the  Black 
Rocks  and  thence  due  west  to  his  rnajesty's  other  dominions.  These  lines 
are  all  shown  on  the  plan. 

But  both  parties  appealed  from  this  decision,  and  the  matter  was  carried 
betore  the  King  in  council.     This  august  body  seems  to  have  been  run  by 


I  86  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^737 

New  Hampshire  s  paid  agent,  one  George  Thomlinson,  and  the  line  was  estab- 
lished at  three  miles  north  of  the  river  to  Pawtucket  falls,  and  thence  due 
Avest,  etc.  This  gave  New  Hampshire  some  700  square  miles  of  Massachu- 
setts more  than  that  Province  had  ever  claimed,  consequently  her  willingness 
to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  running  the  lines  that  make  the  area  of  that  State 
to-day  1,400  square  miles  larger  than  Massachusetts. 

These  records  and  maps  are  not  only  interesting  historical  documents,  but 
they  show  past  all  controversy  that  the  boundary  line  matter  was  settled  by 
the  king's  decree,  that  the  execution  was  served,  the  land  set  oft",  the  lines 
run  and  marked  on  the  ground,  the  plans  returned,  accepted  and  recorded, 
and  the  whole  business  executed  as  perfectly  and  thoroughly  as  it  was  possi- 
ble to  fix  any  division  line  anywhere  at  that  time.  It  was  all  done  with  the 
cordial  assent  and  concurrence  of  New  Hampshire.  Massachusetts  protested 
against  it,  but  without  avail.  The  line  thus  established  has  been  the  line  of 
jurisdiction  ever  since.  Massachusetts  set  the  bounds  stones  at  the  angles 
in  1827  :  they  are  all  there  to-day,  and  mark  the  angles  in  the  line.  Mr.  Spof- 
ford  has  run  on  the  ground,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  of  its  correct- 
ness substantially,  and  why  any  person  should  now  suppose  for  a  single  mo- 
ment that  a  boundary  line  thus  established  by  both  parties  can  be  changed  at 
the  option  of  one,  and  without  the  consent  and  against  the  wishes  of  the  in- 
habitants living  near  it,  is  a  mystery  we  siiall  not  attempt  to  solve. 

East  Kingston  was  incorporated  in  1738.  Rev.  Peter  Coffin  was  settled  as 
minister  the  following  year  and  was  dismissed  in  1772. 

'  The  Scotch  settlers  of  Londonderry  came  to  this  wintry  land  to  have 

"  A  faith's  pure  shrine," 
and 

"  To  make  a  happy  fireside  clime 
For  weans  and  wife." 

The>' were  hard-headed,  long-headed,  level-headed,  uncompromising,  uncon- 
quered,  and  unconquerable  Presbyterians.  They  were  of  a  stern  and  rugged 
tvpe.  They  clung  to  the  tenets  of  the  Presbyterian  faith  with  a  devotion,  con- 
stancy, and  obstinacy  little  short  of  bigotry,  and  in  it  was  mingled  little  of 
that  charity  for  others  of  a  diflferent  faith  "  which  suffereth  long;"  nor  is  this 
surprising,  when  we  consider  the  circumstances  of  their  lives,  and  the  stock 
to  which  they  belonged.  They  were  the  descendants  of  a  brave  and  heroic 
race  of  men  and  women,  who  had  resisted  the  encroachments  of  the  "  Estab- 
lished Church"  of  England,  risen  in  opposition  to  it,  and  in  1638  entered  in- 
to a  "solemn  league  and  covenant"  to  maintain  the  reformed  religion  in 
Scotland,  and  to  resist  and  put  down  popeVy  and  prelacy  :  hence  the  name  of 
"  Covenanter." 

For  the  preservation  of  their  religious  liberty  and  their  form  of  faith  the 
Covenanters  had  struggled,  and  fought,  and  suffered  amid  the  moors  and 
mountains  and  fastnesses  of  Scotland  with  a  fortitude  and  heroism  unsur- 
passed. Many  laid  down  their  lives  to  secure  its  preservation ;  many  strug- 
gled bravely  on  during  the  troubled  years,  bearing  aloft  the  ensign  of  their 

I  Hon.  L.  A.  Morrison. 


1737]  ROVAL  PROVINCE.  iS/ 

faith,  which  they  believed  to  be  the  only  triio  faitli,  and  their  banner  the  only 
true  standard  ot"  tlie  cross. 

The  toot  ot"  the  persecutor  followed  the  faithful  to  Ireland,  and  there  they 
felt  the  avenging  arm  of  resisted  and  arbitrary  power.  Some  of  those  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  brave  defence  of  Londonderry,  Ireland,  owned  land  hert 
which  was  occupied  by  their  sons.  The  storv  of  the  past,  of  the  conflicts  in 
Scotland,  the  flight  to  Ireland,  the  endurance  and  sufl!"erings  and  sacrificer 
and  final  triumph  at  the  "siege  of  Derry,"  were  fresh  in  their  memories, 
thov  were  engraven  on  the  tablets  of  their  souls,  and  the  lessons  influencea 
their  lives.  So  the  faith  of  the  stern,  grim  Covenanter  was  transplanted  to 
Londonderry.  It  took  root  and  flourislied  on  this  soil,  and  grew  with  r 
strong,  steady,  and  solid  growth.  The  Scotch  settlers  were  a  conservativt 
and  thinking  people,  and  their  institutions  were  the  result  of  thought.  \Ian3 
of  the  characteristics,  sentiments,  and  much  of  the  feelings  of  the  Cove- 
nantors were  here,  and  these  have  not  entirely  died  out  of  their  descendants. 
The  religious  side  of  the  characters  of  the  first  residents  was  largely  developed. 

The  town  of  Windham,  incorporated  in  February,  1739,  has  been  stronglv 
orthodox  from  the  beginning.  Many  families  attended  meeting  at  what  is 
now  East  Derry.  After  attending  to  their  morningduties,  the  whole  family, — 
men,  women,  and  children, —  would  walk  eight  or  nine  miles  to  meeting, 
listen  to  two  long  sermons,  and  then  return  to  their  homes,  seldom  reaching 
them  until  after  dark.  So  they  prized  the  sanctuary,  and  appreciated  and 
dearly  loved  the  faith  in  which  they  trusted. 

The  first  religious  meetings  were  holden  in  Ijarns  during  the  warm  season 
for  eleven  years,  when,  in  1753,  the  first  meeting  house  was  built,  on  a  iiigh 
elevation  south-east  of  Cobbett's  pond,  now  known  as  "  Cemetery  Hill." 

Their  Scotch  ancestors,  exiles  from  the  lochs  and  glens  of  Scotland,  could 
not  forget  the  customs  of  the  dear  old  father-land.  So  they  located  the  burial- 
place  of  themselves  and  their  kindred  in  the  shadow  of  the  kirk.  It  is  a 
beautiful  spot.  The  lovely  lake  nestles  at  the  foot  of  this  white-washed  hill, 
shimmering  with  brightness  in  the  summer  sun,  and  in  the  autumn  mirroring 
in  its  bosom  all  the  beauty  of  the  forest  trees.  It  is  a  pleasant  place  on  which 
to  pitch  one's  tent  at"ter  the  weary  march,  when  with  folded  arms  the  silent 
ones  will  rest  undisturbed  till  the  reveille  call  at  the  great  awakening.  So  the 
dead  rested  near  where  the  living  worshipped,  where  in  summer  days,  through 
the  opened  windows  which  let  in  the  sunshine  and  the  breath  of  flowers,  the 
words  as  they  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  living  preacher  might  be  borne  by  the 
breezes  which  gently  waved  the  grass  that  grew  and  the  flowers  that  bloomed 
on  the  mounds  of  the  peaceful  sleepers. 

The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  William  Johnston,  who  received  a  call  to  settle 
here  in  July,  1746. 

The  towns  cut  off  from  Massachusetts  petitioned  to  be  re- 
annexed,  but  their  plea  was  met  and  successfully  combated  by 
Thomlinson.  "  About  the  same  time,  Governor  Belcher  procured 
a  petition,  from   his  six  friends   of  the  council  of  New  Hamp- 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


1740 


shire,  to  the  King,  praying  that  the  whole  Province  might  be 
annexed  to  the  government  of  Massachusetts.  This  matter  had 
been  long  in  contemplation  with  these  gentlemen  ;  but  was  now 
produced  at  the  most  unfortunate  time  which  could  have  been 
chosen.     Their  petition  was  at  once  rejected."  ^ 

The  boundary  line  between  the  two  Provinces  was  finally 
surveyed  and  determined  in  1741  ;  the  curved  line  from  the 
ocean  to  Pawtucket  Falls  being  determined  by  George  Mitchell ; 
the  line  thence  to  the  Connecticut  river  being  surveyed  by 
Richard  Hazen  ;  and  the  eastern  boundary  by  Walter  Bryant. 

The  enemies  of  Governor  Belcher  in  both  Provinces  finally 
triumphed  and  accomplished  his  downfall.  He  was  succeeded 
in  Massachusetts  by  Governor  William  Shirley,  and  in  New 
Hampshire  by  Governor  Benning  Wentworth. 

Governor  Belcher  was  soon  after  appointed  governor  of  New 
Jersey,  where  he  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem,  and  where  he 
died  in  August,  1751,  in  his  seventy-sixth  year.  In  some  in- 
stances Governor  Belcher  was  imprudent  and  unguarded.  He 
was  zealous  to  serve  his  friends,  and  hearken  to  their  advice. 
He  paid  no  court  to  his  enemies,  but  openly  treated  them  with 
contempt.  His  language  to  them  was  severe  and  reproachful. 
He  had  by  far  too  mean  an  opinion  of  their  abilities,  and  the 
interest  which  they  had  at  court.  He  had  a  consciousness  of 
the  general  integrity  of  his  own  intentions,  and  appears  to  have 
been  influenced  by  motives  of  honor  and  justice.^ 

■  Belknap. 


TlSCATAQlJ\    GuND^LOW 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ROYAL   PROVINCE,    1 741- 1760. 

Governor  Bennikg  Wentworth  —  Wextworth  Hall  —  Martha  H  ilton 

—  A  Cold  Winter  —  Epping  —  Windham  —  Brentwood  —  French  and 
Indian  War  —  Louisburg  —  Sir  William  Pepperrell — Pepperrell 
House  —  William  Vaughan  —  Number  Four  —  Incorporation  of 
various  Towns  —  Rumford  (Concord)  —  Wrestling  Matches  —  Old 
Style  and  New  Style — The  Bow  Case  —  Coos  County  —  The  "  Sev- 
en Years' War  "  —  Rogers'  Rangers  —  Rev.  John  Houston  —  An  Auda- 
cious Reconnaissance  —  A  Fierce  Fight  in  the  Woods — John  Stark 

—  CoNqiEST  OF  Canada  —  Saint  P^rancis  Indians  —  Quebec  and 
Montreal  — Pontiac  and  Major  Rogers  —  Rogers  House. 

TDENNING  WENTWORTH  was  commissioned  governor  of 
the  royal  Province  of  New  Hampshire  in  1741.     From  the 
graceful  pen  of    Fred   Myron  Colby  is  the  following  tribute  to 
his  memory  : — 

Few  names  hold  more  exalted  rank  in  the  annals  of  the  old 
thirteen  colonies  than  that  of  Wentworth.  The  progenitor  of 
our  colonial  family  was  William,  a  cousin  of  the  ill-fated  chan- 
cellor of  Charles  the  First,  who  arrived  in  New  Hampshire  as 
early  as  1640.  Benning  Wentworth  was  a  great-grandson  of 
William.  His  father  was  John  Wentworth,  who  was  lieu- 
tenant-governor of  New  Hampshire  from  1717  till  1730.  The 
son  graduated  at  Harvard,  and  afterwards  was  associated  with 
his  father  and  uncle  in  the  mercantile  business  at  Portsmouth. 
He  several  times  represented  the  town  in  the  Provincial  As- 
sembly, was  appointed  a  King's  councillor  in  1734,  and  finally, 
in  1 74 1,  became  the  royal  governor  of  the  Province.      His  life 


190 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    ]IAMPSHIRE. 


[I  741 


was  long,  active  and  distinguished,  and  during  his  career  New 
Hampshire  advanced  rapidly  in  wealth  and  prosperity,  though 

// 


'A. I., 


<^ 


^  ^-^l-^?a 


not  so  fast  as  the  governor  did.      He  laid  heavy  tribute  on  the 
Province,  and  exacted  heavy  fees  for  grants  of  land.     He  had 


I741]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  I9I 

the  right  perhaps.  That  he  was  a  right  brave  and  distinguished 
looking  cavalier,  and  well  fitted  to  lead  society  at  a  provincial 
court,  his  portrait  at  Wentworth  Hall  abundantly  shows.  It 
represents  him  dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion,  with  a  long 
flaxen  peruke  flowing  in  profuse  curls  to  his  shoulders.  He  has 
a  handsome,  dignified  face,  the  lips  wearing  an  engaging  smile, 
and  the  air  generally  of  face  and  figure  of  one  who  is  "  lord  of 
the  manor."  Indeed,  there  was  everything  in  the  career  of  the 
worthy  governor  to  give  him,  what  in  Europe  used  to  be  called, 
the  "bel  air."  Fortune  had  taken  him  by  the  hand  from  the 
very  cradle,  and  some  beneficent  fairy,  throughout  all  his  life, 
seemed  to  have  smoothed  away  all  thorns  in  his  path,  and  scat- 
tered flowers  before  him.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four, 
having  lived  as  fortunate  and  splendid  a  life  as  any  gentleman 
of  his  time  in  the  new  world. 

Despite  its  air  of  grandeur,  Wentworth  Hall,  at  Little  Harbor, 
is  an  architectural  freak.  It  is  seldom  that  one  will  find  so 
large  a  house  that  is  as  irregular  and  straggling  as  this  one  is. 
The  rambling  old  pile  looks  as  if  it  had  been  put  together  at 
different  periods,  and  each  portion  the  unhappy  afterthought  of 
the  architect  who  designed  it.  It  is  simply  an  extension  of 
wing  upon  wing,  and  this  whimsical  arrangement  is  followed  up 
in  the  interior.  The  chambers  are  curiously  connected  by 
unlooked  for  ^teps  and  capricious  little  passages,  that  remind 
one  of  those  mysterious  ones  in  the  old  castles,  celebrated  by 
the  writers  of  the  Anne  Radcliffe  school. 

It  was  in  1749  that  he  commenced  to  build  this  mansion,  and 
it  was  completed  the  next  year.  He  had  been  fascinated  by 
the  beauty  of  the  place,  and  the  magnificent  structure  which 
rose  at  his  command  was  worthy  of  its  situation.  Where  he 
obtained  his  plan  no  one  knows,  but  perhaps  the  irregularity  of 
the  structure  was  compensated  by  the  grandeur  and  sumptu- 
ousness  of  its  adornments.  Everything  about  the  mansion  was 
on  a  grand  scale.  The  stables  held  thirty  horses  in  time  of 
peace.  The  lofty  gateways  were  like  the  entrance  to  a  castle. 
The  offices  and  out-houses  might  have  done  credit  to  a  Kenil- 
worth  or  a  Middleham.     As  it  now  stands,  girt  by  its  ancestral 


J 92  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l74I 

trees,  looking  out  upon  the  sea,  the  house  seems  a  patrician  of 
the  old  regime,  withdrawing  itself  instinctively  from  contact 
with  its  upstart  neighbors.  Having  an  existence  of  four  gener- 
ations and  more,  a  stately,  dignified,  hospitable  home  before 
Washington  had  reached  manhood,  the  Wentworth  house  may 
claim  the  respect  due  to  a  hale,  hearty  old  age,  as  well  as  that 
due  to  greatness. 

Few  houses  in  America  have  had  as  many  illustrious  visitors. 
Rooms  under  its  roof  have  been  occupied  by  Governor  Shirley 
•of  New  York,  Lord  Loudon,  commander-in-chief  of  the  British 
forces  in  America,  Sir  Charles  Knowles,  Admiral  Boscawen, 
George  Whitefield,  and  other  worthies  of  that  period.  Stately 
merrymakings  have  been  celebrated  in  its  old  halls. 

The  first  door  on  the  right  hand  of  the  hall  opens  into  the 
grand  parlor  of  the  old  governor,  which  still  retains  all  of  its 
former  magnificence.  The  paper  on  the  walls  is  the  same  that 
was  put  on  at  the  time  the  mansion  was  erected,  and  the  carpet 
on  the  floor  was  put  there  by  Lady  Wentworth  more  than 
eighty  years  ago. 

In  this  room,  surrounded  by  the  wondering  invited  guests  of 
the  governor,  was  consummated  the  marriage  ceremony  which 
Longfellow  has  celebrated  in  his  "  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn," 
between  Wentworth  and  his  chamber-maid.  It  was  something 
of  a  change  for  Martha  Hilton.  She  was  a  girl. of  matchless 
beauty,  but  very  poor.  When  young  she  had  scandalized  her 
neighbors  by  glimpses  of  bare  ankles  as  she  promenaded  in 
scant  costume.  A  piaritanic  dame  one  time  remonstrated  with 
the  maiden  in  rather  severe  terms  for  exhibiting  so  much  of  her 
beauty.  But  Martha  answered  not  abashed,  "  Never  mind  how 
I  look  ;  I  yet  shall  ride  in  my  own  chariot,  ma'am."  It  was  a 
true  prophecy.  After  a  lapse  of  years,  attracted  by  her  grace, 
her  beauty,  her  wit  and  good  sense,  Benning  Wentworth  offered 
her  his  hand,  and  they  were  married  on  the  governor's  sixtieth 
birthday. 

Around  the  Council  Room  are  some  grand  old  portraits,  thir- 
teen in  all.  They  are  all  in  handsome  gilt  frames  and  some  of 
them  have  rare  histories,  if  they  could  be  told. 


I74I] 


KOVAI.    I'KO\'I\CE. 


193 


At  the  entrance  of  the  Council  Chaniher  are  seen  the  racks 
for  the  twelve  guns,  carried  when  occasion  required  by  the 
governor's   guards.      In    the   billiard    room,    which   adjoins    this 


apartment,  still  remains  the  ancient  spinet,  now  time-worn  and 
voiceless,  but   whose  keys   have  many  a  time   been  touched  by 


194  HISTORY    OF    NKW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l74I 

the  jewelled  white  fingers  of  aristocratic  belles.  Washington 
listened  to  its  music  once  when  he  visited  here  in  1790,  the 
guest  of  the  hospitable  Colonel  Wentworth.  Here,  too,  is  seen 
in  one  corner,  the  old  buffet  which,  in  the  olden  time,  has  held 
many  a  full  and  empty  punch  bowl.  Opening  out  of  the  larger 
apartment  are  little  side  rooms  where  illustrious  guests,  General 
Loudon,  Admiral  Boscawen,  Lord  Pepperell  and  many  others, 
have  played  at  cards  and  other  games,  until  the  "wee  sma' 
hours."     About  the  whole  hall  there  is  a  choice  venerableness. 

In  1770,  Benning  Wentworth  breathed  his  last  in  the  arms  of 
his  faithful  wife.  The  governor  rewarded  her  care  and  faithful- 
ness by  bequeathing  her  his  entire  estate.  The  great  house 
was  not  long  without  a  master,  however.  Lady  Wentworth, 
after  living  single  about  a  year,  fell  into  the  matrimonial  traces 
again,  but  without  changing  her  name.  She  outlived  her  second 
husband  several  years,  and  at  her  death,  in  1804,  left  the  old 
mansion  to  her  daughter  Martha,  whom  she  had  by  Colonel 
Michael  Wentworth.  She  was  buried  beside  her  first  husband, 
in  the  churchyard  of  St.  John's,  in  Portsmouth. 

The  mansion  at  Little  Harbor  continued  to  be  occupied  by  the 
second  Martha  Wentworth,  who  was  also  a  Lady,  her  husband 
being  Sir  John  Wentworth,  until  18 16,  when  they  went  to 
England,  from  whence  they  never  returned. 

The  winter  of  1741  was  famous  throughout  New  England  as 
much  colder  than  any  which  preceded  it.  Probably  no  year 
since  could  furnish  testimony  for  cold  either  so  intense  or  pro- 
tracted. The  snow,  which  covered  the  whole  country  as  early 
as  the  13th  of  November,  was  still  found  the  next  April  covering 
the  fences.  The  Boston  Post  Boy  for  January  1 2th,  reports  a  tent 
on  the  Charles  River  for  the  entertainment  of  travellers.  The 
Boston  Neivs  Letter  for  March  6th,  tells  us  that  "  people  ride 
every  day  from  Stratford,  Conn.,  to  Long  Island,  which  is  three 
leagues."  Even  as  far  east  as  New  London,  we  are  told  that 
the  "  ice  extended  into  the  sound  as  far  as  could  be  seen  from 
the  town;"  and  that  Fisher's  Island  was  united  to  the  main- 
land by  a  solid  bed.  On  March  28th,  the  Boston  News  Letter 
reports  that  the  people  living  on  Thompson's  Island  had  crossed 


1 74-]  KoVAi.    rKo\ixci-:.  195 

over  to  Dorchester  to  cluirch  011  the  ice  for  the  filteeii  iireceihiiij; 
Sundays. 

As  late  as  the  9th  of  July,  a  letter  from  New  London,  Conn., 
reports  on  the  east  side  of  the  Connecticut  river  a  body  of  ice 
as  large  as  two  carts  can  draw,  clear  and  solid,  and  adds  very 
artlessly  that  "  it  might  lay  there  a  month  longer,  were  it  not 
that  so  many  resort,  out  of  curiosity,  to  drink  punch  made  out 
of  it."  On  the  ijtl"!  of  July  snow  was  still  lying  in  a  mass  in 
the  town  of  Ipswich,  Mass.,  nearly  four  feet  thick.  l?ut  the 
most  marvellous  record  of  that  season  is  the  statement  made  by 
Alonzo  Lewis,  author  of  the  "Annals  of  Lynn,"  Mass.,  that 
"  Francis  Lewis,  the  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
drove  his  horse  from  New  York  to  Barnstable,  the  whole  length 
of  Long  Island  Sound  on  the  ice." 

Hpping  was  set  off  from  Exeter  in  1741.  Rev.  Robert  Cut- 
ler was  the  first  minister,  settled  in  1747.  He  was  succeeded 
in  1758,  by  Rev.  Josiah  Stevens  ;  in  1793,  by  Rev.  Peter  Holt  ; 
in  1826,  by  Rev.  Forest  Jcfferds  ;  in  1842,  by  Rev.  Calvin 
Chapman;  in  1849,  ^^Y  Rt-'^'-  Lyman  White. 

The  town  has  claimed  among  its  distinguished  residents, 
General  Henry  Dearborn,  Governor  William  Plumer,  Senator 
John  Chandler,  William  Plumer,  Jr.,  and  Governor  l^cnjamin  F. 
Prescott. 

The  Quakers  and  J^aptists  had  a  foothold  in  the  town  very 
early  in  its  history.  Jonathan  Norris,  Joshua  Folsom,  and  his 
son,  Benjamin  Folsom,  were  among  the  leaders  of  the  former 
society.  Among  the  Baptists,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Shepard  was  a 
preacher  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

^  Windham,  from  1719  to  1742,  was  a  parish  of  Londonderry, 
a  part  and  parcel  of  that  historic  Scotch  settlement. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  permanent  settlements  were  made  till  the 
advent  of  the  Scotch  in  1 719  in  the  Londonderry  colony.  Tiie 
first  house  in  Windham  was  established  on  Copp's  hill,  south- 
east of  Cobbett's  pf)nd,  about  1720.  Its  occupant  was  fohn 
Waddell.  In  1721  David  Gregg,  son  of  John  Gregg,  of  L(jndon- 
derry,  Ireland,  and  grandson  of  Captain  David  Gregg,  a  Scotch- 


196  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  I  742 

man  and  captain  in  Cromwell's  army,  established  himself  in  the 
west  side  of  the  town.  He  was  the  uncle  of  Andrew  Gregg, 
member  of  the  U.  S.  Senate  from  Pennsylvania,  in  1806-7. 

This  David  Gregg  was  joined  by  Alexander  McCoy  from  the 
highlands  of  Scotland.  In  1723  John  Dinsmoor,  son  of  John 
Dinsmoor  of  Scotland,  located  near  the  Junction.  In  1728  or 
'29  John  Archibald  settled  in  the  north  part  of  the  town. 

About  1730,  Lieut.  Samuel  Morrison,  son  of  Charter  James 
Morrison  of  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  and  grandson  of  John  Morri- 
son of  Scotland,  settled  in  the  east  of  the  town,  in  the  "Range." 
He  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Morrisons  at  Windham. 

In  1733,  Henry  Campbell  of  Londonderry,  Ireland,  and  the 
grandson  of  Daniel  Campbell  of  Scotland,  settled  in  the  east 
of  the  town,  on  Beaver  river,  and  where  his  descendants 
"  live  unto  this  day."  About  this  same  date  Alexander  Simpson 
and  Adam  Templeton  struck  for  settlement  here. 

John  Cochran,  of  Scotch  blood,  came  in  1730,  hewed  from  the 
•wilderness  his  farm,  upon  which  his  descendants  have  since 
lived.  Alexander  Park  and  John  Armstrong  appeared  soon 
after. 

These  are  some  of  the  pioneer  fathers  :  William  and  Robert 
Thompson,  Joseph  Waugh,  Thomas  Quigley,  Alexander  and 
James  Dunlap,  John  Kyle,  John  Morrow,  Hugh  Graham,  John 
and  James  Vance,  Samuel  and  William  McAdams,  James  Gil- 
more,  Andrew  Armour,  John  Hopkins,  Daniel  Clyde,  William 
Thom,  John  Stuart,  Hugh  Brown,  Samuel  Kinkead,  Francis 
Smilie,  Alexander  Ritchie,  William  Jameson,  Nathaniel  Hemp- 
hill, James  Caldwell,  who  were  here  in  early  times,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  William  Thom,  not  a  single  descendant  of  any 
of  this  list,  bearing  the  family  name,  remains  in  town  to-day. 

Immediately  after  the  first  settlement  had  been  made  in  Lon- 
donderry, near  what  is  now  the  east  village,  individuals  would  go 
from  home  to  the  more  distant  glebes  to  work  in  summer,  and 
would  return  in  the  winter.  Many  young  men  lived  in  this 
manner  several  years,  laboring  thus  to  prepare  a  home  for  their 
future  companions.  When  the  "home  was  provided  they  went 
or  sent    to  Scotland,  or  to  the  Scotch  settlements  in  Ireland, 


I  74-]  KOVAI.     I'K()\IN-CE.  197 

for  the  brave  lass  who  had  consented  to  cross  the  wide  ocean 
to  meet  her  stern  lord  in  the  wilderness,  and  by  her  pretjence 
to  cheer,   to  brighten,  and  to  bless  his  home  and  life. 

Land  was  cheap,  and  John  Hopkins  purchased  a  large  tract 
for  a  web  of  linen  cloth.  Neighbors  were  far  apart,  oftentimes 
as  far  as  three  miles,  and  it  was  said,  "we  were  obliged  to  go 
three  miles  to  borrow  a  needle,  not  being  able  to  buy  one." 

There  were  no  grist-mills  nearer  than  Haverhill  or  Andover, 
]\Iass.,  so  the  grain  was  carried  on  poles  trailed  from  the  horse's 
back.  They  often  broke  their  corn  into  meal  b)-  placing  it  be- 
tween two  revolving  stones,  this  being  a  hand-mill  called  a  cairn. 
They  lived  mainly  on  what  could  be  raised  in  the  ground.  They 
l^ossessed  but  little  wealth,  for  their  lot  was  like  their  father- 
land, Scotland,  cast  in  a  cold  wintr)'  land,  with  a  hard  and  rocky 
soil. 

North  Hampton  and  South  Hampton  were  incorporated  in 
1742. 

Brentwood  was  incorporated  iii  1742.  It  was  taken  from 
E.xetcr,  including  the  present  town  of  Freemont,  and  had  been 
known  as  Keenborough.  A  meeting-house  had  already  been 
built.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Trask  was  settled  as  the  first  minister 
of  the  place.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1801,  by  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Mint  ;  in  1813,  bv  Rev.  Chester  Colton  ;  in  1826,  by  Rev.  Luke 
A.  Spofford  ;  in  1831,  by  Rev.  Jonathan  Ward  ;  in  1833,  by  Rev. 
I^'rancis  Welch;  in  1839,  ^^V  Rev.  John  Gunnison  ;  in  1841,  by 
Rev.  James  Boutwell  ;  in  1854,  by  Rev.  Charles  Dame.  Elder 
Samuel  Shepard  was  settled  over  a  society  of  Baptists  in  the 
town  in  1775  and  continued  until  his  death,  in  18 16. 

Governor  Iknining  Wentworth  had  been  received  at  Ports- 
mouth with  great  marks  of  popular  respect  upon  the  publi- 
cation of  his  commission  in  December,  1741.  He  had  been  a 
heavy  loser  by  the  failure  of  Spanish  officials  to  meet  their  obli- 
gations to  him,  and  his  claim  and  other  neglected  claims  of 
English  merchants  against  the  Spanish  government  led  to  the 
declaration  of  war  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  seek  redress. 
In  his  first  address  to  the  General  Court  of  New  Hampshire  he 
"did  not  forget  to  recommend  a  fixed   .salary  for  himself,  not 


lyS  HISTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  1 744 

subject  to  depreciation  ;  nor   the    payment    of    expenses    which 
had  arisen  on  account  of  the  boundary  lines."  ^ 

"The  Assembly,  in  their  answer,  acknowledged  the  wisdom 
and  justice  of  the  King  in  determining  the  long  controversy 
between  them  and  Massachusetts,"^  but  claimed  that  half  the 
expense  of  settling  the  boundary  lines  should  be  borne  by  the 
adjoining  Province.  They  promised  "ample  provision  for  his 
honorable  support  "  ^as  soon  as  practicable.  They  voted  a  salary 
of  ^250  to  the  governor,  which  they  increased  to  ^500,  and 
an  additional  sum  for  house  rent.  They  presented  their  agent, 
Thomlinson,  with  ^500  sterling  for  his  faithful  services.  They 
also  issued  paper  money  to  the  amount  of  ^25,000.  The 
governor's  salary  was  further  increased  by  ^800  sterling,  his 
pay  as  surveyor  of  the  woods,  an  office  which  Dunbar  was  in- 
duced to  resign  upon  receipt  of  ^2,000  sterling.  *  Thomlinson 
brought  about  the  appointment  of  Wentworth  to  the  office  upon 
the  surrender  of  his  claim  of  $56,000  against  the  Spanish 
c.own.^ 

The  good  fortune  of  Governor  Wentworth  did  not  fail  to' 
raise  up  envious  enemies,  but  their  schemes  for  his  overthrow 
were  futile. 

In  1744  the  proprietors  of  Suncook  chose  Colonel  Benjamin 
Rolfe,  Mr.  Andrew  McFarland,  and  Deacon  Noah  Johnson,  to 
treat  with  the  proprietors  of  the  Town  of  Bow,  at  their  next 
meeting,  and  "to  see  upon  what  terms  or  agreement  they  will 
come  into  with  us  concerning  our  lands  which  the}'  have  in 
dispute  with  us,  and  see  if  said  proprietors  will  take  up  with 
such  offers  or  proposals  as  the  Province  or  Provinces  shall  make 
unto  them;  or  some  other  way;  so  that  all  controversies  or  law- 
suits may  be  ended  for  the  future,  that  so  it  may  be  for  theirs 
and  our  peace  and  benefit." 

The  war  commenced  between  England  and  Spain  soon  in- 
volved nearly  all  Europe.  When  P'rance  became  an  ally  of  the 
Spaniards,  New  England  became  interested.  The  P'^rench  garri- 
son at  Cape  Breton,  having  early  information  of  the  declaration 
of  war,  surprised  and  captured   the   unprepared   English   fishing 

'  HelknaD. 


1744]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  1 99 

station  at  Canscau,  near  the  northern  part  of  Nova  Scotia,  and 
were  assisted  by  the  Indians.  As  a  consequence  the  govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts  declared  war  a<;ainst  the  Frencli  and 
Indians  in  October,  1744,  and  offered  a  bounty  for  scalps  and 
prisoners. 

From  the  pen  of  Rev.  Daniel  Rollins,  a  descendant  of  the 
chief  actor  in  the  romantic  drama  of  the  Louisburg-  war,  comes 
the  following  accounts  : 

France  had  declared  war  on  the  15th  of  March,  1744;  and 
about  six  months  prior  to  that  time,  Governor  Shirley  sent  a  letter 
to  Colonel  Pepperrell,  desiring  him  to  hold  his  regiment  in  readi- 
ness to  protect  the  frontier  against  the  Indians.  He  accordingly 
sent  copies  of  it  to  each  of  his  captains,  and  also  added  the 
following  spirited  sentence  :  "  I  hope  that  He  who  gave  us  our 
breath  will  give  us  the  courage  and  prudence  to  behave  ourselves 
like  true-born  Englishmen." 

Colonel  Pepperrell  was  born  at  Kittery  Point,  Maine,  June  27, 
1696.  The  colony  was  then  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massa- 
chusetts :  both  being  subject,  of  course,  to  the  crown. 

The  capture  of  Louisburg,  the  "  Gibraltar  of  America,"  was 
the  leading  event  in  our  Colonial  history;  but  it  was  followed 
so  closely  by  the  Revolution,  that  it  is  somewhat  obscured  in 
the  light  of  that  great  struggle.  The  town  of  Louisburg, 
named  after  '' le  grand  vionarqnc,''  is  situated  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Cape  Breton  Island,  adjoining  Nova  Scotia,  and 
controls  the  entrance  to  the  Gulf  and  River  St.  Lawrence.  It 
commanded  the  fisheries  by  its  position.  The  island  also  pro- 
duced large  quantities  of  excellent  ship  timber.  That  ripe 
.scholar,  the  Rev.  Jeremy  Belknap,  in  his  exhaustive  description 
of  its  capture,  says  the  town  of  Louisburg  "was  two  and  a  half 
miles  in  circumference,  fortified  in  every  accessible  part,  with  a 
rampart  of  stone  from  thirty  to  thirty-six  feet  high,  and  a  ditch 
eighty  feet  wide.  *  *  *  On  an  island  at  the  entrance  to  the  har- 
bor, which  was  only  four  hundred  yards  wide,  was  a  battery  of 
thirty  cannon,  carrying  twenty-eight  pound  shot  ;  and  at  the 
bottom  of  the  harbor,  directly  opposite  to  the  entrance,  was  the 
grand   or   royal    batterv,    of    twenty-eight    forty-twos,   and    two 


200  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l745 

eighteen-pound  cannon.  *  *  *  The  entrance  to  the  town  was  at 
the  west  gate,  over  a  drawbridge,  which  was  protected  by  a 
circular  battery  of  thirteen  twenty-four-pound  cannon.  These 
works  had  been  twenty-five  years  in  building,  and,  though  un- 
finished, had  cost  France  not  less  than  six  millions  of  dollars." 
It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  only  New  England  troops  took  part 
in  the  siege.  Colonel  Pepperrell  was  selected  to  command  the 
forces,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general.  He  already  occupied 
the  next  highest  post  to  that  of  the  governor,  viz.,  president 
of  the  council.  He  was  also  very  wealthy  and  popular,  and 
likely  to  draw  soldiers  to  his  standard,  as  indeed  proved  to  be 
the  case.  '' Nil  despcrandinn  Christo  ditce,'' vi2iS  the  motto  of 
the  invaders.  Colonel  Pepperrell  advanced  five  thousand 
pounds  from  his  own  fortune,  and  threw  himself  into  the  work 
of  preparation  with  all  the  impetuosity  of  his  nature. 

The  West  India  squadron,  under  Commodore  Warren,  which 
was  to  co-operate  with  the  New-England  troops,  failed  to  arrive 
at  the  appointed  time  ;  but  they  set  sail  without  them  on  March 
24,  1745,  and  after  a  short  passage  reached  Louisburg,  and  began 
at  once  to  disembark  and  invest  the  town.  On  the  24th  of 
April,  Warren  and  three  of  his  men-of-war  joined  them,  and 
others  arrived  later.  It  appears  that  they  took  part  in  the  bom- 
bardment to  some  extent,  but  most  of  the  work  had  necessarily 
to  be  done  by  the  land  forces  with  their  heavy  siege-guns.  The 
ships  also  served  to  good  purpose  in  jDreventing  reinforcements 
and  supplies  from  entering  the  harbor.  But  space  will  not  per- 
mit a  detailed  account  of  the  capture  of  the  "  Dunkirk  of 
America."  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  place  capitulated  after 
a  seven-weeks  arduous  attack  by  land  and  sea.  The  cross  of  St. 
George  had  supplanted  the  lilies  of  France.  On  the  17th  of 
June,  1745,  General  Pepperrell  marched  into  the  town  at  the  head 
of  his  troops,  and  received  the  keys,  although  Commodore 
Warren  had  vainly  flattered  himself  that  he  or  one  of  his 
officers  should  have  the  honor  of  receiving  the  surrender  of  the 
place.  He  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  send  a  letter  to  the 
French  governor,  ordering  him  to  deliver  the  keys  to  some  one 
whom  he  should  afterwards  desigr.ate.    General  Pepperrell  did  not 


1/45]  KOVAI.    rKOVINCE.  20I 

know  of  this  action  at  the  time  ;  and  he  probably  never  learned 
of  it,  as  they  continued  to  be  good  friends.  Very  likely  he 
knew  of  Warren's  desire  to  assume  the  glory  ;  for  this  was  the 
general  opinion  among  the  people  of  New  England  at  the  time, 
and,  indeed,  feeling  ran  very  high  on  the  subject.  Dr.  Chauncey 
expressed  their  sentiments  when  he  wrote  the  following  to  General 
Pepperrell.  He  said  :  "If  the  high  admiral  of  England  had  been 
there,  he  would  not  have  had  the  least  right  to  command  any- 
wliere  but  aboard  his  own  ships."  A  good  instance  of  the 
Avicrican  spirit  thirty  years  prior  to  the  Revolution. 

Smollett  says:  "The  conquest  of  Louisburg  was  the  most 
important  achievement  of  the  war  of   1744." 

Ward,  in  his  edition  of  "  Curwcn's  Journal  of  the  Loyalists," 
says  :  "  That  such  a  city  should  have  yielded  to  the  farmers, 
merchants,  and  fishermen  of  New  England,  is  almost  incredible. 
The  lovers  of  the  wonderful  may  read  the  works  which  contain 
accounts  of  its  rise  and  ruin,  and  be  satisfied  that  truth  i.s 
sometimes  stranger  than  fiction." 

Pepperrell  received  a  letter  from  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  dated 
at  Whitehall,  August  10,  1745,  acquainting  him  that  his  Majesty 
had  sent  a  patent  from  Hanover  creating  him  a  baronet  of  Great 
Britain, —  an  honor  never  before  conferred  on  a  native  of 
America.  Commodore  Warren  was  also  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  admiral. 

A  trophy  of  the  capture  of  Louisburg  lies  almost  at  our 
doors.  The  visitor,  on  approaching  the  massive  and  stately 
building  known  as  Gore  Hall,  at  Cambridge,  may  see  a  gilded 
cross  over  one  of  its  doors,  which  was  taken  from  a  French 
church  and  eventually  found  a  resting-place  there.  The  granite 
pile  stands  for  learning  and  progress.  The  cross  may  well  re- 
mind the  students  and  all  the  friends  of  the  university  of  its 
motto,  "Christo  et  Ecclesiae,"  that  its  meaning  may  never  be 
forgotten  in  our  onward  march. 

Sir  William  Pepperrell  embarked  in  Admiral  Knowles's 
squadron  for  Boston,  Sept.  24,  1746,  and  arrived  there  on  the 
2nd  of  October,  after  a  storm v  passage. 

He  set  sail  for  London  in  September,  1749,  and  was  cordially 


202  IIISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l745 

received  at  court  by  his  Majesty,  King  George  II.  He  was  also 
the  recipient  of  many  attentions  from  the  Prince  of  Wales  and 
Lord  Halifax.  The  mayor  of  London  waited  on  him,  and  pre- 
sented him  with  a  set  of  plate  in  honor  of  his  distinguished  ser- 
vices. Sir  William  was  a  man  of  fine  appearance,  somewhat 
inclined  to  be  portly,  and  his  dignified  and  elegant  bearing  made 
him  noted,  even  at  the  court  of  St.  James.  A  description  of 
the  dress  which  he  wore  when  presented  has  not  come  down  to 
us,  but  he  ordinarily  dressed  in  the  rich  apparel  customary  for 
gentlemen  in  his  day,  viz.,  a  suit  of  scarlet  cloth  trimmed  with 
gold  lace,  silk  stockings  and  silver  shoe  buckles,  and  the  usual 
powdered  wig.  He  also  wore  lace  ruflfles  at  his  wrists,  and  the 
long  vest  then  in  fashion.  There  is  extant  a  full-length  portrait 
•of  him  by  the  gifted  Smibert,  in  the  Essex  Institute  at  Salem. 
It  belongs  to,  and  was  formerly  in,  the  Portsmouth  Athenaeum, 
\vhere  it  should  have  remained. 

He  lived  in  great  style  at  Kittery,  and  kept  open  house  for 
all  his  friends,  although  he  was  choice  in  his  acquaintance. 
His  library  was  the  best  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  was 
much  consulted  by  scholars,  especially  the  clergy.  His  large 
and  substantial  house  was  hung  with  beautiful  paintings  and 
costly  mirrors.  His  cellar  was  filled  with  rare  old  wines,  —  not 
to  mention  the  highly-prized  New  England  rum,  that  had  been 
mellowed  by  its  voyage  to  the  Indies  and  back.  His  park  was 
stocked  with  deer ;  he  kept  a  coach-and-six,  and  also  had  a 
splendid  barge,  manned  by  six  slaves  in  uniform. 

He  owned  immense  tracts  of  land  in  Maine  ;  and  it  is  said 
that  he  could  travel  from  Portsmouth  to  Saco  River,  a  distance 
of  thirty  miles,  all  the  way  on  his  own  soil.  All  these  vast 
estates  were  confiscated  during  the  Revolution. 

Still  another  honor  a'Cvaited  him  :  for  he  received  a  commis- 
sion of  lieutenant-general  in  the  royal  army,  bearing  date  Feb. 
20,  1759,  giving  him  the  command  of  all  the  forces  engaged 
against  the  French  and  their  savage  allies.  But  the  old  veteran 
could  not  take  the  field,  for  his  health  was  failing  :  and  he  died 
on  the  6th  of  July,  1759,  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age.  His 
remains  were  placed  in  the  family  tomb,  on  his  estate  at  Kittery 
Point. 


174^]  K(n.\[.    l'KU\MN'CE.  203 

^  The  old  Pcpperrcll  House,  built  nearly  two  hundred  years 
<jgo,  which  has  seen  more  of  splendor,  and  sheltered  more 
famous  individuals  than  any  other  private  resilience  on  this  side 
of  the  sea,  is  still  the  object  of  frequent  pil,<;-riman;es  to  Kittery 
Point.  The  house  was  built  by  the  first  William  Pep|)errell,  the 
c;i"cat  merchant  and  shiivbuildcr  of  his  time.  lie  accumulated 
Aa  •:  wealth  by  trade,  and  his  mansion  reflected  the  boumlless- 
ncss  of  his  means.  Grand  as  any  old  P^ngiish  castle,  it  stood 
looking"  out  to  sea,  girt  by  a  great  park  where  droves  of  deer 
sported.  His  son,  the  famous  Sir  William  Pepperrell,  enlarged 
and  adorned  it  at  the  time  of  his  marriage  in  1734.  This  Lord 
Pepperrell,  the  only  American  baronet  after  Sir  William  Phipps, 
was  a  remarkable  man.  He  was  the  richest  merchant  in  the 
colonies,  and  had  at  times  two  hundred  ships  at  sea.  His  suc- 
cess at  Louisburg  proved  him  a  skilful  general,  and  his  political 
influence  was  second  to  that  of  no  man's  in  the  colonies.  Tb.e 
style  he  lived  in  recalled  the  feudal  magnificence  of  the  great 
bai"ons.  The  walls  of  his  great  mansion  were  adorned  with  rich 
carvings,  splendid  mirrors,  and  costly  paintings.  In  his  side- 
lioanl  glittered  heavy  silver  plate  and  rare  old  china.  Wine  a 
hundred  years  old,  from  the  delicate,  spicy  brands  of  Rhineland 
to  the  fiery  Tuscan,  was  in  his  cellars.  He  kept  a  coach  with 
si.x  white  horses.  A  retinue  of  slaves  and  hired  menials  looked 
to  him  as  their  lord  ;  and  he  had  a  barge  upon  the  river,  in 
which  he  was  rowed  by  a  crew  of  Africans  in  gaudy  uniforms. 
The  only  man  in  all  the  colonies  worth  two  hundred  thousand 
pounds  sterling,  reigning  grandly  over  grand  estates;  for,  like 
an  English  peer,  he  might  have  travelled  all  day  long  upon  his 
own  lands,  sovereign  lord,  in  fact,  if  not  in  name,  of  more  than 
five  hundred  thousand  acres, —  timber,  plain  and  vallev, —  i'.i  Xew 
Hampshire  and  Maine.  Sir  William  Pepperrell  could  do  this, 
and  yet  not  live  beyond  his  means. 

The  original  paper  remains  on  the  walls  of  the  wide  iiall,  as 
do  the  deer  antlers  above  the  doors.  The  observatory  upon  the 
roof  affords  a  fine  view  of  the  surrounding  country.  l\  noble 
avenue  of  ehiis,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  formerly  i-     from 

'  Irc.l  Myron  ( ■.:').■. 


204  HISTORY    OF    X]:\V    HAMPSHIRE.  [  1 74^ 

the  street  to  the  door.  The  trees  were  about  one  rod  apart. 
The  perspective  effect  of  this  grand  avenue  must  have  been 
pecuHarly  graceful  and  impressive.  Some  vandal  cut  down  the 
trees  years  ago.  But  no  one  can  destroy  the  beauty  of  the 
noble  site  on  which  the  mansion  stands.  The  late  James  T, 
Fields,  an  honored  son  of  Portsmouth,  endeavored,  among 
others,  to  purchase  it  for  a  summer  residence. 

One  of  the  prime  movers  and  most  enthusiastic  supporters 
of  the  expedition  against  Louisburg  was  William  Vaughan,  son 
of  IJeut.- Governor  Vaughan  of  New  Hampshire,  who  was  exten- 
sively engaged  in  fishing  along  the  eastern  coast.  Some  claim 
that  he  originated  the  idea.  Governor  Shirley,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, having  determined  upon  the  matter,  Vaughan  rode 
express  from  Boston  to  Portsmouth,  where  the  New  Hampshire 
Assembly  was  sitting.  Governor  Wentworth,  between  whom 
and  Governor  Shirley  the  most  amicable  relations  existed,  im- 
mediately laid  the  matter  before  them,  and  proposed  a  confer- 
ence of  the  two  houses  to  be  held  on  the  next  day.  The  house 
of  representatives  having  caught  the  enthusiasm  of  Vaughan 
were  impatient  of  even  this  delay,  and  immediately  took  favor- 
able action,  appropriated  ;^4,ooo,  and  authorized  the  governor 
to  select  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  provide  stores  and 
transports.  To  raise  the  necessary  money,  they  had  to  go  beyond 
the  power  vested  in  them  by  the  crown,  but  were  advised  to  do  so 
by  Governor  Shirley.  By  the  middle  of  February  their  quota  of 
men  were  enlisted,  eager  to  serve  under  such  a  popular  man  as 
Colonel  Pepperrell.  Governor  Wentworth  was  at  first  inclined 
to  take  command  of  the  force,  but  was  persuaded  to  stay  at 
home.  The  famous  George  VVhitefield  gave  the  expedition  a 
motto,  Nil  Desperandiini  Chris  to  Diicc,  which  almost  gave  it  the 
character  of  a  crusade. 

Including  the  crew  of  an  armed  sloop  in  command  of  Captain 
John  Fernald,  New  Hampshire  furnished  three  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  organized  into  a  regiment  under  command  of  Colonel 
Samuel  Moore,  besides  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  enlisted  in 
Ma.ssachusetts  regiments,  or  one-eighth  of  the  whole  land  force. 
The  New  Hampshire  troops  arrived   at  the  rendezvous  at  Can- 


1746]  KovAi.    i'U;)\'i\ci!:.  305 

seau  the  last  dav  of  INIarch,  two  tla\-.s  before  the  arrival  of  their 
comrades. 

The  expedition  was  planned  by  a  lawyer,  executed  by  a  mer- 
chant, at  the  head  of  a  body  of  husbandmen  and  mechanics, 
animated  indeed  by  ardent  patriotism,  but  destitute  of  professi- 
onal skill  and  experience.  "If  any  one  circumstance  had  taken 
a  wrong  turn  on  our  side,  and  if  any  one  circumstance  had  not 
taken  a  wrong  turn  on  the  French  side,  the  expedition  must  have 
miscarried."  ^ 

The  impregnable  fortress  capitulated  after  a  short  siege,  in 
which  New  Hampshire  lost  eleven  men,  five  killed  and  six  died 
of  sickness.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Vaughan  especially  distin- 
guished himself.  The  British  navy,  however,  reaped  most  of 
the  rich  harvest  from  the  victory  ;  but  Wentworth  and  Shirley 
were  confirmed  in  their  governments  as  a  result. 

During  the  year  1746  the  conquest  of  Canada  was  planned  by 
the  British  ministry,  and  the  American  Colonies  were  directed 
to  prepare  for  the  contest.  The  Indians  attached  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  French  had  already  commenced  their  depredations 
along  the  wdiole  frontier,  destroying  the  fields  and  cattle,  burn- 
ing houses  and  mills,  and  killing  and  carrying  away  the  inhabi- 
tants. So  an  offensive  campaign  was  designed  to  carry  the  war 
into  the  country  of  the  eneni)'.  Eight  hundred  men  were 
enlisted  in  New  Hampshire  in  June,  and  ready  for  embarkation 
in  July,  under  command  of  Colonel  Atkinson  ;  but  the  English 
fleet  which  was  to  co-operate  with  it  did  not  arrive.  The  arri- 
val in  Nova  Scotia  of  a  French  army  and  fleet  alarmed  New 
England,  and  for  a  time  they  acted  on  the  defensive,  strength- 
ening the  forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  preparing  for  an 
attack.  But  the  French  fleet  met  witli  misfortunes  and  losses, 
gave  up  their  proposed  attempt  to  subdue  New  I'^ngland,  and 
returned  to  France  greatly  discouraged.  To  New  Englandcrs 
the  troubles  of  the  French  seemed  providential.  Colonel 
Atkinson's  regiment  during  the  fall  and  winter  was  stationed 
on  the  frontier  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lake  Winnipiseogee. 

During  the   war   Massachusetts   sustained    garrisons    in    the 

•    r.clhnap. 


20*^) 


HISTOKY    OF    M:\V    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1746 


valley  of  the  Connecticut,  in  townships  that  had  been  granted 
by  that  Province  within  New  Hampshire,  to  protect  their 
northern  frontier.  They  had  forts  at  Number  Four,  or  Charles- 
town  ;  Great  Meadow,  or  Westmoreland  ;  Great  Fall,  or  Walpole  ; 
Fort  Dummer,  or  Hinsdale  ;  Upper  Ashuelot,  or  Keene  ;  and 
Lower  Ashuelot,  or  Swanzey.  New  Hampshire  maintained 
o-arrisons  along  the  frontier  of  their  settlements  at  Penacook, 
or  Concord  ;  Suncook,  or  Pembroke  ;  Contoocook,  or  l^oscawen  ; 
New  Hopkinton,  or  Hopkinton  ;  Souhegan  East,  or  Murrimack  : 


FRONTIER    BLOCK   HOUSE,    1746. 


Souhegan  West,  or  Amherst ;  and  at  Londonderry,  Chester, 
Epsom,  and  at  Rochester.  Li  the  garrison  houses  the  inhabitants 
took  refuge  by  night  and  never  left  them  with  a  feeling  of  security. 
They  went  constantly  armed.  Nor  were  their  fears  without 
foundation.  Although  parties  of  scouts  were  kept  ranging  the 
woods,  surprises  and  attacks,  more  or  less  successful,  were  of 
frequent  occurrence. 

The  first   appearance  of  the    enemy  in    the    Province   was   at     ; 
Great   Meadows,  early  in    July,  1744,  where   they  killed  William 
Phips.      The  same  week  they  killed  Joseph    Fisher    of    Upper 
Ashuelot. 


1746]  ROVAL     PROVINCE.  20J 

In  October  the  Indians  captured  Nehcmiah  Mow  and  killed 
David  Rugg  at  Great  Meadow. 

In  the  spring  of  1746  the  Indians  captured  John  Spofford, 
Isaac  Parker,  and  Stephen  Farnsworth,  at  Number  Four, 
and  killed  their  cattle.  In  April  they  attemj^jted  to  surprise 
the  Fort  at  Upper  Ashuelot.  Jolin  Ballard  and  the  wife  of 
Daniel  McKenny  were  killed  and  Nathan  Blake  was  taken  into 
captivity.  They  burned  several  houses  and  barns.  About 
the  same  time  they  surprised  a  garrisoned  house  at  New 
Hopkinton  and  captured  and  took  to  Canada  Samuel  Burbank 
and  David  Woodwell  and  six  members  of  their  families.  Mary 
Woodwell,  one  of  the  captives,  afterwards  joined  the  Shaker.s 
at  Canterbury. 

In  May  a  small  party  made  an  attack  upon  Number  Four,  and 
killed  Seth  Putnam,  but  were  repulsed  by  Major  Josiah  Willard. 

At  Contoocook  Elisha  Cook  and  a  negro  were  killed  and 
Thomas  Jones  taken  captive.  At  Lower  Ashuelot,  Timothy 
l^rown  and  Robert  Moffat  were  captured.  Near  the  end  of 
the  month  there  was  quite  a  battle  at  Number  Four,  in  which 
five  were  killed  on  each  side. 

In  June  another  engagement  occurred  at  the  same  place, 
in  which  one  settler  lost  his  life.  Captain  Phinehas  Stevens 
was  in  both  battles.  At  Bridgman's  Fort,  near  I^^ort  Dummer, 
William  Robbins  and  James  Baker  were  killed,  and  Daniel  How 
and  John  Beaman  were  captured.  At  Rochester,  they  killed 
Joseph  Heard,  Joseph  Richards,  John  Wentworth,  and 
Gershom  Downs,  and  wounded  and  captured  John  Richards 
and  took  a  boy  named  Jonathan  Door. 

In  August  they  killed  one  Phillips  at  Number  Vowx,  Joseph 
Rawson  at  Winchester,  and  Moses  Roberts  at  Rochester. 
At  Contoocook  two  men  were  taken.  At  Rumford,  on  the  road 
to  Millville,  were  killed  Samuel  Bradley,  Jonathan  Bradley, 
Obadiah  Peters,  John  Bean,  and  Peter  Lufkin.  Alexander 
Roberts  and  William  Stickney  were  carried  into  captivity.  The 
Indians  lost  four  killed  and  several  wounded,  two  of  them 
mortally.  A  monument  marks  the  site  of  the  massacre  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  precinct  of  the  city  of  Concord.  A  Mr.  Es- 
tabrook  was  killed  near  the  same  place  in  November. 


208  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l747 

In  the  fall  ot  1746,  Massachusetts  withdrew  her  garrisons 
from  the  towns  within  New  Hampshire  and  many  of  the  inhab- 
itants left  at  the  same  time.  Four  families,  who  remained  at 
Shattuck's  fort,  in  Hinsdale,  successfully  defended  it  against 
an  Indian  attack 

In  the  Spring  of  1747,  Captain  Phinehas  Stevens,  with  a 
ranging  company  of  thirty  men,  occupied  the  fort  at  Number 
Four,  and  within  a  few  days  sustained  a  most  determined  attack 
from  a  party  of  French  and  Indians,  which  was  kept  up  for 
three  days,  when  the  enemy  retired  Robert  Beard,  John 
Folsom,  and  Elizabeth  Simpson  were  killed  at  Nottingham. 
In  the  autumn,  Bridgeman's  fort  (Hinsdale)  was  captured,  with 
its  garrison,  several  of  whom  were  killed  and  the  others 
taken  to  Canada. 

That  wide  stretch  of  hilly  country  lying  between  the  Mer- 
rimack and  Connecticut  rivers  was,  ^  at  that  time,  a  densely- 
wooded  wilderness.  The  few  who  would  have  ventured  to 
occupy  it  well  knew  that  so  long  as  the  French  remained  in 
possession  of  Canada  the  region  was  in  continual  danger  from 
attacks  by  the  Indians.  In  1746  these  attacks  had  become 
so  frequent  and  successful,  that  many  of  the  settlements  com- 
menced in  the  central  and  southern  parts  of  the  State  had  been 
abandoned.  There  remained  on  the  Merrimack  small  openings 
at  Nashua,  Litchfield,  Concord,  Amoskeag,  Suncook,  Boscawen, 
and  Canterbury,  and  one  at  Hinsdale  and  another  at  Charles^ 
town  on  the  Connecticut ;  but  the  entire  midland  between  these 
valleys  was  an  unbroken,  heavy-wooded  country. 

In  the  fall  of  1747  two  explorers  from  Dunstable,  Nehemiah 
Lovewell  and  John  Gilson,  started  from  the  present  site  of 
Nashua  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  slope  of  the  Mer- 
rimack, and  of  crossing  the  height  of  land  to  Number  Four, 
now  Charlestown,  which  was  known  as  the  most  northern 
settlement  in  the  Connecticut  valley.  Knowing  the  difficulties 
in  traversing  hills  and  valleys  mostly  covered  with  underbrush 
and  rough  with  fallen  timber  and  huge  bowlders,  they  carried  as 
light  an  outfit  as  possible  —  a  musket  and  camp-blanket  each, 

I  J"Hn  H.  Goudalu. 


1747]  ROVAL    I'KOVINCE.  2O9 

with  five  days'  provisions.  Following  the  Souhegan  to  Milford 
and  Wilton,  they  then  turned  northward,  and  crossing  the 
height  of  land  in  the  limits  of  the  present  town  of  Stoddard,  had 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day  their  first  view  of  the  broad 
valley  westward,  with  a  dim  outline  of  the  mountains  be- 
yond. The  weather  was  clear  and  pleasant,  the  journey 
laborious  but  invigorating.  On  their  fourth  night  they  camped 
on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut,  some  ten  miles  below  Charles- 
town.  At  noon  of  the  next  day  they  were  welcomed  at  the  rude 
fort,  which  had  already  won  renown  by  the  heroic  valor  of  its 
little  garrison. 

At  this  time  the  fort  at  Number  Four  was  commanded  by 
Captain  Phinehas  Stevens,  a  man  of  great  energy  and  bravery. 
Lovewell  and  Gilson  were  the  first  visitors  from  the  valley 
of  the  Merrimack,  and  their  arrival  was  a  novelty.  That  night, 
as  in  later  days  they  used  to  relate,  they  sat  up  till  midnight, 
listening  to  the  fierce  struggles  which  the  inmates  of  this 
rude  fortress,  far  up  in  the  woods,  had  encountered  within 
the  previous  eight  months.  The  preceding  winter  this  fort  had 
been  abandoned,  and  the  few  settlers  had  been  compelled  to 
return  to  IMassachusetts.  But  Governor  Shirley  felt  that  so  im- 
portant an  outpost  should  be  maintained.  As  soon  as  the 
melting  of  the  deep  snow  in  the  woods  would  permit,  Captain 
Stevens,  with  thirty  rangers,  left  Deerficld  for  Number  Four 
and  reached  it  on  the  last  day  of  March.  The  arrival  was  most 
fortunate.  Hardly  was  tlic  fort  garrisoned  and  the  entrance 
made  secure  when  it  was  attacked  by  a  large  force  of  French 
and  Indians.  Led  by  Debeline,  an  experienced  commander, 
they  had  come  undiscovered  and  lay  in  ambush  for  a  favorable 
moment  to  begin  the  attack.  But  the  faithful  dogs  of  the 
garrison  gave  notice  of  the  concealed  foe.  Finding  they  were 
discovered  the  Indians  opened  a  fire  on  all  sides  of  the  fort. 
The  adjacent  log  houses  and  fences  were  set  on  fire.  Flaming 
arrows  fell  incessantly  upon  the  roof.  The  wind  rose  and  the 
fort  was  surrounded  by  flames.  Stevens  dug  trenches  under 
the  walls  and  through  these  the  men  crept  and  put  out  the 
fires  that  caught  outside  the  walls. 


2IO  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  1 747 

For  two  days  the  firing  had  been  kept  up  and  hundreds 
of  balls  had  been  lodged  in  the  fort  and  stockade.  On  the 
morning  of  the  third  day  Debeline  sent  forward  a  flag  of  truce. 
A  French  officer  and  two  Indians  advanced  and  proposed 
terms  of  capitulation,  which  were  that  the  garrison  should 
lay  down  their  arms  and  be  conducted  prisoners  to  Montreal. 
It  was  agreed  that  the  two  commanders  should  meet  and  Captain 
Stevens's  answer  should  be  given.  When  they  met,  Debeline, 
without  waiting  for  an  answer,  threatened  to  storm  the  fort  and 
put  every  man  to  the  sword  if  a  surrender  was  not  speedily 
made.  Stevens  replied  that  he  should  defend  it  to  the  last. 
"Go  back,"  said  the  Frenchman,  "and  see  if  your  men  dare 
fight  any  longer."  Stevens  returned  and  put  to  the  men  the 
question,  "  Will  you  fight  or  surrender.'' "  They  answered, 
"We  will  fight."  This  answer  was  at  once  made  known  to  the 
enemy,  and  both  parties  resumed  arms.  Severe  fighting  was 
kept  up  during  the  day.  The  Indians,  in  approaching  the 
stockade,  were  compelled  to  expose  themselves.  They  had 
already  lost  over  a  dozen  of  their  number,  while  not  one  of  the 
defenders  was  slain.  The  French  commander,  reluctantly 
o-iving  up  all  hopes  of  carrying  the  fortification,  returned 
towards  Canada.  The  cool  intrepidity  of  the  rangers  saved 
Number  Four.  Sir  Charles  Knowles,  then  in  command  of  the 
fleet  at  Boston,  sent  Captain  Stevens  an  elegant  sword.  Subse- 
quently in  his  honor.  Number  Four  was  called  Charlestown. 

After  various  perils  and  a  narrow  escape  from  capture  by  the 
Indians,  Lovewell  and  his  companion  arrived  safely  at  Dunstable. 

In  the  spring  of  1748,  Captain  Stevens  was  again  in  com- 
mand at  the  fort  at  Number  Four,  with  a  garrison  of  one  hun- 
dred men.  A  scouting  party  of  eighteen,  sent  from  the  fort, 
lost  six  of  their  number. 

During  the  summer,  the  Indians  made  an  attack  on  Roch- 
ester, in  which  the  wife  of  Jonathan  Hodgdon  was  killed ;  and 
later,  three  men  were  killed  at  Hinsdale's  Fort, —  Nathan  French, 
Joseph  Richardson,  and  John  Frost.  William  Bickford,  of  the 
seven  prisoners  taken,  died  of  his  wounds. 

Captain    Hobbs,   with  a  scouting   party  of   forty  men,  was 


1745]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  21 1 

attacked  near  West  River,  in  Hinsdale;  and,  after  a  battle  of 
three  hours,  withdrew  with  the  loss  of  three  men  killed  and  four 
wounded.  The  same  party  of  the  enemy  killed  two  men  and 
captured  nine  in  the  same  neighborhood.  Peace  was  declared 
between  France  and  England  in  1749,  but  an  attack  was  made 
upon  Number  Four  in  the  early  summer,  in  which  one  man, 
Obadiah  Sartwell,  was  killed,  and  a  son  of  Captain  Stevens  was 
captured  and  taken  to  Canada.  Peace  was  destined  to  continue 
until  1754. 

During  this  war  the  Indians  did  not  murder  nor  torture  their 
prisoners,  but  treated  them  humanely,  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  many  who  returned. 

During  the  continuance  of  the  war  had  occurred  an  event  of 
much  interest  to  New  Hampshire.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
Thomlinson  had  purchased  of  the  last  Mason  heir  his  interest  in 
New  Hampshire,  promising  him  ^1,000  in  behalf  of  the  As- 
sembly. After  the  settlement  of  the  line  between  the  prov- 
inces, and  during  the  attack  on  Louisburg,  in  which  Mason  had 
command  of  a  company.  Governor  Wentworth  frequently  called 
the  attention  of  the  General  Court  to  the  matter,  but  that  body 
hesitated  to  appropriate  the  necessary  funds  to  complete  the 
purchase.  At  length  Mason,  becoming  impatient,  and  the 
entail  having  been  docked,  made  a  trade  with  certain  gentlemen 
of  the  Province,  and,  January  30,  1746,  disposed  of  his  whole 
interest  for  ;£^  1,500  currency,  on  the  very  day  a  committee  of 
the  Assembly  called  upon  him  to  arrange  the  matter.  The 
purchasers  were  Theodore  Atkinson,  M.  H.  Wentworth,  Rich- 
ard Wibird,  John  Wentworth,  George  Jaffrey,  Nathaniel  Me- 
serve,  Thomas  Packer,  Thomas  Wallingford,  Jotham  Odiorne, 
Joshua  Pierce,  Samuel  Moore,  and  John  Moffat.  Their  act 
raised  a  storm  of  indignation  ;  but  they  prudently  filed  at  the 
recorder's  office  a  quit-claim  deed  to  all  the  towns  which  had 
been  granted  by  New  Hampshire  authority,  viz.,  Portsmouth, 
Dover,  Exeter,  Hampton,  Gosport,  Kingston,  Londonderry, 
Chester,  Nottingham,  Harrington,  Rochester,  Canterbury,  Bow, 
Chichester,  Epsom,  Barnstead,  and  Gilmanton. 

In    1746  the  towns  of  Merrimack,  Pelham,   Hudson,   Hollis, 
and  Dunstable  were  incorporated. 


212  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l746 

Merrimack,  formerly  Souhegan  East,  had  been  settled  about 
thirteen  years.  A  Mr.  Hassell  was  among  the  first  settlers. 
The  first  house  in  town  had  been  built  many  years  before  any 
permanent  settlement  was  made,  and  was  occupied  by  John 
Cromwell  for  purposes  of  traffic  with  the  Indians.  The  house 
was  standing  near  the  Merrimack  River  in  1679,  but  was  after- 
ward burned.  Rev.  Jacob  Burnap,  D.  D.,  was  settled  as  min- 
ister in  1772,  and  died  in  1821  ;  Rev.  Stephen  Morse,  in  1825; 
Rev.  Stephen  T.  Allen,  in  1839;  R^^.  E.  G.  Little,  in  1850.  A 
church  was  organized  in  the  south  part  of  the  town  in  1829. 
The  town  was  the  home  for  many  years  of  Hon.  Mathew 
Thornton. 

The  first  settlements  were  made  in  Pelham,  in  1722,  by  John 
Butler  and  William  Richardson,  the  grandfather  of  Chief- 
Justice  Richardson.  A  meeting  house  was  built  in  1747,  and 
Rev.  James  Hobbs  was  ordained  as  minister  in  175 1.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Amos  Moody,  in  1765  ;  by  Rev.  John  H. 
Church,  in  1798  ;  by  Rev.  John  Keep,  in  1835  ;  by  Rev.  Cyrus 
W.  Allen,  in  1843;  by  Rev.  Charles  Rockwell,  in  1854. 

Hudson  was  incorporated  as  Nottingham  West,  and  formed  a 
part  of  Dunstable.  It  was  settled  as  early  as  17 10.  Some  of 
the  early  names  were  Blodgett,  Winn,  Lovewell,  Colburn,  Hill, 
Greeley,  Cross,  Cummings,  Pollard,  Marsh,  and  Merrill.  A  man 
by  the  name  of  Cross  was  taken  prisoner  to  Canada  from  the 
town.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Merrill  was  settled  as  minister  in  1737; 
Rev.  Jabez  L.  Fisher,  in  1796;  Rev.  WiUiam  K.  Talbot,  in 
1825;  Rev.  D.  L.  French,  in  1852. 

Hollis,  known  to  the  Indians  as  Nisitissit,  was,  before  its  in- 
corporation, the  west  parish  of  Dunstable.  The  first  settlement 
was  made  by  Captain  Peter  Powers,  in  1731.  A  church  was 
organized,  and  Rev.  Daniel  Emerson  was  settled  as  the  minister 
in  1743.  He  was  chaplain  during  the  French  and  Indian  War. 
He  died  in  1801.  Rev.  Eli  Smith  was  settled  as  colleague  pastor 
-in  1793;  Rev.  David  Perry  was  settled  in  1831  ;  Rev.  James 
Aiken,  in  1843  ;  Rev.  Matthew  D.  Gordon,  in  1849;  Rev.  P.  B, 
Day,  in  1852.  Among  the  notable  families  who  have  lived  in 
the  town  are  those  by  the   name  of  Powers,  Goodhue,  Cum- 


1/47]  ROYAL    PROVINCE,  2F3 

min-s,  Emerson,  Biirge,  Farley,  Proctor,  Kendrick,  Worcester, 
Biooc!,  Jewett,  Tenney,  Eastman,  Hardy,  Smith,  Holt,  and 
Snwtcll. 

The  old  town  of  Dunstable  was  granted  in  1672,  and  was 
divided  in  1740  by  the  Province  line.  Among  the  early  settlers 
appear  the  names  of  Weld,  Blanchard,  Waldo,  Cumings,  French, 
Lovewell,  Farwell,  Lund,  and  Colburn.  Hon.  Edward  Tyng 
was  among  the  earlier  settlers,  and  the  town  received  its  name 
in  honor  of  his  wife.  A  church  was  organized  in  1685,  when 
Rev.  Thomas  Welti  was  settled  as  minister.  He  was  killed  by 
the  Indians  in  1702.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Prentice  was  settled  in 
1718,  and  ministered  to  the  people  until  his  death  in  1737.  He 
was  succeeded,  in  1738,  by  Rev.  Josiah  Swan  ;  in  1748,  by  Rev. 
Samuel  Bird;  in  1767,  by  Rev.  Joseph  Kidder;  in  1813,  by 
Rev.  Ebenezer  B.  Sperry  ;  in  1826,  by  Rev.  Handel  G.  Nott ; 
in  1836,  by  Rev.  Jonathan  McGee  ;  in  1842,  by  Rev.  Matthew 
Hale  Smith;  in  1846,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Lawson  ;  in  1849,  ^y 
Rev.  Daniel  March.  The  Olive  Street  church  separated  in 
1834;  the  Pearl  Street  church  in  1846. 

The  towns  of  Hampstead,  Newton,  Plaistow,  and  Litchfield 
were  incorporated  in  1749,  and  the  township  of  Salisbury  was 
granted  the  same  year. 

With  great  wisdom  the  Masonian  proprietors  sought  to  dis- 
arm antagonism  to  their  claims  by  granting  townships  to  peti- 
tioners, often  without  fees,  and  always  without  quit-rents. 
"  They  quieted  the  proprietors  of  the  towns,  on  the  western  side 
of  the  Merrimack,  which  had  been  granted  by  Massachusetts, 
before  the  establishment  of  the  line  ;  so  that  they  went  on 
peaceably  with  their  settlements.  The  terms  of  their  grants 
were,  that  the  grantees  should,  within  a  limited  time,  erect 
mills  and  meeting-houses,  clear  out  roads,  and  settle  ministers. 
In  every  township,  they  reserved  one  right  for  the  first  settled 
minister,  another  for  a  parsonage,  and  a  third  for  a  school. 
They  also  reserved  fifteen  rights  for  themselves,  and  two  for 
their  attorneys  ;  all  of  which  were  to  be  free  from  ta.xes,  till 
sold  or  occupied.  By  virtue  of  these  grants,  many  townships 
were  settled,  and  the  interest  of  the  people  became  so  united 


214  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/SO 

with  that  of  the  proprietors,  that  the  prejudice  against  them 
gradually  abated."  ^ 

The  towns  of  Suncook  and  Rumford  were  not  included  in 
this  general  amnesty. 

In  November,  1750,  a  suit  was  commenced  against  Deacon 
John  Merrill,  "  by  the  proprietors  of  the  common  and  undivided 
lands  lying  and  being  in  the  town  of  Bow,"  in  an  action  of 
ejectment,  wherein  they  demanded  eight  acres  of  land  and  all 
improvements  made  by  Deacon  Merrill.  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  beginning  of  litigation,  the  test  of  the  right  of  the 
proprietors  of  Bow  to  lands  claimed  by  them.  The  settlers 
voted  to  raise  money  to  defend  Deacon  Merrill. 

At  the  same  time  Captain  John  Chandler,  Colonel  Benjamin 
Rolfe,  Lieutenant  Jeremiah  Stickney,  Mr.  Ebenezer  Virgin,  and 
Dr.  Ezra  Carter,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  were  appointed  a 
committee  for  said  proprietors,  "to  advise  and  order  Deacon 
John  Merrill  how  he  shall  pursue  and  defend  the  action  brought 
against  said  Merrill  by  the  proprietors  of  Bow  ;  also,  to  advise 
and  order  any  other  person  or  persons  that  shall  be  sued  or 
shall  sue  in  order  to  support  and  defend  their  rights  or  claims, 
what  method  they  shall  pursue  for  the  purposes  aforesaid."^ 

Bedford  and  Salem  were  incorporated  in  1750. 

The  township  of  Dunbarton  was  granted  in  175 1. 

^  The  first  settlement  was  made  about  1735,  by  Joseph  and 
William  Putney,  James  Rogers  and  Obediah  Foster,  who  came 
from  Rumford  (now  Concord),  and  located  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  town,  at  a  place  called  "Great  Meadow."  Here  they 
erected  log  houses,  planted  fruit  trees  and  set  about  improving 
the  land.  When  a  body  of  Indians  appeared  in  the  vicinity  of 
Rumford,  two  friends  of  Rogers  made  their  way  by  "  spotted  " 
trees  to  warn  the  settlers  of  the  danger.  They  found  one  of 
the  families  engaged  in  cooking  for  supper  and  the  other  churn- 
ing. Upon  the  receipt  of  the  alarming  intelligence  they  at 
once  abandoned  their  homes,  "leaving  the  meat  to  fry  itself 
away  and  the  cream  to  churn  itself  to  butter,"  and  during  the 
night  succeeded  in  reaching  Ru.mford.      Returning  the  next  day 

'  Farmer's  rielknap,  p.  2<)Q.  -  Dr.  N.  Bouton.  3  J.  j;.  Connor. 


/:> 


ij  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  21$ 


to  drive  their  cattle  to  the  garrison,  they  found  them  all  slaugh- 
tered, their  houses  plundered  and  burned,  and  the  apple  trees 
cut  down.  Three  years  later  Messrs.  Putney  and  Rogers  made 
a  permanent  settlement,  though  they  had  procured  no  title  to 
the  land,  but  their  possession  was  confirmed  by  the  proprietors, 
who,  in  175  I,  obtained  a  grant  of  the  township.  The  extensive 
range  of  meadow  land  already  cleared  by  the  industrious 
farmers  was  particularly  adapted  to  agriculture  and  was  rich  in 
the  kind  of  grass  called  "blue-joint."  The  name  given  by  the 
settlers  was  "  Mountalona,"  from  a  place  where  they  once  dwelt 
in  Ireland,  for  religious  oppression  had  driven  them  from  their 
ancestral  homes  in  Scotland.  We  can  but  admire  the  intrepidity 
of  this  little  band  in  removing  so  far  away  from  the  garrison  at 
a  time  fraught  with  so  many  dangers,  for  although  the  Indian 
war  ended  about  this  time,  the  peace  was  not  of  that  substantial 
character  which  ensures  perfect  security.  It  was  more  than 
likely  that  the  pioneers  were  suspicious  of  their  former  foes,  for 
a  long  time  after  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  even  while  pur- 
suing their  daily  avocations,  they  were  ever  on  the  alert  to 
detect  the  cat-like  tread  of  the  treacherous  red-skins.  They 
had  not  forgotten  the  devastation  of  their  farms  and  homes, 
and  the  massacre  on  the  Hopkinton  road  was  still  fresh  in  their 
minds.  But  the  remembrance  of  these  scenes,  while  it  served 
to  increase  their  caution,  rendered  them  only  the  more  deter- 
mined in  their  enterprize.  Mr.  Rogers  was  the  father  of  Major 
Robert  Rogers,  celebrated  as  a  leader  of  the  rangers  in  the 
French  and  Indian  war.  The  elder  Rogers  met  with  a  singular 
and  painful  death  in  attempting  to  visit  his  friend  Ebenezer 
Ayer.  Mr.  Ayer,  who  was  a  hunter  of  no  little  renown,  had 
been  in  quest  of  game  during  the  day,  and  returning  to  camp 
early  in  the  evening  was  still  on  the  lookout  for  a  bear,  when 
Mr.  Rogers  appeared.  Mistaking  his  friend  (who  was  dressed 
in  a  bear-skin  suit)  for  an  animal  of  that  species,  he  fired  and 
mortally  wounded  him.  Mr.  Ayer  was  intensely  grieved  at  the 
accident  and  could  never  relate  the  occurrence  without  shed- 
ding tears.  At  the  time  of  this  settlement,  Concord  (or  Rum- 
ford)    had    about    350    inhabitants.    Bow    not     more    than    five 


2l6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l75r 

families,  and  Goffstown  might  have  had  a  few  inhabitants^ 
though  it  is  very  doubtful,  while  Hopkinton  had  been  settled 
ten  years.  In  1751  arrangements  were  made  for  a  regular 
settlement  of  the  town,  the  included  territory  being  granted  by 
the  assigns  of  John  Tufton  Mason  to  Archibald  Stark,  Caleb 
Paige,  Hugh  Ramsey  and  others.  This  grant  embraced  a 
territory  five  miles  square,  and  included  a  portion  of  the  present 
town  of  Hooksett.  The  next  settlement  was  made  in  the 
western  part  of  the  town,  by  William  Stinson,  Thomas  Mills 
and  John  Hogg.  These  families  were  for  a  time  three  miles 
apart,  with  no  intervening  neighbors,  and  we  can  imagine  the 
sense  of  loneliness  which  would  at  times  enter  their  hearts  despite 
the  cheerful  character  of  their  natures.  During  the  day  the 
cares  of  the  farm  would  engross  their  attention,  but  when  the 
setting  sun  had  proclaimed  the  hour  of  parting  day,  "  and  all 
the  earth  a  solemn  stillness  wore,"  they  must  have  keenly  felt 
their  isolation  and  sometimes  deeply  sighed  for  the  homes  which 
they  had  left.  To  add  to  the  dreariness  of  the  long  winter 
nights,  savage  beasts  rent  the  air  with  yelps  and  howls  till 
children  trembling  buried  their  heads  in  the  pillows  and  sterner 
hearts  still  feared  the  inroads  of  their  skulking  foes.  The  first 
child  born  in  the  town  was  probably  Sarah  Mills,  daughter  of  the 
above  mentioned  Thomas  Mills,  although  Stark,  the  historian, 
says  :  "We  are  inclined  to  believe  that  the  first  child  born  upon 
the  territory  was  one  of  the  family  of  James  Rogers  or  Joseph 
Putney,  who  settled  upon  it  several  years  prior  to  1746,  to  the 
oldest  sons  of  whom  lots  of  land  were, granted  in  1752."  From 
this  time  emigrants  flocked  to  all  parts  of  the  town,  some  com- 
ing direct  from  Scotland,  others  from  Haverhill,  Ipswich,  Salem, 
Topsfield,  and  other  Massachusetts  towns,  until,  in  1770,  Dunbar- 
ton  boasted  of  its  497  inhabitants,  being  two-thirds  of  its  pre- 
sent population.  These  people,  actuated  by  a  love  for  their  new 
homes  and  assisted  by  the  generous  hand  of  nature,  rapidly  de- 
veloped those  resources  which  have  added  wealth  and  impor- 
tance to  the  town.  The  building  of  highways  was  one  of  the 
first  improvements,  and  as  early  as  1760  we  find  notice  of  roads 
being  laid  out,  and  the  main  hi;;hway  running  through  the  west- 


175 1]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  21/ 

ern  part  of  the  town  was  probably  established  lonj;'  before- 
This  was  the  principal  route  to  Boston  from  central  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  for  years  these  hills  resounded  with  the  busy  strains 
of  travel.  The  whirling  coach  threw  clouds  of  dust  to  blind  the 
teamster's  sight,  and  the  rumbling  of  its  wheels  brought  many 
a  head  to  the  windows  whose  narrow  panes  afforded  but  a  lim- 
ited view  of  the  "  Fast  Mail." 

In  1760,  lot  No.  12,  in  the  4th  range,  containing  100  acres, 
was  granted  to  Captain  John  Stark  (afterwards  General),  upon 
condition  that  he  build  a  saw-mill,  the  same  to  be  put  in  opera- 
tion within  one  year.  The  condition  was  fulfilled.  Captain 
William  Stinson  erected  the  ne.xt  mill. 

Religion  and  education  received  prompt  attention,  and  in  1752 
a  vote  was  passed  that  a  meeting  house  should  be  built  "within 
five  years  from  May  next  ensuing."  The  house  was  finished  in 
1767  and  remained  twenty-five  years,  when  it  was  removed  to 
make  way  for  a  more  pretentious  edifice.  The  first  school- 
master who  taught  in  Dunbarton  was  a  Mr.  Hogg — commonly 
called  "Master  Hogg."  The  first  female  teacher  was  Sarah 
Clement.  With  the  facilities  now  afforded  for  mental  culture, 
we  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  more  disheartening  task  than  the 
acquirement  of  an  education  under  the  adverse  circumstances 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  these  schools  very  few  of  the 
scholars  possessed  text  books,  so  the  teacher  gave  out  the  pro- 
blems and  the  pupils  were  expected  to  return  the  answer  with- 
out a  repetition.  The  way  must  have  been  blind  indeed,  but 
their  victories  over  the  "hard  sums  "  and  difficult  passages  were 
conquests  of  which  they  were  justly  proud,  and  which  fitted 
them  to  win  even  greater  laurels  in  the  contest  for  liberty. 

For  several  years  the  nearest  grist-mill  was  at  Concord,  t» 
which  the  settlers  carried  their  grists  upon  their  backs  in  sum- 
mer, and  in  winter  drew  them  upon  hand  sleds  through  a  path 
marked  by  spotted  trees.  From  the  forest  trees  these  hardy 
pioneers  made  mortars  in  which  to  render  the  corn  fit  for  making 
samp,  the  use  of  which  they  had  learned  from  the  Indians. 
Among  the  impediments  which  the  early  settlers  encountered  in 
clearing  and  burning  over  the  land   were  the   "  Kimr's   trees.'* 


2l8  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l75I 

These  trees  were  marked  by  the  King's  surveyors  for  use  in  the 
royal  navy,  and  any  damage  which  occurred  to  them  subjected 
the  offender  to  a  considerable  fine.  Notwithstanding  the  diffi- 
culties, hardships  and  privations  wliich  compassed  them  round 
about,  these  sturdy  foresters  seem  to  have  lost  none  of  their 
good  courage,  and  that  they  were  wont  to  enjoy  themselves 
upon  occasions,  is  manifest  from  the  frequent  occurrence  of 
horse-races,  while  huskings,  flax-breakings,  apple-parings  and 
house-raisings  were  joyful  scenes  to  the  people  of  those  days. 
A  few  of  their  industrial  pastimes  are  still  in  vogue.  It  was 
customary  in  olden  times,  at  raisings  and  upon  other  occasions 
when  people  assembled  in  numbers,  to  assist  voluntarily  in  per- 
forming tasks  which  required  the  strength  of  many,  to  keep  up 
^ood  cheer  by  trials  of  strength  and  gymnastic  exercises. 
Among  these  pastimes  wrestling  matches  were,  perhaps,  the 
most  popular,  and  men  who  had  distinguished  themselves  in 
this  art  were  known  to  each  other  by  reputation,  although 
residing  in  distant  towns.  It  was  the  habit  of  such  notable 
individuals  to  travel  many  miles  to  try  a  fall  at  wrestling  with 
other  champions,  although  entire  strangers.  An  anecdote  ex- 
emplifies this  species  of  wrestling,  although  the  result  was  not, 
perhaps,  satisfactory  to  the  knight  who  came  so  far  to  obtain  a 
fall.  A  person  called  at  the  house  of  John  McNiel,  of  London- 
derry, in  consequence  of  having  heard  of  his  strength  and 
prowess.  McNiel  was  absent,  which  circumstance  the  stranger 
regretted  exceedingly  —  as  he  informed  his  wife,  Christian,  who 
enquired  his  business — since  he  had  traveled  many  miles  for 
no  other  purpose  than  to  "throw  him."  "And  troth,  mon," 
said  Christian  McNiel,  "Johnny  is  gone;  but  I'm  not  the 
woman  to  see  ye  disappointed,  an'  if  ye'll  try,  mon,  I'll  throw 
ye  meself."  The  stranger  not  liking  to  be  bantered  by  a  woman, 
accepted  the  challenge  ;  and  sure  enough.  Christian  tripped  his 
heels  and  threw  him  to  the  ground.  The  stranger  upon  getting 
up  thought  he  would  not  wait  for  "Johnny,"  but  disappeared 
-without  leaving  his  name. 

Derryfield  was  incorporated  in    1751. 

Four  towns  were  incorporated  in  south  western  New  Hamp- 


I  75-]  KOVAI.     I'KOVINCE.  2  H) 

shire  in  1752.  Of  these  Winchester,  granted  by  Massachusetts 
as  Arlington,  had  been  settled  a  score  of  years.  During  the 
Indian  war  all  the  houses  of  the  settlement  were  destroyed,  and 
the  people  took  refuge  in  a  garrison-house. 

Walpole,  formerly  Great  Falls,  was  settled  in  1749,  by  Colonel 
Benjamin  l-5ellows  and  associates,  to  wiiom  the  charter  was 
issued.  In  1755,  at  the  head  of  twenty  men.  Colonel  Bellows 
cut  his  way  through  a  large  force  of  Indians,  and  entered  the 
fort  from  which  the  party  had  been  absent  on  a  scout. 

Chesterfield  was  not  settled  until  some  nine  years  after  its 
charter  was  granted. 

Richmond  was  settled  within  five  or  si.K  years  after  its  charter 
was  granted. 

The  Gregorian  rule  was  early  adopted  in  most  Catholic  coun- 
tries, and  also  in  many  that  were  Protestant.  Scotland  made 
the  change  in  1600.  But  many  Protestant  countries  hesitated, 
not  wishing  to  follow  the  Roman  church  too  nearly,  even  when 
they  knew  she  was  right.  But  in  1751,  an  act  of  Parliament 
was  passed  providing  that  in  1752  the  change  should  be  made; 
and  eleven  days  were  accordingly  dropped  from  the  calendar  to 
make  it  agree  with  the  Gregorian  rule.  This  act  also  became 
the  law  of  the  colonies  in  America.  This  was  the  great  change 
in  this  country  and  in  England,  from  the  old  to  the  new  style. 

Pope  Gregory  XIII  ruled  from  1572  to  1585.  He  was  born 
at  Bologna,  February  7,  1502,  and  was  known  as  Hugo  Buon- 
compagni.  He  was  first  a  lawyer,  then  a  priest,  and  finally 
Pope  of  Rome.  He  was  a  man  of  enlarged  and  liberal  views, 
great  energy  and  zeal,  and  very  remarkable  ability.  Among  his 
other  distinctions  was  that  of  the  correction  of  the  Julian  calen- 
dar, and  the  promulgation  of  that  known  by  his  name,  the 
Grcgoj-ia7i    Calendar. 

Pope  Gregory  XIII  ordered  tliat  ten  days  be  suppressed  from 
the  calendar,  so  that  the  iith  should  be  the  21st  of  the  month. 
This  was  done  by  making  the  5th  of  October,  1582,  the  15th, 
which  would  bring  the  equino.x  on  the  same  day  on  which  it  fell 
in  the  year  325,  when  the  first  Council  of  Xice  was  held. 

Up  to  the  year  1600,  the  difference  between  the  old  style  and 


220  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l753 

the  new  was  ten  days;  but  the  year  1600  being  a  leap  year, 
under  both  systems,  the  difference  continued  to  be  ten  days 
only  to  the  year  1700,  which  would  have  been  a  leap  year  by 
the  old  or  Julian,  but  was  not  so  by  the  new  or  Gregorian  rule. 
This  made  the  difference  eleven  days  after  that  year  up  to  the 
year  1800.  Since  the  year  1800  another  day  is  to  be  added  to 
the  difference  between  the  old  style  and  the  new,  making  twelve 
days  now,  and  after  the  year  1900  the  difference  will  be  thirteen 
days. 

But  the  change  was  more  than  this.  Up  to  this  time,  since 
the  twelfth  century,  as  we  have  seen,  the  year  commenced  in 
England  on  the  25th  of  March,  and  the  same  was  true  in  the 
Provinces.  This  act  of  175 1  provided,  also,  that  beginning  with 
1752,  the  year  should  begin  with  January.  It  was  customary 
to  write  dates  that  occurred  prior  to  1752,  between  January  i 
and  March  25,  so  as  to  indicate  the  year  by  both  the  old  style 
and  the  new  —  as,  January  20th,  1 740-1.  This  date  by  the 
old  style  would  be  in  the  latter  part  of  1740;  but  by  the  new, 
the  same  date  would  be  early  in  the  year  I74[.  This  would 
only  show  the  difference  in  the  year,  but  not  in  the  day  of  the 
month. 

Russia  is  said  to  be  the  only  Christian  nation  that  has  not 
adopted  the  Gregorian  calendar.  A  person  in  Russia,  writing 
to  a  person  in  France  or  England,  or  other  country  having 
adopted  the  new  style,  would  date  their  letter  April  /gor  j„Jy-^; 
1883,  which  shows  the  difference  in  the  day  of  the  month 
between  the  old  style  and  the  new.  ^ 

Hinsdale  was  incorporated  in  1753.  Before  the  southern 
boundary  line  of  the  province  was  determined  it  formed  a  part 
of  Northfield,  Massachusetts,  which  was  granted  and  settled  as 
early  as  1683  ;  and  it  included  the  town  of  Vernon,  Vermont, 
until  the  erection  of  the  Hampshire  grants  into  a  State.  It 
was  known  as  Fort  Dummar  for  many  years.  The  inhabitants 
suffered  severely  from  the  Indians  in  1746,  1747,  and  1748,  and 
S-gain  in  1755,  losing  many  of  their  number. 

During  the  year  Keene   and    Swanzey,    Upper    and   Lower 

ij.  E.  Sargennt. 


17531  KOVAI.    I'KOVIN-CE,  221 

Ashuelot,  were  incorporated,  as  also  were  Charlestown,  Number 
Four,  and  Westmoreland,  Number  Two,  or  Great  Meadow. 
Keene  had  been  settled  as  early  as  1734;  two  years  later  a 
meeting  house  was  built.  In  1745  the  town  was  attacked  by 
Indians ;  and  the  next  year  the  inhabitants,  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  fort,  beheld  their  houses  and  church  burnt,  while 
they  defended  themselves  within  its  walls.  In  1747  the  settle- 
ment was  abandoned  and  was  not  occupied  attain  until  1753. 
In  1755  the  town  was  again  inflicted  by  an  Indian  attack. 

Swanzey  was  settled  at  about  the  same  time  as  Keene,  and 
suffered  so  much  from  Indian  depredations  from  1741  to  1747 
that  the  inhabitants  abandoned  their  settlement  and  returned 
to  Massachusetts.  Many  of  them  returned  about  three  years 
later  and  soon  afterward  were  incorporated. 

Charlestown,  Number  Four,  was  settled  by  Massachusetts 
people  soon  after  its  grant  was  made  and  a  fort  was  built  in 
1743.  The  town  suffered  much  loss  from  Indians  in  1746,  and 
the  next  year  the  place  was  abandoned  by  the  inhabitants,  but 
a  garrison  was  stationed  at  the  fort  to  protect  the  frontiers. 
The  charter  was  granted  to  the  original  settlers,  who  had 
returned  to  their  deserted  homes  in  the  meanwhile. 

Westmoreland  was  first  settled  in  1741,  and  underwent  the 
usual  hardship  of  the  Indian  war,  which  soon  followed  ;  l)ut 
the  mischief  done  was  of  no  great  magnitude. 

^  While  the  trial  of  the  Bow  case  was  going  on,  a  warrant 
was  issued  by  the  government  of  New  Hampshire,  May  30, 
1753,  for  raising  an  assessment  of  sixty  pounds  on  all  polls  and 
estates  ratable  by  law  within  the  township  of  Bow  ;  and  another 
warrant,  July  26,  1753,  for  raising  thirty-one  pounds  four 
shillings,  to  be  collected  and  paid  in  on  or  before  the  25th  of 
December  next  ensuing.  The  persons  on  whom  these  taxes 
were  to  be  assessed  were,  with  perhaps  three  or  four  excep- 
tions, inhabitants  of  Rumford. 

Up  to  this  time  a  town  meeting  had  never  been  held  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Bow  proper;  and  on  the  30th  of  June,  1753,  a 
special  act  was  passed,  appointing  Daniel  Pierce,  Esq.,  to  warn 

'  Rev.  Dr.  N.  Bouton's  History  <if  Concord. 


222  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l755 

and  call  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  Bow  —  the  preamble  to 
said  act  setting  forth  that  the  "  inhabitants  had  never  held  a 
meeting  as  a  town."  The  meeting  was  accordingly  notified  and 
held  July  25,  1753.  But  unexpected  difficulties  were  here 
encountered. 

The  selectmen  reported  to  the  governor :  "  Though  we  are 
ready  ( and  that  with  cheerfulness )  to  obey  every  order  of 
government,  yet  that  we  are  at  a  loss  as  to  the  boundaries  of 
said  Bow,  and  consequently  do  not  know  who  the  inhabitants 
are  that  we  are  to  assess  said  sums  upon.  That  the  proprietors 
of  Bow,  in  running  out  the  bounds  of  said  town,  have,  as  we 
conceive,  altered  their  bounds  several  times  ;  and  further,  that 
one  of  those  gentlemen  that  purchased  Captain  Tufton  Mason's 
right  to  the  lands  in  said  Province,  has  given  it  as  his  opinion 
that  said  proprietors  have  not  as  yet  run  out  the  bounds  of  said 
town  agreeable  to  their  charter,  but  that  their  southeast  side 
line  should  be  carried  up  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  further 
toward  the  northwest  ;  and  there  is  lately  ( by  his  order )  a 
fence  erected  along  some  miles  near  about  said  place,  designed 
( as  we  suppose )  as  a  division  fence  between  said  Bow  and  land 
yet  claimed  by  said  purchasers. 

"  And  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  inhabitants  of  Pennycook, 
formerly  erected  into  a  district  by  a  special  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  this  Province  (though  they  object  nothing  against 
submitting  to  order  of  government)  refuse  to  give  us  an 
invoice  of  their  estates  ( that  is,  such  of  them  as  we  have  asked 
for  the  same ),  alleging  that  they  do  not  lay  in  Bow,  and  that 
this  said  Assembly  did  as  good  as  declare  in  said  district  act." 

The  next  step,  February  12,  1753,  on  the  part  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Rumford,  was  to  appoint  Rev.  Timothy  Walker  and 
Benjamin  Rolfe,  Esq.,  to  represent  "to  the  King's  most 
Excellent  Majesty  in  Council,  the  manifold  grievances  they 
labored  under,  by  reason  of  the  law  suits  commenced  against 
them  by  the  proprietors  of  Bow,  and  by  being  for  several  years 
past  deprived  of  all  corporation  privileges  :"  in  August  follow- 
ing, a  petition  was  preferred  to  the  Massachusetts  government, 
representing  their  grievances  and  asking  "such  relief  as  in  their 


1753]  KOVAL    I'KOVINCE.  225 

great  wisdom  they  should  see  fit  to  grant."  In  answer  to  which 
latter  petition  one  hundred  pounds  were  granted. 

Deputed  as  an  agent  for  the  proprietors  of  Rumford,  Rev. 
Mr.  Walker  sailed  for  England  in  the  fall  of  1753,  and  pre- 
sented "  to  the  King's  most  Excellent  Majesty  in  Council,"  a 
petition,  drawn  up,  as  appears,  by  himself,  from  which  extracts 
are  taken  and  which  "most  humbly   sheweth  — 

"That  the  lands  contained  in  said  town  of  Rumford  were 
granted  by  the  government  of  the  Province  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay,  in  the  year  1725,  and  were  supposed,  according  tO' 
the  con.struction  of  the  Massachusetts  Charter  and  the  deter- 
mination of  his  Majesty  King  Charles  the  Second,  in  1677,  ta 
lay  wholly  within  the  said  Province,  though  bounded  on  New 
Hampshire,  seeing  no  part  of  said  lands  extended  more  than 
three  miles  from  the  river  Merrimack  towards  New  Hampshire. 
Your  petitioners  and  their  predecessors  very  soon  engaged  in 
bringing  forward  the  settlement  of  the  above  granted  lands, 
though  in  the  midst  of  the  Indian  country,  and  near  thirty 
miles  beyond  any  English  plantation,  and  have  defended  them- 
selves more  at  their  own  cost  than  at  the  charge  of  the  public, 
through  the  late  war  with  ye  French  and  Indians ;  and  from  a 
perfect  wilderness,  where  not  one  acre  of  land  had  ever  been 
improved,  they  had  made  a  considerable  town,  consisting  of 
more  than  eighty  houses,  and  as  many  good  farms  ;  and  your 
humble  petitioner,  Timothy  Walker,  was  regularly  ordained 
the  minister  of  the  church  and  parish  in  said  town  in  the  year 
1730,  and  has  continued  there  ever  since. 

"Your  petitioners  beg  leave  further  to  represent  to  your 
Majesty,  that  at  the  time  of  the  aforesaid  grant  they  had  no 
apprehension  that  their  bounds  would  ever  be  controverted  by 
the  Province  of  New  Hampshire  ;  but  it  has  so  happened  that 
by  your  Majesty's  late  determination  of  ye  boundary  line 
between  ye  two  Provinces,  the  whole  of  the  aforesaid  township 
falls  within  the  province  of  New  Hampshire.  Soon  after  the 
aforesaid  determination,  your  petitioners  made  their  humble 
application  to  your  Majesty  in  Council,  that  they  might  be 
restored  to  your  Province   of  the    Massachusetts    Bay,    which 


224  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l753 

your  Majesty  was  pleased  to  disallow  ;  but  your  humble 
petitioners  have  dutifully  submitted  to  the  government  of  your 
Majesty's  Province  of  New  Hampshire  ever  since  they  have 
been  under  it,  and  with  so  much  the  greater  cheerfulness 
because  they  were  well  informed  your  Majesty  had  been 
graciously  pleased  to  declare  that  however  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  two  governments  might  be  altered,  yet  that  the  private 
property  should  not  be  affected  thereby. 

"  But  notwithstanding  this  your  Majesty's  most  gracious 
-declaration  your  poor  petitioners  have  for  several  years  past 
been  grievously  harassed  by  divers  persons  under  color  of  a 
grant  made  by  the  government  and  council  of  New  Hampshire 
in  the  year  1727,  to  sundry  persons  and  their  successors,  now 
■called  the  Proprietors  of  Bow. 

"  Your  petitioners  further  humbly  represent,  that  the  said 
grant  of  Bow  was  not  only  posterior  to  that  of  Rumford,  but  is 
likewise  extremely  vague  and  uncertain  as  to  its  bounds,  and 
its  being  very  doubtful  whether  it  was  the  intent  of  the  governor 
and  council  of  New  Hampshire  that  it  should  infringe  upon  the 
Massachusetts  grant  of  Rumford ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
grant  of  Bow  has  now  been  made  so  many  years,  there  are  but 
three  or  four  families  settled  upon  it,  and  those  since  the  end 
of  the  late  French  war ;  the  proprietors  choosing  rather  to 
distress  your  petitioners  by  forcing  them  out  of  the  valuable 
improvements  they  and  their  predecessors  have  made  at  the 
expense  of  their  blood  and  treasure,  than  to  be  at  the  charge  of 
making  any  themselves.  But  your  petitioners'  greatest  mis- 
fortune is,  that  they  cannot  have  a  fair,  impartial  trial,  for  that 
the  governor  and  most  of  ye  council  are  proprietors  of  Bow, 
and  by  them  not  only  ye  judges  are  appointed,  but  also  ye 
of^cers  that  impanels  ye  jury,  and  the  people  also  are  generally 
disaffected  to  your  petitioners  on  account  of  their  deriving 
their  titles  from  the  Massachusetts  ;  and  all  the  actions  that 
have  hitherto  been  brought  are  of  so  small  value,  and,  as  your 
petitioners  apprehend,  designed  so  that  by  a  law  of  the 
Province  there  can  be  no  appeal  from  the  judgments  of  the 
courts  to  your  Majestv  in  council ;  and  if  it  were  otherwise  the 


1753]  ROVAL    l'KO\INCE.  225 

cliarges  that  would  attend  such  appeals  would  be  greater  than 
the  value  of  the  land,  or  than  the  party  defending  his  title 
would  be  able  to  pay  ;  and  without  your  Majesty's  gracious 
interposition  your  petitioners  must  be  comj)el]ed  to  give  up 
their  estates,  contrary  to  your  Majesty's  favorable  interposition 
in  their  behalf. 

'*  Your  petitioners  further  beg  leave  humbly  to  represent, 
that,  while  they  were  under  the  government  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  they  enjoyed  town  privileges  by  an  act  specially  made  for 
that  purpose  in  the  year  1733,  and  expressly  ap[)roved  by  your 
Majesty  in  the  year  1737  ;  but  the  utmost  they  could  obtain 
since  their  being  under  New  Hampshire  has  been  erecting  them 
into  a  district  for  a  short  term  only ;  which  term  having  expired 
near  four  years  ago,  they  have  been  without  any  town  privileges 
ever  since,  notwithstanding  their  repeated  applications  to  the 
governor  and  council ;  and  they  are  not  able  to  raise  any 
moneys  for  the  support  of  their  minister,  and  the  necessary 
charges  of  their  school  and  poor,  and  other  purposes  ;  nor  have 
they  had  any  town  ofificers  for  the  upholding  government  and 
order,  as  all  other  towns  in  both  the  Provinces  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  the  Massachusetts  Bay  usually  have.  Under  these 
our  distresses  we  make  our  most  humble  application  to  your 
Majesty." 

While  in  England  the  first  time  Mr.  Walker  succeeded,  so  far 
as  to  obtain  a  hearing  of  the  case  before  his  Majesty,  which 
should  take  place  the  ensuing  winter.  He  engaged  Sir 
William  Murray,  afterward  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield,  as  his 
counsellor  and  advocate,  with  whom,  it  is  said,  he  formed  a 
particular  acquaintance.  But  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  go 
again.  Accordingly,  in  October,  1754,  Benjamin  Rolfe,  Esq., 
presented  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  in 
which  he  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  one  hundred  pounds 
sterling  the  previous  year,  and  asked  for  still  further  aid. 

While  the  proprietors  of  Rumford  sought  pecuniary  aid  from 
the  government  of  Massachusetts,  the  proprietors  of  Bow  also 
applied  for  the  same  purpose  to  that  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
obtained  a  grant  of  one  hundred  pounds  to  aid  them  in  carrying 
on  the  suit. 


226 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1754 


After  the  exploration  of  F'ield  and  others  it  was  more  than  a 
century  before  we  again  hear  of  white  men  within  the  limits  in 
Coos  County.  The  English  were  pushing  their  settlements  up 
the  valleys  of  the  Connecticut  and  the  Merrimack,  trappers 
penetrated  the  wilderness  far  above  the  settlements,  and  they 
often  met  the  Indians  on  these  hunting  excursions  and  evidently 
were  on  friendly  terms  with  them.  But  the  French  as  well  as 
the  Indians  were  becoming  jealous  of  the  extension  northward  of 
.the  English  settlements.     As  the  English  contemplated  laying 


WHITE    MOUNTAIN    SCENE. 


out  two  towns  in  the  spring  of  1752,  which  should  embrace  the 
Coos  meadows,  the  Indians  remonstrated  and  threatened.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  their  threats  were  not  known  to  all  the 
settlers,  for  four  young  men  from  Londonderry  were  hunting 
on  Baker's  River,  in  Rumney  ;  two  of  these,  John  Stark  and 
Amos   Eastman,  were  surprised  and  captured  by  the  Indians^ 


1754] 


ROYAL    I'KOVINCE. 


227 


April  28,  1752.  They  were  taken  to  Ct)()s,  near  where  lla\cr- 
hill  now  is,  and  where  two  of  the  Indians  had  been  left  to  kill 
<;ame  against  their  return.  The  next  day  they  proceeded  to  the 
upper  Coos,  the  intervales  in  the  south-west  part  of  Coos 
County,  from  which  place  they  sent  Eastman  with  three  o£ 
their  number  to  St.  TVancis.  The  rest  of  the  |)arty  spent  some 
time  in  hunting  on  the  streams  that   flow  into  the  Connecticut, 


SCENE    IN    COOS    COUNTY. 


and  they  reached  the  St.  Francis  June  9,  when  Stark  joined 
his  companion,  Eastman,  but  they  were  both  soon  after  ran- 
somed and  they  returned  to  their  homes.  From  this  and  other 
circumstances,  it  is  altogether  probable  that  John  Stark,  after- 
wards so  famous  in  American  history,  was  the  first  white  man 
who  ever  saw  the  broad  intervales  of  the  Upper  Coos. 


228  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^754 

Notwithstanding  the  threatening  attitude  of  the  French  and 
Indians  a  company  was  organized  in  the  spring,  1753,  to  survey 
or  lay  out  a  road  from  Stevenstown  (Franklin)  to  the  Coos 
meadows.  Captain  Lacheus  Lovevvell  was  commander,  Caleb 
Page  surveyor,  and  John  Stark  guide.  There  has  been 
much  speculation  in  regard  to  the  organization  and  object  of 
Captain  Lovewell's  company,  but  in  the  account  here  given  I 
have  followed  Mr.  C.  E.  Potter. 

The  best  known  of  all  the  expeditions  to  the  Coos  County 
was  that  of  Captain  Peter  Powers.  They  commenced  their 
tour  Saturday,  June  15,  1754.  Starting  from  Concord,  they 
followed  the  Merrimack  River  to  Franklin,  the  Pemigewasset 
River  to  Plymouth,  Baker's  River  to  Wentworth,  and  then  they 
crossed  over  on  to  the  Connecticut  via  Baker's  Pond.  They 
were  ten  days  in  reaching  "  Moose  Meadows,"  which  were  in 
Piermont,  and  on  June  3  they  came  to  what  is  now  John's 
River,  in  Dalton  ;  this  they  called  Stark's  River.  They  went 
as  far  north  as  Israel's  River,  named  by  them  Power's  River,  in 
Lancaster,  when  they  concluded  to  go  no  farther  with  a  full 
scout,  but  Captain  Powers  and  two  of  his  men  went  five  miles 
further  up  the  Connecticut,  probably  as  far  as  Northumberland, 
where  they  found  that  the  Indians  had  a  large  camping  place, 
which  they  had  left  not  more  than  a  day  or  two  before.  On 
July  2  they  broke  up  their  camp  on  Israel  River  and  began 
their  march  homeward.  The  knowledge  we  have  of  this  expe- 
dition is  derived  chiefly  from  a  journal  of  Captain  Powers,  in  the 
Historical  Sketches  of  Coos  County  by  Rev.  Grant  Powers. 
The  journal  of  Captain  Powers  is  fragmentary  and  meagre,  and 
the  comments  made  by  the  author  of  the  sketches  have  not 
given  us  any  additional  light,  but  have  rather  added  obscurity 
to  the  original  narrative. 

Grant  Powers  says  that  the  object  of  the  expedition  was  dis- 
covery ;  but  if  Captain  Powers'  company  was  the  one  referred 
to  by  Governor  Wentworth  in  a  message  of  May  4,  1754,  and 
in  one  of  Dec.  5,  1754,  they  certainly  went  to  see  if  the  French 
were  building  a  fort  in  the  Upper  Coos.  As  this  was  the  only 
expedition  fitted  out  during  the  year  that  went  in  this  direction. 


1755]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  229 

it  is  quite  certain  that  this  is  the  one  to  which  the  messa<^e 
referred.  But  it  is  something  to  be  able  to  say  that  Captain 
I'eter  Powers,  with  his  command,  was  the  first  body  of  English- 
speaking  people  who  camped  on  the  broad  intervales  of  Coos 
County.^ 

Somersworth  was  set  off  from  Dover  in  1754. 

-During  the  French  and  Intiian  wars  small  bodies  of  soldiers 
wci'e  often  employed  to  "  watch  and  ward  "  the  frontieis,  and 
protect  their  defenceless  communities  from  the  barbarous  assaults 
of  Indians,  turned  upon  them  from  St.  Francis  and  Crown  Point. 
Robert  Rogers  had  in  him  just  the  stuff  required  in  such  a  soldier. 
We  shall  not,  therefore,  be  surprised  to  find  him  on  scouting 
duty  in  the  Merrimack  Valley,  under  Captain  Ladd,  as  early  as 
1746,  whi:n  he  was  but  nineteen  years  of  age  ;  and,  three  years 
later,  engaged  in  the  same  service,  under  Captain  Ebenezer 
Eastman,  of  Pennycook.  Six  years  afterwards,  in  1753,  the  mus- 
ter rolls  show  him  to  have  been  a  member  of  Captain  John  Goff's 
company,  and  doing  like  service.  Such  was  the  training  of  a 
self-reliant  mind  and  a  hardy  physique  for  the  ranging  service, 
in  which  they  were  soon  to  be  employed. 

In  1749,  as  Londonderry  became  filled  to  overflowing  u'ith  re- 
peated immigrations  from  the  North  of  Ireland,  James  Rogers, 
the  father  of  Robert,  a  proprietor,  and  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
the  township,  removed  therefrom  to  the  woods  of  Dunbarton, 
and  settled  anew  in  a  section  named  Montelony,  from  an  Irish 
jilace  in  wliich  he  had  once  lived.  This  was  before  the  settle- 
ment of  the  township,  when  its  territory  existed  as  an  unsepa- 
rated  part  only  of  the  domain.  He  may,  quite  likely,  have  been 
attracted  hither  by  an  extensive  beaver  meadow  or  pond,  which 
would,  with  a  little  improvement,  afford  grass  for  his  cattle, 
while  he  was  engaged  in  clearing  the  rich  uplands  which  sur- 
rounded it. 

Six  years  only  after  his  removal  (1755),  he  was  unintention- 
ally shot  by  a  neighbor  whom  he  was  going  to  visit  ;  the  latter 
mistaking  him  for  a  bear,  as  he  indistinctly  saw  him  passing 
through  the  woods. 

•J.  H.  Huiuinglon.  =  J.  i',.  Walker. 


230  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l755 

The  thirteen  American  Colonies  had,  at  that  time,  all  told,  of 
both  white  and  black,  a  population  of  about  one  million  and  a 
half  of  souls  (1,425,000).  The  French  people  of  Canada  num- 
bered less  than  one  hundred  thousand. 

The  respective  claims  to  the  central  part  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can continent  by  England  and  France  were  conflicting  and  ir- 
reconcilable. The  former,  by  right  of  discovery,  claimed  all 
the  territory  upon  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Newfoundland  to 
Florida,  and  by  virtue  of  numerous  grants  the  right  to  all  west 
of  this  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  latter,  by  right  of  occupation 
and  exploration,  claimed  Canada,  a  portion  of  New  England  and 
New  York,  and  the  basins  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  to- 
gether with  all  the  territory  upon  the  streams  tributary  to  these, 
or  a  large  part  of  the  indefinite  West. 

To  maintain  her  claims  France  had  erected  a  cordon  of  forts 
extending  diagonally  across  the  continent  from  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  If  one  will  follow,  in 
thought,  a  line  starting  at  Louisburg,  and  thence  running  up 
this  great  river  to  Quebec  and  Montreal,  and  thence  up  Lake 
Champlain  to  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga,  and  on  westward 
and  south-westward  to  Frontenac,  Niagara,  and  Detroit,  and 
thence  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans,  he  will 
trace  the  line  across  which  the  two  nations  looked  in  defiance 
at  each  other,  and  instantaneously  see  that  the  claims  of  France 
were  inadmissible,  and  that  another  war  was  inevitable.  It 
mattered  little  that  of  the  forty-five  years  immediately  preced- 
ing the  treaty  of  Aix  La  Chapelle,  fourteen,  or  one-third  of  the 
whole  number,  had  been  years  of  war  between  these  two  neigh- 
bors. They  were  now,  after  a  peace  of  only  half  a  dozen  years,  as 
ready  for  a  fresh  contest  as  if  they  were  to  meet  for  the  first 
time  upon  the  battle  field.  In  fact,  another  conflict  was  unavoid- 
able ;  a  conflict  of  the  Teuton  with  the  Gaul ;  of  mediaevalism 
with  daylight  ;  of  conservatism  with  progress. 

Hostilities  may  be  said  to  have  been  commenced  by  the  French, 
when,  on  the  i8th  day  of  April,  1754,  they  dispossessed  the 
Ohio  company  of  the  fort  which  they  were  erecting  at  the  forks 
of  the  Ohio  river,  afterwards  named  Fort  Du  Ouesne. 


1755]  KOVAL    l'KU\I\CE.  231 

The  plan  of  a  Colonial  Confederation,  formed  at  the  Albany 
convention  in  July  of  that  year,  having  failed  of  acceptance 
by  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies  both,  the  home  govern- 
ment was  forced  to  meet  the  exigency  by  the  use  of  British 
troops,  aided  by  such  others  as  the  several  Provinces  were  will- 
ing to  furnish. 

The  campaign  of  the  next  year  (1755)  embraced  : 

1st.  An  expedition,  under  General  Braddock,  for  the  capture 
of  Fort  Du  Ouesne. 

2nd.  A  second,  under  General  Shirley,  for  the  reduction  of 
Fort  Niagara,  which  was  not  prosecuted. 

3rd.  A  third,  under  Colonel  Moncton,  against  the  French 
settlements  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  resulting  in  the  capture  and 
deportation  of  the  Acadians. 

4th.  A  fourth,  under  General  William  Johnson,  against 
Crown  Point,  a  strong  fortification,  erected  by  the  French,  in 
the  very  heart  of  New  England  and  New  York,  whence  innum- 
erable bands  of  Indians  had  been  dispatched  by  the  French  to 
murder  the  defenceless  dwellers  upon  the  English  frontiers,  par- 
ticularly those  of  New  Hampshire,  to  destroy  their  cattle  and  to 
burn  their  buildings  and  other  property. 

To  the  army  of  this  latter  expedition  New  Hampshire  contri- 
buted, in  the  early  part  of  this  year,  a  regiment  of  ten  compa- 
nies, the  first  being  a  company  of  Rangers,  whose  captain  was 
Robert  Rogers,  and  whose  second  lieutenant  was  John  Stark. 

But  a  few  words  just  here  in  explanation  of  the  character  of 
this  ranging  branch  of  the  English  army.  It  was  a  product  of 
existing  necessities  in  the  military  service  of  that  time.  Most 
of  the  country  was  covered  with  primeval  forests  and  military 
operations  were  largely  prosecuted  in  the  woods  or  in  limited 
clearings.  The  former  were  continually  infested  with  Indians, 
lying  in  ambush  for  the  perpetration  of  any  mischief  for  which 
they  might  have  op[)ortunity. 

It  became  necessary,  therefore,  in  scouring  the  forest  to  drive 
these  miscreants  back  to  their  lairs,  as  well  as  in  making  military 
reconnoissances,  to  have  a  class  of  soldiers  acquainted  with  In- 
dian life  and  warfare  ;    prepared,  not  only  to  meet  the  Indian  on 


232  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7SS 

his  own  ground,  but  to  fight  him  in  his  own  fashion.  The  Brit- 
ish regular  was  good  for  nothing  at  such  work.  If  sent  into 
the  woods  he  was  quite  sure  either  not  to  return  at  all,  or  to 
come  back  without  his  scalp.  And  the  ordinary  provincial  was 
not  very  much  better.  From  this  necessity,  therefore,  was 
evolved  the  "  Ranger." 

He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  constitution,  inured  to  the  hard- 
ships of  forest  life.  He  was  capable  of  long  marches,  day  after 
day,  upon  scant  rations,  refreshed  by  short  intervals  of  sleep 
while  rolled  in  his  blanket  upon  a  pile  of  boughs,  with  no  other 
shelter  but  the  sky.  He  knew  the  trails  of  the  Indians,  as  well 
as  their  ordinary  haunts  and  likeliest  places  of  ambush.  He 
knew,  also,  all*  the  courses  of  the  streams  and  the  carrying 
places  between  them.  He  understood  Indian  wiles  and  warfare, 
and  was  prepared  to  meet  them. 

Stand  such  a  man  in  a  pair  of  stout  shoes  or  moccasins  ;  cover 
his  lower  limbs  with  leggins  and  coarse  small  clothes  ;  give  him 
a  close-fitting  jacket  and  a  warm  cap  ;  stick  a  small  hatchet  in 
his  belt  ;  hang  a  good-sized  powder-horn  by  his  side,  and  upon 
his  back  buckle  a  blanket  and  a  knapsack  stuffed  with  a  moder- 
ate supply  of  bread  and  raw  salt  pork  ;  to  these  furnishings  add 
a  good-sized  hunting-knife,  a  trusty  musket  and  a  small  flask  of 
spirits,  and  you  have  an  average  New  Hampshire  Ranger  of  the 
Seven  Years'  War,  ready  for  skirmish  or  pitched  battle  ;  or,  for 
the  more  common  duty  of  reconnoitering  the  enemy's  force  and 
movements,  of  capturing  his  scouts  and  provision  trains,  and 
getting  now  and  then  a  prisoner,  from  whom  all  information 
possible  would  be  extorted  ;  and,  in  short,  for  annoying  the 
French  and  Indian  foe  in  every  possible  way. 

If  you  will  add  three  or  four  inches  to  the  average  height  of 
such  a  soldier,  give  him  consummate  courage,  coolness,  readi- 
ness of  resource  in  extremities,  together  with  intuitive  knowl- 
edge of  the  enemy's  wiles,  supplemented  with  a  passable 
knowledge  of  French  and  Indian  speech,  you  will  have  a  toler- 
able portrait  of  Captain  Robert  Rogers  at  the  beginning  of  our 
Seven  Years'  War. 

He  received  his  first  captain's    commission  in  the  early  part 


1755]  KOVAI.    I'KOVIXCE. 


=^u 


of  1755,  and  was  employed  by  tlic  New  Hampshire  jTjovernmeiit 
in  building  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ammonoosue  river  and 
in  guarding  its  Northern  and  Western  frontiers  until  July,  when 
he  was  ordered  to  Albany  to  join  the  army  of  Major-Genera! 
Johnson.  His  first  service  there  was  in  furnishing  escort,  with 
a  company  of  one  hundred  men,  to  a  {provision  train  fron"v 
Albany  to  Fort  Edward.  From  this  latter  point  he  was  after- 
wards repeatedly  despatched,  with  smaller  bodies  of  men,  u\> 
the  Hudson  river,  and  down  Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain 
to  reconnoiter  the  French  forts.  Some  of  these  expeditions- 
extended  as  far  north  as  Crown  Point  and  were  enlivened  with 
sharp  skirmishes.  He  was  absent  up  the  Hudson  upon  one  of 
these  when  the  French  were  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Lake 
George  and  Baron  Dieskan  was  made  i:)risoner. 

This  year  of  1755  was  one  of  the  most  eventful  of  the  early 
American  history.  It  marks  the  fatal  defeat  of  the  disciplined 
little  army  of  the  intrepid  but  despotic  General  Braddock,  who 
said  that  the  savages  might  be  formidable  to  raw  American 
militia,  but  could  never  make  any  impression  uj^on  the  King's 
i"egulars  ;  but  wlio,  had  he  survived  the  fight,  would  have  seen 
the  remnants  of  his  boasted  regulars  saved  from  utter  annihila- 
tion by  the  bravery  of  these  same  American  raw  militia,  skil- 
fully and  valorously  handled  by  the  young  American  militia 
colonel,  George  Washington. 

^Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  "  Seven  Years'  War  "  John  Stark 
was  commissioned  by  the  governor  as  second  lieutenant  of 
Rogers'  company  of  Rangers,  attached  to  Blanchard's  regiment. 
Captain  Rogers  mustered  a  compau)'  of  rugged  foresters,  every 
man  of  whom,  as  a  hunter,  could  liit  the  size  of  a  dollar  at  a  hun- 
(hxd  yards  distance  ;  could  follow  the  ti-ail  of  man  or  beast  ;  endure 
the  fatigue  of  long  marches,  the  pangs  of  hunger,  and  the  cold 
of  winter  nights,  often  passed  without  fire,  shelter,  or  covering- 
other  than  their  common  clothing,  a  blanket,  perhaps  a  bear- 
skin, and  the  boughs  of  the  pine  or  hemlock.  Their  knowledge 
of  Indian  character,  customs,  and  manners  was  accurate.  They 
were   principally  recruited    in   the   vicinity  of   Amoskeag  falls, 

>  C.eorge  Stark. 


2^4  IllSTORV    OF    XKW     HAMPSHIRE.  [^755 

where  Rogers,  a  resident  of  the  neighboring  town  of  Dunbar- 
ton,  which  then  extended  to  the  Merrimack  river,  was  accus- 
tomed to  meet  them  at  the  annual  fishing  season.  They  were 
Tnen  who  could  face  with  equal  resolution  the  savage  animals, 
•or  the  still  more  savage  Indians  of  their  native  woods,  and 
whose  courage  and  fidelity  were  undoubted. 

It  was  early  in  the  summer  of  this  stirring  year  of  1755  that 
Rogers'  company  of  Rangers  received  orders  to  march 
-through  the  pathless  forests  to  join  their  regiment  at  Fort 
Edward,  the  head-quarters  of  General  Johnson's  army,  which 
place  they  reached  early  in  August,  a  short  time  before  the 
desperate  attack  made  on  Johnson  by  the  French  and  Indians 
at  the  south  end  of  Lake  George,  near  Bloody  pond,  so  named 
from  the  slaughter  on  this  occasion. 

1  In  the  spring-  of  1755,  when  an  expedition  was  being  fitted 
out  to  attack  the  French  at  Crown  Point,  so  little  was  known  of 
the  country  between  the  Merrimack  and  Lake  Champlain,  it 
was  supposed  that  the  Upper  Coos  Meadows  were  upon  the 
direct  route  from  Salisbury  Fort  (Franklin)  to  Crown  Point, 
hence  Governor  Wentworth  directed  Colonel  Blanchard  to  stop 
when  on  his  march  and  build  a  fort  at  these  meadows.  While 
he  was  delayed  in  making  his  preparations  for  the  march,  Captain 
Robert  Rogers,  with  his  company  of  Rangers  and  detachments 
from  other  companies,  were  sent  forward  to  build  a  fort.  It  was 
located  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Co.nnecticut,  just  south  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Upper  Ammonoosuc,  and  it  was  called  Fort  Went- 
worth, in  honor  of  the  governor.  When  completed,  the  com- 
mand continued  their  march  to  Crown  Point. 

"In  the  spring  of  1755,  Jona.  Lovewell  was  appointed  by  the 
General  Court  of  New  Hampshire  to  warn  a  town  meeting  in 
Bow,  22d  of  April,  for  the  choice  of  officers,  &c.,  which  he  ac- 
cordingly did,  and  subsequently  made  return  that  he  warned  the 
meeting  and  attended  as  moderator,  at  the  place  and  time 
appointed  ;  'but  tJuxt  there  luas  but  o)ie  iiiJiabitant  of  said  Bow 
iJiat  attended."  This  apparent  disregard  of  their  authority  seems 
to  have  been  resented  by  the  government  ;  for,  at  the  very  next 

■   J.   H.    Huntington. 


1755]  KOVAI.     I'I<()\INCK.  235 

session,  thcv  passed  what  was  called  the  '  Wnw  Act,'  for  assess- 
in;;-  and  collecting  taxes  in  the  refractory  town  ;  in  which  they 
set  forth  '  that  in  contempt  of  the  law.  and  in  defiance  of  the 
government,  the  said  town  of  Bow  refused  to  meet  at  the  time 
and  place  appointed,'  &c.  As  a  remedy  for  this  it  was  enacted 
*  That  Ezra  Carter  and  Moses  I'oster,  Ksqs.,  anil  John  Chand- 
ler, gentlemen,  all  of  said  Bow- — he  assessors  t(j  assess  the  polls 
ami  estates  within  said  town  of  I^ow,  *  *  the  sum  oi  Jivr 
Juiiidtrd  and  eighty  pounds  and  sixteen  shillings,  new  tenor  bills 
of  public  credit.'  Not  having  complied  with  the  act,  they  were 
Joonied,  and  feeling  themselves  oppressed,  petitioned  for  for- 
bearance and  a  redress  of  grievances."  ' 

While  the  inhabitants  of  Rumford  wcje  thus  complaining  of 
grievances  and  struggling  with  their  difficulties,  the  prcjprietors 
of  How  proper  became  sensible  that  the  controversy  in  which 
they  were  involved  was  detrimental  to  their  interest,  and,  to 
"  save  the  great  expense  which  inevitably  attends  contention," 
they  proposed  terms  of  "accommodation  and  agreement,"  having 
respect,  however,  chiefly  to  settlers  of  Suncook,  which  resulted, 
in  1759,  in  an  act  for  incorporating  a  parish,  partly  within  the 
places  known  by  the  name  of  Suncook  and  Back-street,  h\  the 
name  of  Pembroke. 

The  Provincial  government  of  New  Hampshire  never  recog- 
nized the  existence  of  the  township  of  Suncook.  That  part-  of 
Allenstown  lying  north  of  the  Suncook  river  was  known  as  early 
as  the  French  and  Indian  war  as  Buck-street.  Accordine:  to 
Holland's  map  of  New  Hampshire,  published  in  England  jusl 
after  the  revolution,  there  was  a  gore  of  land  between  Bow  and 
Allenstown  ungranted  by  the  New  Hampshire  proprietors. 
This  gore  can  be  traced  in  Carrigain's  map,  published  in  1816, 
in  Walling's  map  of  ^Merrimack  county,  published  in  ICS58,  and 
in  the  map  accompanying"  Hitchcock's  Geological  Report,  pub- 
lished in  1826.  The  place  called  Suncook  in  the  charter  from 
New  Hampshire  evidently  means  to  include  this  ungranted  gore, 
as  it  had  no  other  name  by  which  it  could  be  briefly  designated. 

Upon  the  decease  of  General  Braddock,  Governor  Shirley  suc- 
ceeded to  the  chief  command   of  the   P'nglish   forces  in   North 


22,6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMI'SIIIKE.  [^75^ 

America,  and  on  the  15th  of  March,  1756,  Rogers  received  orders 
from  him  to  repair  to  Boston  for  a  personal  conference.  He 
reached  Boston  on  the  23d  of  the  same  month,  and  as  the  result 
of  his  intendevv  with  the  governor  was  commissioned  to  recruit  an 
independent  corps  of  Rangers,  to  consist  of  sixty  privates,  an 
ensign,  a  lieutenant,  and  a  captain.  The  corps  was  to  be 
raised  immediately.  None  were  to  be  enlisted  but  "such  as 
were  accustomed  to  travelling  and  hunting,  and  in  whose  cour- 
age and  fidelity  the  most  implicit  confidence  cculd  be  placed." 
They  were,  moreover,  "  to  be  subject  to  military  discipline  and 
the  articles  of  war."  The  rendezvous  was  appointed  at  Albany, 
"  whence  to  proceed  with  whale-boats  to  Lake  George,  and 
from  time  to  time  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  distress  the 
French  and  their  allies  by  sacking,  burning,  and  destroying 
their  houses,  barns,  barracks,  canoes,  batteaux,  etc.,  and  by 
killing  their  cattle  of  every  kind,  and  at  all  times  to  endeavor  to 
waylay,  attack,  and  destroy  their  convoys  of  provision,  by  land 
and  by  water,  where  they  could  be  found." 

Within  thirty  days  from  the  issuance  of  this  commission,  the 
enlistment  of  the  new  corps  of  Rangers  was  complete,  many  of 
his  old  company  re-enlisting,  and  Rogers  again  selected  John 
Stark  for  his  ensign,  or  second  lieutenant.  Although  no  impor- 
tant military  operations  were  attempted  during  this  campaign, 
the  Rangers  were  constantly  on  foot,  watching  the  motions  of 
the  enemy  at  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga,  cutting  off  their 
convoys  of  supplies,  and  often  making  prisoners  of  sentinels  at 
their  posts.^ 

The  efficiency  of  the  campaign  of  the  next  year  (1756),  which 
contemplated  the  taking  of  Crown  Point,  Niagara  and  Fort  Du 
Quesne,  was  seriously  impaired  by  the  repeated  changes  of 
Commander-in-Chief ;  Major  General  Shirley  being  superseded 
in  June  by  General  Abercrombie,  while  he,  about  a  month  latei', 
yielded  the  command  to  the  inefficient  Lord  Loudon.  The 
only  occurrences  of  particular  note  during  this  campaign  were 
the  capture  of  our  forts  at  Oswego  by  General  Montcalm  and 
the  formal  declarations  of  war  by  the  two  belligerents. 

■  J.  1;.  W.tlkcr. 


1756]  UOVAI      PROVINCE.  237 

Rogers  and  his  nu-n  were  stationed  at  Fort  William  Henry, 
and  made  repeated  visits  to  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  to 
ascertain  the  power  of  the  enemy,  and  to  annoy  him  as  they 
had  opportunity.  They  went  down  Lake  George,  sometimes  by 
land  upon  its  shores,  and  sometimes  by  water  and  in  boats.  In 
the  winter  their  land  marches  were  frequently  upon  snow-shoes, 
and  their  boats  were  exchanged  for  skates.  On  such  occasions 
each  Ranger  was  generally  his  o  -n  commissary,  and  carried  his 
own  supplies. 

In  his  journal  for  this  year  (1756)  Rogers  notes  thirteen  of 
these  expeditions  as  worthy  of  record.  The  first  was  down 
Lake  George  on  the  ice,  in  January,  with  seventeen  men, 
resulting  in  the  capture  of  two  prisoners,  and  two  sledges  laden 
with  provisions. 

The  second  was  made  in  February,  with  a  party  of  fifty  men, 
to  ascertain  the  strength  and  operations  of  the  French  at  Crown 
Point.  Having  captured  one  prisoner  at  a  little  village  near  by 
the  fort,  they  were  discovered  and  obliged  to  retire  before  the 
sallying  troops  of  the  garrison.  With  very  marked  sangfroid 
he  closes  his  account  of  this  reconnoissance  by  saying  :  "  We 
employed  ourselves  while  we  dared  stay  in  setting  fire  to  the 
houses  and  barns  in  the  village,  with  which  were  consumed  large 
quantities  of  wheat,  and  other  grain  ;  we  also  killed  about  fifty 
cattle  and  then  retired,  leaving  the  whole  village  in  flames." 

There  often  appears  a  ludicrous  kind  of  honesty  in  the  simple 
narratives  of  this  journal.  He  occasionally  seized  certain  stores 
of  the  enemy  which  a  Ranger  could  destroy  only  with  regret. 
He  naively  remarks,  in  narrating  the  capture  in  June,  of  this 
same  year,  of  two  lighters  upon  Lake  Champlam,  manned  by 
twelve  men,  four  of  whom  they  killed  :  "  We  sunk  and  destroved 
their  vessels  and  cargoes,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  wheat  and 
flour,  wine  and  brandy  ;  some  few  casks  of  the  latter  we  care- 
fully concealed." 

His  commands  on  such  occasions  varied  greatly  in  numbers, 
according  to  the  exigency  of  the  service,  all  the  way  from  a 
squad  of  ten  men  to  two  whole  companies  ;  and  the  excursions 
just  mentioned  afford  fair  specimens  of  the  work  done  by  the 
Rangers  under  Rogers  this  year. 


238  HISTORY    OK    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  \^7S^ 

But  Captain  Rogers  had  qualities  of  a  higher  order,  which 
commended  him  to  his  superiors.  His  capacity  as  a  Ranger 
commander  had  attracted  the  notice  of  the  officers  on  duty  at 
Lake  George.  The  importance  of  this  branch  of  the  service 
had  also  become  apparent,  and  we  shall  not  be  surprised  t& 
learn  that  he  was  commissioned  anew  as  captain  of  an  inde- 
pendent company  of  Rangers,  to  be  paid  by  the  King.  This 
company  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  famous  corps  since  known 
as  "  Rogers'   Rangers." 

In  July  another  company  was  raised,  and  again  in  December 
two  more,  thereby  increasing  the  Ranger  corps  to  four  compar 
nies.  To  anticipate,  in  a  little  more  than  a  year  this  was  far- 
ther enlarged  by  the  addition  of  five  more,  and  Captain  Rogers 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Major  of  Rangers,  becoming  thus 
the  commander  of  the  whole  corps. 

The  character  of  the  service  expected  of  this  branch  of  the 
army  was  set  forth  in  Major-General  Shirley's  orders  to  its  com- 
mander in  1756,  as  follows,  viz.  :  "  From  time  to  time,  to  use 
your  best  endeavors  to  distress  the  French  and  allies  by  sack- 
ing, burning,  and  destroying  their  houses,  barns,  barracks, 
canoes,  and  battoes,  and  by  killing  their  cattle  of  every  kind  ; 
and  at  all  times  to  endeavor  to  way-lay,  attack  and  destroy  their 
convoys  of  provisions  by  land  and  water  in  any  part  of  the  coun- 
try where  he  could  find  them."^ 

The  campaign  of  1757  contemplated  only  the  capture  of 
Louisburg.  To  the  requisite  preparations  Lord  Loudon  di- 
rected all  his  energies.  Having  collected  all  the  troops  which 
could  be  spared  for  that  purpose,  he  sailed  for  Halifax  on  the 
twentieth  of  June,  with  six  thousand  soldiers,  among  them  being 
four  companies  of  Rangers  under  the  command  of  Major 
Rogers.  Upon  arriving  in  Halifax  his  army  was  augmented  by 
the  addition  of  five  thousand  regulars  and  a  powerful  naval 
armament.  We  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  consider 
the  conduct  of  Lord  Loudon  on  this  occasion  farther  than  to 
say  that  his  cowardice  and  imbecility  seem  wonderful.  Find- 
ing that,  in  all  probability,  Louisburg  could  not  be  taken  with- 

'  J.  B.  Walker. 


1756]  KOVAL  HKOVINCE.  239 

out  some  one  getting  hurt,  he  returned  to  New  York  without 
striking  a  blow.  If  about  this  time  oiu"  heroic  commander  of 
the  Rangers  used  some  strong  hinguage  far  from  sacred,  it  will 
become  us  to  remember  "  Zeke  Webster  "  and  think  as  chari- 
tably of  his  patriotic  expletives  "as  wc  can."  He  returned  to 
New  York  three  weeks  after  the  surrender  of  Fort  William 
Henry,  where,  with  his  Rangers,  he  might  have  done  somethings 
at  least,  to  prevent  the  horrible  massacre  which  has  tarnished 
the  fair  fame  of  Montcalm  indelibly. 

England  and  America  both  were  humbled  in  the  dust  by  the 
events  of  1757  and  1758.  Failure,  due  to  tiie  want  of  suffici- 
ent resources  is  severe,  but  how  utterly  insufferable  when, 
with  abundant  means,  incompetency  to  use  them  brings  defeat. 
Still,  we  are  under  greater  obligation  to  Lord  Loudon  than 
we  are  wont  to  think.  His  imbecility  helped  rouse  the  British 
nation  and  recall  William  Pitt  to  power,  whose  vigor  of  pur- 
pose animated  anew  the  people  of  other  countries  and  prom- 
ised an  early  termination  of  French  dominion  in  America.  ^ 

Sandown  was  incorporated  in  1756. 

^Rev.  John  Houston,  the  first  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  Bedford,  N.  H.,  was  born  in  Londonderry,  N.  H., 
in  1723.  His  parents  were  emigrants  from  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, and  known  as  Scotch-Irish. 

He  was  educated  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  graduating  in  1753. 
He  studied  divinity  in  his  native  town  with  the  Rev.  David 
McGregor,  pastor  of  the  church  in  the  east  parish  of  that  town. 

Mr.  Houston  received  his  call  to  Bedford  in  August,  1756, 
and  was  ordained  in  September,  1757.  His  "stipend,"  as  it 
was  called,  was  to  be  equal  to  forty  i)ounds  sterling,  but  there 
was  a  provision  by  which  the  town,  at  its  annual  m.eeting,  might 
vote  to  dispense  with  any  number  of  Sabbaths  which  they 
chose,  and  the  payment  for  those  Sabbaths  might  be  taken  from 
the  salary. 

By  virtue  of  being  the  first  settled  minister  in  town,  Mr. 
Houston  was  entitled  to  certain  lands  reserved  for  that  purpose 
in  the  settlement  of   the  town.     These  he  received  and   they 

'  I.  }',.  Walker.  ^Rev.  C.  W.  Wallace 


240  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l756 

added  much  to  his  small  salary.  He  was  also  well-reputed  for 
classical  and  theological  learning",  and  his  settlement  gave  pro- 
mise of  usefulness  and  happiness. 

From  all  we  can  learn  he  was  thus  useful  and  happy  for  a 
number  of  years.  Then  commenced  the  dark  and  stormy 
period  in  the  history  of  our  country.  Bedford  was  especially 
patriotic.  Every  man  in  town,  over  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  except  the  minister,  signed  the  following  paper  :"  We  do 
hereby  solemnly  engage  and  promise  that  we  will,  to  the  utmost 
of  our  power,  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  fortunes,  with  arms 
oppose  the  hostile  proceedings  of  the  British  fleets  and  armies 
against  the  united  American  colonies."  Mr.  Houston  gave  the 
following  reasons  for  refusing  to  sign  this  declaration  : 

Firstly,  because  he  did  not  apprehend  that  the  honorable 
committee  meant  that  ministers  should  take  up  arms,  as  being 
inconsistent  with  their  ministerial  charge.  Secondly,  because 
he  was  already  confined  to  the  county  of  Hillsborough  ;  there- 
fore he  thinks  he  ought  to  be  set  at  liberty  before  he  should 
sign  the  said  obligation.  Thirdly,  because  there  are  three  men 
belonging  to  his  family  already  enlisted  in  the  Continental 
army. 

These  reasons  were  not  regarded  as  sufficient,  so.  May  16, 
1775,  the  following  article  is  found  in  a  warrant  for  town  meet- 
ing :  "  To  see  what  method  the  town  will  take  relating  to  Rev'd 
John  Houston  in  these  troublesome  times,  as  we  apprehend  his 
praying  and  preaching  to  be  calculated  to  intimidate  the  minds 
of  his  hearers,  and  to  weaken  their  hands  in  defense  of  their 
just  rights  and  liberties,  as  there  seems  a  plan  to  be  laid  by 
Parliament  to  destroy  both." 

We  hear  of  no  action  on  this  article  until  June  15,  1775, 
when  a  vote  was  unanimously  passed  in  which  it  was  stated  : 
"  Therefore,  we  think  it  not  our  duty,  as  men  or  Christians,  to 
have  him  preach  any  longer  for  us  as  our  minister." 

Thus  closed  the  ministry  of  Rev.  John  Houston  to  the  people 
of  Bedford.  From  all  the  light  which  reaches  us  through  the 
dimness  of  an  hundred  years,  we  have  no  doubt  that  both  par- 
ties   were    truly    sincere.     Judged,    however,     by    subsequent 


1756]  ROVAI,    I'KOVINCE.  24I 

events,  it  is  evident  that  the  people  were  right  and  the  minister 
wrong.  That  is,  they  were  right  in  their  patriotism,  and  he  was 
wrong  in  his  loyalty  to  the  King.  Still  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  the  removal  of  Mr.  Houston  from  his  pastoral  office  in  Bed- 
ford was  followed  by  a  long  period  of  religious  declension. 

^  In  the  early  part  of  the  winter  of  1756-57,  the  English 
and  French  armies,  under  the  respective  commands  of  Lord 
Loudon  and  Gen.  Montcalm,  confronting  each  other  in  the 
vicinity  of  Lake  George,  retired  to  winter  quarters  ;  the  main 
body  of  the  English  regulars  falling  back  on  Albany  and  New 
York  city,  the  provincial  soldiers  dismissed  and  sent  to  their 
homes,  and  the  French  falling  back  to  Montreal.  Each  gen- 
eral, however,  left  his  frontier  posts  well  garrisoned,  to  be  held 
as  the  base  of  further  military  operations  the  following  season  ; 
the  force  left  by  the  French  at  their  forts  about  Ticonderoga 
and  Crown  Point,  at  the  northerly  end  of  Lake  George,  being 
about  1 ,200  men,  including  Indians,  and  the  English  force  at 
Fort  Edward  and  Fort  William  Henry,  near  the  southerly  end 
of  the  lake,  consisting  mainly  of  four  companies  of  Rangers, 
two  companies  at  each  fort.  The  company  of  Lieutenant  Stark 
was  posted  at  Fort  Edward.  All  through  the  winter  the 
Rangers  patrolled  the  lake,  and  kept  a  vigilant  outlook  upon  the 
French  garrisons. 

In  the  middle  of  this  winter  a  desperate  battle  was  fought  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  Ticonderoga,  which,  for  numbers 
engaged,  was  one  of  the  most  bloody  of  the  war,  and  in  which 
Lieutenant  John  Stark  won  his  commission  as  captain. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  1757,  Captain  Rogers,  with  Lieu- 
tenant Stark  and  Ensign  Page  with  fifty  Rangers,  left  Fort 
Edward  to  reconnoitre,  in  more  than  usual  force,  the  situation 
and  condition  of  the  enemy  at  the  northerly  end  of  the  lake. 
The  snow  was  four  feet  deep  on  a  level.  They  halted  at  Fort 
William  Henry  one  day  to  secure  provisions  and  snow-shoes, 
and  on  the  17th,  being  reinforced  by  Captain  Spikeman, 
Lieutenant    Kennedy,    and  Ensigns  Brewer  and  Rogers,  with 

*  Gen.  George  Stark. 


242  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/SZ 

about  thirty  Rangers,  they  started  down  Lake  George  on  the 
ice,  and  at  night  encamped  on  the  east  side  of  the  first 
narrows. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i8th  some  ot  the  men  who  had  been 
overcome  by  the  severe  exertions  of  the  previous  day's  march 
were  sent  back,  thus  reducing  the  effective  force  to  seventy- 
four  men,  officers  included.  This  day  they  proceeded  twelve 
miles  farther  down  the  lake,  and  encamped  on  the  west  shore. 
On  the  19th,  after  proceeding  three  miles  farther  on  the  lake, 
they  took  to  the  west  shore,  put  on  their  snow-shoes,  and 
travelled  eight  miles  to  the  north-west,  and  encamped  three 
miles  from  the  lake.  On  the  20th  they  travelled  over  the  snow 
all  day  to  the  north-east,  and  encamped  three  miles  from  the 
west  shore  of  Lake  Champlain,  half-way  between  Ticonderoga 
and  Crown  Point.  The  next  day,  January  21st,  being  now  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  enemy's  country,  they  proceeded  to  watch 
the  passage  of  parties  on  Lake  Champlain,  going  and  coming 
between  the  forts,  and  soon  discovered  a  convoy  of  ten  sleds 
passing  down  the  lake  from  Ticonderoga  to  Crown  Point. 
Lieutenant  Stark  was  ordered,  with  twenty  men,  to  capture  the 
leading  sled,  while  the  main  body  attempted  to  prevent  the 
others  from  going  back.  They  succeeded  in  taking  seven 
prisoners,  six  horses,  and  three  sleds.  The  remainder  of  the 
sleds  made  good  their  escape,  and  gave  the  alarm  at  the  fort. 
Valuable  information  was  obtained  from  these  captives,  and  it 
was  also  learned  that  the  French  garrisons  had  been  recently 
considerably  reinforced,  and  were  on  the  alert  to  cut  off  all 
English  scouting  parties.  The  heavy  French  garrison  at 
Ticonderoga  being  now  informed  by  the  fugitives  of  this  auda- 
cious reconnaissance  in  their  immediate  vicinity,  Rogers  wisely 
decided  to  retire  with  all  expedition.  But  he  unwisely  departed 
from  the  usual  custom  of  the  Rangers  to  return  by  a  different 
route  from  that  on  which  they  came,  and,  in  defiance  of  the 
counsels  of  his  officers,  retreated    on  his  tracks. 

The  day  was  rainy.  On  reaching  the  fires  that  they  had  kin- 
dled and  camped  by  the  night  before,  the  Rangers  halted  to  dry 
their  guns  and  otherwise  prepare  for  the  expected  conflict.     It 


1757]  KOVAT    PRovixci:.  243 

was  past  noon  when  the  little  battalion  had  completed  their  prep- 
arations. Forming  in  single  file,  with  Captain  Rogers  in  front, 
Captain  Spikeman  in  the  centre,  and  Lieutenant  Stark  in  the  rear, 
supported  by  their  snow-shoes  on  the  deep  snow,  they  silently 
took  up  their  homeward  march.  Their  path  lay  over  hilly 
ground  and  through  thick  woods,  from  whose  dark  depths  they 
had  reason  to  believe  they  were  watched  by  the  savage  scouts 
of  the  enemy  ;  a  belief  but  too  soon  verified,  for  on  rising  the 
brow  of  the  hill,  not  a  mile  from  the  fires  of  their  late  camp, 
they  received  a  volley  of  two  hundred  bullets,  fired  from  the 
guns  of  the  unseen  enemy  in  ambush,  at  distances  from  five  to 
thirty  yards  away.  Rogers  was  wounded  in  the  head,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  men  w^ere  killed  or  wounded  by  the  volley  ;  but 
fortunately  the  marksmanship  of  the  enemy  was,  in  this  instance, 
faulty,  and  the  effect  comparatively  slight.  The  habitual  tactics 
of  the  Rangers, —  to  scatter  when  suddenly  attacked  by  a  supe- 
rior force,  and  to  rally  again  upon  some  supporting  point, —  now 
stood  them  in  hand.  They  had  been  under  fire  too  many  times 
to  be  thrown  into  a  panic.  Each  man  was  for  the  time  being 
his  own  commander.  Each  took  his  own  way  to  the  ra, 
point,  exchanging  shots  with  the  enemy  as  he  ran.  That  rally- 
ing point  was  John  Stark,  with  his  rear  guard.  Gathering 
around  him,  they  awaited  their  pursuers.  The  surrounding 
trees  of  the  thick  forest  were  of  large  size.  Each  Ranger  en- 
deavored to  so  place  himself  that  a  tree  covered  him  partially 
from  the  shots  of  the  enemy,  and  thus  they  awaited  the  second 
onset.  No  soldiers  ever  had  more  at  stake.  The  French  offi- 
cials at  Montreal  paid  $11  each  for  English  scalps,  and  $55  each 
for  English  prisoners  —  sufficient  inducement  to  e.xcite  the 
savage  cupidity  of  their  Indian  allies  into  desperate  efforts  to 
kill  or  capture  ;  and  oftentimes  the  alternative  fate  of  a  prisoner 
was  torture  at  the  stake.  The  backwoodsman  learned  to  give 
no  quarter,  and  to  expect  none,  in  fighting  this  savage  foe. 

All  through  the  afternoon  of  this  21st  of  January,  1757,  this 
woods  fight  raged.  The  Ranger  measured  carefully  his  charge 
of  powder,  rammed  home  the  ball  in  a  greased  patch,  and  woe  to 
the  enemy  who  exposed  his  body  or  limbs  to  these  expert  marks- 


244  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l757 

men.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  enemy  went  into  that  day's 
fio-ht,  and  only  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  came  out  of  it  alive, 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  having  been  killed  on  the  spot  or  died 
of  wounds.  The  Rangers  lost  fourteen  killed,  six  wounded,  and 
six  taken  prisoners. 

As  darkness  came  on,  the  surviving  French  and  Indian  force, 
although  still  outnumbering  the  English,  retired  to  the  cover  of 
Ticonderoga.  Captain  Rogers  having  been  disabled  by  two 
wounds,  and  Captain  Spikeman  killed,  early  in  the  action  the 
command  devolved  upon  Lieutenant  Stark,  who,  as  soon  as 
the  enemy  ceased  to  press  him,  carefully  looked  after  the 
wounded,  secured  the  prisoners,  and,  taking  both  wounded  and 
prisoners  with  him,  commenced  the  tedious  march  homeward. 
Encumbered  by  the  care  of  the  wounded,  and  fatigued  with  the 
exertions  of  the  day,  their  movements  were  necessarily  slow, 
and  the  entire  night  was  consumed  in  reaching  the  shore  of 
Lake  George,  near  where  they  left  it  on  the  19th.  The  wounded, 
who  during  the  night  march  had  kept  up  their  spirits,  were  by 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  so  overcome  with  cold,  fatigue,  and 
loss  of  blood  that  they  could  march  no  further.  The  nearest 
English  post  was  forty  miles  away,  and  the  enemy  was  less  than 
ten  miles  in  their  rear,  and  might  again  attack  them  at  any  time. 
In  this  emergency  Lieutenant  Stark  volunteered,  with  two  Ran- 
gers, to  make  a  forced  march  to  Fort  William  Henry  for  succor, 
while  the  command,  under  the  junior  officers,  undertook  to  de- 
fend and  care  for  the  wounded  until  help  arrived.  Without 
waiting  for  rest  or  refreshment  after  their  all-day  fight  and  all- 
night  retreat,  these  three  hardy  volunteers  continued  on  their 
march,  and  reached  the  fort  the  same  evening.  Hand-sleighs 
were  immediately  sent  out,  with  a  fresh  party,  to  bring  in  the 
wounded,  and  reached  them  next  morning.  No  greater  feat  of 
hardihood  and  endurance  was  ever  performed  ;  a  day  of  desper- 
ate fighting,  followed  by  an  all-night  retreat,  encumbered  with 
the  wounded,  and  then,  without  rest,  these  three  volunteers 
making  a  forced  snow-shoe  march  before  night.  Truly  this 
school  of  war  was  a  fitting  preparation  for  the  subsequent  strug- 
gle of  the  Revolution.     The  decision,  prudence,  and  courage  of 


1/57]  ROVAL     PROVINCE.  245 

Stark  admittedly  saved  the  detachment  from  complete  destruc- 
tion, and  he  was  immediately  promoted  to  be  a  captain,  filling 
the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Captain  Spikeman. 

Rogers  was  wounded  twice  and  lost  some  twenty  of  his  men. 
The  French,  as  was  subsequently  ascertained,  lost  one  hundred 
and  sixteen.  The  proximity  of  Ticonderoga  rendered  vain  the 
continuance  of  the  contest,  and  he  availed  him  of  the  shelter 
of  the  night  to  return  to  Fort  William  Henr}^ 

For  this  exploit  he  was  highly  complimented  by  General 
Abercrombie,  and,  at  a  later  period  of  this  same  year,  was 
ordered  by  Lord  Loudon  to  instruct  and  train  for  the  ranging 
service  a  company  of  British  regulars.  To  these  he  devoted 
much  time  and  prepared  for  their  use  the  manual  of  instruction 
now  found  in  his  journals.  It  is  clearly  drawn  up  in  twenty- 
eight  sections  and  gives  very  succinctly  and  lucidly  the  rules 
governing  this  mode  of  fighting. 

Captain  Stark  continued  with  the  army  during  the  succeeding 
campaigns  of  1758  and  1759,  his  corps  being  constantly  em- 
ployed in  their  accustomed  service,  and  winning  credit  and  com- 
mendation from  the  generals  in  command. 

The  conquest  of  Canada,  in  1760,  put  an  end  to  military  op- 
erations in  North  America,  and  Captain  Stark,  not  being  desir- 
ous of  continuing  in  the  British  army,  tendered  his  resignation, 
which  was  accepted. 

Lord  Loudon  was  succeeded  in  the  early  part  of  1758  by 
General  Abercrombie  and  plans  were  matured  for  capturing  the 
Lake  forts,  Louisburg  and  Fort  Uu  Ouesne.  By  the  close  of 
November,  the  two  last,  with  the  addition  of  Fort  Frontcnac, 
were  ours.  The  movement  against  Crown  Point  and  Ticonde- 
roga did  not  succeed.  In  the  assault  upon  the  latter  Rogers 
and  his  Rangers  fought  in  the  van  and  in  the  retreat  brought  up 
the  rear. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  (1758)  Rogers  went  down  Lake 
George  at  the  head  of  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  men,  and 
near  the  foot  of  it  had  a  desperate  battle  with  a  superior  body 
of  French  and  Indians.  He  reported  on  his  return  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  of  his  party  as  killed  or  missing.      Wh)'  he  was  not 


246  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/59 

annihilated  is  a  wonder.  General  Montcalm,  in  a  letter  dated 
less  than  a  month  after  the  encounter,  says  :  "  Our  Indians 
would  give  no  quarter  ;  they  have  brought  back  one  hundred 
and  forty-six  scalps."  For  his  intrepidity  on  this  occasion  he 
was  presented  by  General  Abercrombie  with  the  commission 
of  Major  of  Rangers,  before  alluded  to. 

Mr.  Pitt  proposed  in  the  campaign  of  1759  the  entire  con- 
quest of  Canada.  Bold  as  was  the  undertaking  it  was  substan- 
tially accomplished.  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  were 
abandoned  in  July,  Fort  Niagara  capitulated  the  same  month, 
and  Quebec  was  surrendered  in  September. 

Their  violation  of  a  flag  of  truce  in  this  last  month  now  called 
attention  to  the  St.  Francis  Indians,  who  had  been  for  a  century 
the  terror  of  the  New  England  frontiers,  swooping  down  upon 
them  when  least  expected,  burning  their  buildings,  destroying 
their  cattle,  mercilessly  murdering  their  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, or  cruelly  hurrying  them  away  into  captivity.  The  time 
had  now  come  for  returning  these  bloody  visits.  The  proffering 
of  this  delicate  attention  was  assigned  by  Major  General  Am- 
herst to  Rogers.  In  his  order,  dated  September  13,  he  says: 
"You  are  this  night  to  set  out  with  the  detachment,  as  ordered 
yesterday,  viz.,  of  200  men,  which  you  will  take  under  your 
command  and  proceed  to  Missisquoi  Bay,  from  whence  you  will 
march  and  attack  the  enemy's  settlements  on  the  south  side  of 
the  river  St.  Lawrence  in  such  a  manner  as  you  shall  judge  most 
effectual  to  disgrace  the  enemy,  and  for  the  success  and  honour 
of  his  majesty's  arms.     *     * 

"  Take  your  revenge,  but  don't  forget  that  tho'  those  villains 
have  dastardly  and  promiscuously  murdered  the  women  and 
children  of  all  ages,  it  is  my  orders  that  no  women  or  children 
are  killed  or  hurt." 

In  pursuance  of  these  orders  Major  Rogers  started  the  same 
day  at  evening.  On  the  tenth  day  after  he  reached  Missisquoi 
Bay.  Oil  the  twenty-third,  with  one  hundred  and  forty-two 
Rangers,  he  came,  without  being  discovered,  to  the  environs 
of  the  village  of  St.  P^rancis.  The  Indians  had  a  dance  the 
evening  following  his  arrival  and  slept  heavily  afterwards.       The 


J 


1760]  ROVAL  PROVINCE.  247 

next  morning,  half  an  hour  before  sunrise,  Rogers  and  his  men 
fell  upon  them  on  all  sides,  and  in  a  few  minutes,  ere  they  had 
time  to  arouse  themselves  and  seize  their  arms,  the  warriors  of 
that  village  were  dead.  A  few,  attempting  to  escape  by  the 
river,  were  shot  in  their  canoes.  The  women  and  children  were 
not  molested. 

When  light  came  it  icvcaled  to  the  rangers  lines  of  scalps, 
mostly  English,  to  the  number  of  six  hundred,  strung  upon 
poles  above  the  doorways.  Thereupon,  every  house  except  three 
containing  supplies  was  fired,  and  their  destruction  brought 
death  to  a  few  who  had  before  escaped  it  by  concealing  them- 
selves in  the  cellars.  Ere  noon  two  hundred  Indian  braves  had 
perished  and  their  accursed  village  had  been  obliterated.^ 

The  operations  of  the  next  year  (1760)  ended  this  long  and 
fierce  struggle.  The  attempted  re-capture  of  Quebec  by  the 
French  was  their  final  effort.  The  army  of  the  Lakes  em- 
barked from  Crown  Point  for  Montreal  on  the  sixteenth  day  of 
August.  "  Six  hundred  Rangers  and  seventy  Indians  in  whale- 
boats,  commanded  by  Major  Rogers,  all  in  a  line  abreast,  formed 
the  advance  guard."  He  and  his  men  encountered  some  fight- 
ing on  the  way  from  Isle  a  Mot  to  Montreal,  but  no  serious  ob- 
stacle retarded  their  progress.  The  day  of  their  arrival  Mon- 
sieur dc  Vaudveuil  proposed  to  Major-General  Amherst  a  capit- 
ulation, which  soon  after  terminated  the  French  dominion  in 
North  America. 

The  English  troops,  as  will  be  remembered,  entered  Montreal 
on  the  evening  of  the  eighth  of  September.  On  the  morning 
of  the  twelfth  Major  Rogers  was  ordered  by  General  Amherst 
to  proceed  westward  with  two  companies  of  Rangers  and  take 
possession  of  the  western  forts,  still  held  by  the  French,  which, 
by  the  terms  of  the  capitulation,  were  to  be  surrendered. 

He  embarked  about  noon  the  next  day  with  some  two  hun- 
dred Rangers  in  fifteen  whale-boats,  and  advanced  to  the  west 
by  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Lakes.  On  the  seventh  of  No- 
vember thev  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  where  the 
beautiful    city   of  Cleveland    now    stands.      The    cross    of    St. 

»  J.   13.  Walker. 


248  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [176a 

George  had  never  penetrated  the  wilderness  so  far  before. 
Here  they  encamped  and  were  soon  after  waited  upon  by  mes- 
sengers from  the  great  chieftain,  Pontiac,  asking  by  what  right 
they  entered  upon  his  territory  and  the  object  of  their  visit, 
Rogers  informed  them  of  the  downfall  of  the  French  in  America,, 
and  that  he  had  been  sent  to  take  possession  of  the  French 
forts  surrendered  to  the  English  by  the  terms  of  the  capitula- 
tion. Pontiac  received  his  message,  remarking  that  he  should 
stand  in  his  path  until  morning,  when  he  would  return  to  him 
his  answer.  The  next  morning  Pontiac  came  to  the  camp  and 
the  great  chief  of  the  Ottawas,  haughty,  shrewd,  politic,  ambi- 
tious, met  face  to  face  the  bold,  self-possessed,  clear-headed 
Major  of  the  British  Rangers.  It  is  interesting  to  note  how 
calmly  the  astute  ally  of  the  French  accepted  the  new  order  of 
things  and  prepared  for  an  alliance  with  his  former  enemies. 
He  and  Rogers  had  several  interviews  and  in  the  end  smoked 
the  pipe  of  peace.  With  dignified  courtesy  the  politic  Indian 
gave  to  his  new  friend  free  transit  through  his  territory,  pro- 
visions for  his  journey  and  an  escort  of  Indian  braves.  Rogers 
broke  camp  on  the  twelfth  and  pushed  onward  towards  Detroit. 
By  messenger  sent  forward  in  advance  he  apprized  Monsieur 
Belletre,  commandant  of  the  fort,  of  his  near  approach  and  the 
object  of  it.  The  astonished  officer  received  him  cautiously. 
Soon  satisfied,  however,  of  the  truth  of  the  unwelcome  news 
thus  brought,  he  surrendered  his  garrison.  On  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  November  the  British  flag  floated  from  the  staff  which 
ever  before  had  borne  only  the  lilies  of  France. 

On  the  tenth  of  December,  after  disposing  of  the  French 
force  found  in  the  fort,  and  having  taken  possession  of  the  forts 
Miamie  and  Gatanois,  with  characteristic  ardor  Rogers  pushed 
still  farther  westward  for  Michilimackinac.  But  it  was  a  vain 
attempt.  The  season  was  far  advanced.  Turning  eastward,, 
after  a  tedious  journey,  he  reached  New  York  on  the  fourteenth 
of  February,  1761. 

From  New  York,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  he  went 
this  same  year  as  Cajitain  of  one  of  his  Majesty's  Independent 
Companies  of  I"\)ot  to  South  Carolina,  and  there  aided  Colonel 


1 761]  ROYAL    PROVINCE.  249 

Grant  in  subduing  the  Chcrokecs.  From  tliis  time  onward  for 
the  next  two  years  we  lose  sight  of  Major  Rogers,  but  he  re-a})- 
pears  at  the  siege  of  Detroit  in  1763. 

The  next  glimpse  we  get  of  Major  Rogers  is  at  Rumford 
(now  Coneord)  where  he  had  a  landed  estate  of  some  four  or 
five  hundred  acres.  A  year  or  so  after  the  surrender  of  Mon- 
treal he  was  married  to  IClizabeth,  daughter  of  Rev.  Arthur 
Brown,  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  in  Portsmouth,  which  he 
considered  his  residence.  For  three  or  four  years,  between 
1 762  and  1765,  he  trafficked  a  good  deal  in  lands,  buying  and  selling 
numerous  and  some  quite  extensive  tracts.  Some  of  these 
lands  he  seems  to  have  purchased  and  some  to  have  received  in 
consideration  of  military  services.  In  1764,  Venning  Went- 
worth,  as  governor  of  New  Hampshire,  conveyed  to  him  as  "a  . 
reduced  officer  "  a  tract  of  three  thousand  acres,  lying  in  the 
southern  part  of  Vermont. 

One  conveyance  made  by  him  and  bearing  date  December 
20,  1762,  arrests  our  attention.  By  it  he  transferred  to  his 
father-in-law.  Rev.  Arthur  Brown,  before  mentioned,  some  five 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  Rumford  (now  Concord),  together  with 
"  one  negro  man,  named  Castro  Dickerson,  aged  about  twenty- 
eight  ;  one  negro  woman,  named  Sylvia  ;  one  negro  boy,  named 
Pomp,  aged  about  twelve,  and  one  Indian  boy,  named  J^illy,  aged 
about  thirteen."  If  the  object  of  the  conveyance  was  to  secure 
it  as  a  home  to  his  wife  and  children  against  any  liabilities  he 
might  incur  in  his  irregular  life,  the  end  sought  was  subse- 
quently attained,  as  the  land  descended  even  to  his  grand- 
children. 

The  old  "Rogers  House,"  so  called,  is  still  standing  upon  the 
former  estate  of  Major  Rogers,  on  the  east  side  and  near  the 
south  end  of  Main  Street,  in  Concord.  It  must  be  at  least  a 
hundred  years  old,  and  faces  the  south,  being  two  stories  high 
on  the  front  side  and  descending  by  a  long  sloping  roof  to  one 
in  the  rear.  It  was  occupied  by  Arthur,  son  of  Major  Rogers,, 
who  was  a  lawyer  by  profession  and  died  at  Portsmouth,  in  1841. 

Major  Rogers  did  not  prove  a  good  husband,  and  seventeen 
years  after  their  marriage  his  wife  felt  constrained,  February  I2» 


:2^0  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/^I 

1778,  to  petition  the  General  Assembly  of  New  Hampshire  for 
a  divorce  from  him  on  the  ground  of  desertion  and  infidelity. 

Major  Rogers  was  an  author  as  well  as  soldier.  He  seems  to 
have  been  in  England  in  1765,  and  to  have  there  published  two 
respectable  volumes  of  his  writings.  One  is  entitled  "Journals 
•of  Major  Robert  Rogers  ;"  the  other  is  called  "A  concise  view 
of  North  America." 

In  1770  he  sailed  for  England,  and  there,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  the  stalwart,  fine-looking,  wily  ex-commandant  was  lionized. 

We  see  nothing  more  of  Major  Rogers  until  July,  1775,  when 
he  again  appears  in  America  as  a  major  of  the  British  Army, 
retired  on  half-pay. 

On  the  second  day  of  December,  a  little  more  than  a  month 
later,  in  shabby  garb,  he  calls  upon  President  Wheelock,  at 
Hanover.  Later,  at  Medford,  Massachusetts,  he  addressed  a 
letter  to  General  Washington,  soliciting  an  interview  ;  but  his 
reputation  was  such  that  the  Commander-in-Chief  declined  to 
see  him. 

In  August,  1776,  he  accepted  a  commission  of  lieutenant 
colonel  commandant,  signed  by  General  Howe,  and  empower- 
ing him  to  raise  a  battalion  of  Rangers  for  the  British  army. 
To  this  work  he  now  applied  himself  and  with  success. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  October,  1776,  Rogers  fought  his  last 
battle  on  American  soil.  His  regiment  was  attacked  at  Mam- 
aronec.  New  York,  and  routed  by  a  body  of  American  troops. 

The  next  year  he  returned  to  England,  where  he  is  said  to 
have  died  in  the  year  1800.^ 

«  J.   B.  Walker. 


CHAPTER  X. 

ROYAL  PkOVIXCE,   1760-1775. 

IIaaimiiki:  Grants — Taxation  bv  Parliament  —  Stami*  Act  —  Irs 
Rkpeal  —  Resignation  of  Governor  Benning  Wentwortii  —  Gov- 
KKNOR  John  Wentworth — llis  Popularity — Early  Settlers  — 
Their  Customs  —  Gilmanton  —  Marlboro  —  Canaatv'  —  Enfield  — 
Lyme  —  Oxford  —  Bath  —  Lebanon  —  IIaxovkr  —  (Joffstown  — 
Newport  —  Plainfield  —  Danville  —  Peterborouchi  —  Bow  Con- 
troversy —  SuNcooK  —  Candia  —  Wilton  —  New  Ipswich  —  Lisbon 

—  Gilsum  —  Lancaster  —  Claremont  —  Wentw(jrth  —  Salisbury 

—  Milan  —  Berlin  —  Hillsborough  —  Fitzwilliam — Annals  of 
Portsmouth  —  Paul  Rkvkke  —  Capture  of  Fort  William  and 
Mary  —  Holderness  and  thi:  Livermores  —  Whitefield — White 
Mountain  Notch  —  Colonial  Laws. 

*T^HE  result  of  a  series  of  wars  for  nearly  three  quarters  of  a 
century  had  given  the  luiglish  undisputed  possession  of  the 
northern  part  of  the  Western  Continent.  During  the  last  war 
the  seasons  were  fruitful,  and  the  colonies  were  able  to  supplx' 
their  own  troops  with  provisions.  Then  followed  two  years  of 
scarcity.  Added  to  the  drought  of  1761  a  forest  fire  devastated 
Harrington  and  Rochester,  and  spread  into  Maine.  A  contro- 
versy had  already  commenced  between  the  govern(n\s  of  New 
York  and  New  Hampshire  in  regard  to  jurisdiction  over  the 
territory  now  included  within  the  State  of  Vermont.  As  early 
as  1750  Governor  Wentworth  had  granted  the  township  of 
Bennington,  and  had  continued  to  grant  townships  within  the 
disputed  territory  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  last  French  and 
Indian  war  in  1754.  In  1761  he  granted  no  less  than  si.xty 
townships  on  the  western  side,  and  eighteen  tovvnshii)S  on  the 
eastern  side,  of  the  Connecticut  river.     The  whole  number  of 


252  pt=;torv  of  new  Hampshire.  [^7^S 

grants  on  the  western  side  of  the  river  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  thirty-eight.  In  each  the  governor  reserved  a  tract  of  five 
hundred  acres  for  himself,  clear  of  all  fees  and  charges.  The  new 
townships  were  mostly  filled  with  emigrants  from  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut.  The  western  boundary  of  New  Hampshire  was 
determined  in  July,  1764,  to  be  the  western  bank  of  the  Con- 
necticut river  and  the  jurisdiction  of  New  Hampshire  was  with- 
drawn from  the  Hampshire  grants  and  confined  to  its  present 
limits. 

At  this  time  commenced  in  the  Colonies  a  series  of  events 
which  was  destined  to  lead  to  an  open  rupture  with  the  .mother 
country  and  finally  to  the  independence  of  the  American  colo- 
nies and  the  formation  of  a  republic.  The  war  with  the  French 
had  greatly  added  to  the  public  debt  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  the 
home  government,  in  1763,  attempted  to  impose  taxes  on  the 
colonies  without  their  consent.  The  colonies  had  borne  their 
share  of  the  expense  of  the  war  in  America  and  had  been  fairly 
reimbursed  for  their  outlays  ;  but  a  new  ministry  coming  into 
■power  sought  to  draw  the  money  from  the  colonies  again  in 
the  shape  of  taxation.  The  first  act  of  oppression  was  that 
restricting  the  intercourse  which  the  American  colonies  had 
enjoyed  with  the  West  India  Islands,  quickly  followed  by  the 
Stamp  Act,  similar  to  the  one  in  force  during  the  late  Re- 
bellion. Petitions  and  remonstrances  were  drawn  up  and 
sent  to  England.  Economy  rendered  the  first  Act  of  little 
value  to  England,  while  the  Stamp  Act  could  not  be  enforced. 
In  1765  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  proposed  a  congress 
of  deputies  from  each  colony  to  consult  upon  our  common 
interest,  as  had  been  customary  in  times  of  common  danger. 
The  house  of  burgesses  of  Virginia  passed  spirited  resolves 
asserting  the  rights  of  their  country,  and  denying  the  claim  of 
parliamentary  taxation.  In  the  English  parliament  those  op- 
posed to  the  Stamp  Act  spoke  of  Americans  as  "  Sons  of 
Liberty  ;"  and  the  phrase  was  quickly  adopted  by  associations 
in  every  colony.  George  Meserve  was  appointed  to  distribute 
the  stamps  in  New  Hampshire,  but  he  resigned  upon  dis- 
covering   the    opposition    to    the    Act   in   his   native   Province. 


1766]  ROVAL  rUOVIXCE.  253 

Although  New  Hampshire  sent  no  delegates  to  the  colo- 
nial Congress  which  met  in  New  York  in  1765,  the  Assem- 
bly endorsed  the  measures  and  resolutions  which  were  adopted 
there,  and  sent  similar  petitions  to  England  to  be  presented  to 
the  King  and  parliament  by  their  agent,  Barlow  Trecothick, 
and  John  Wentworth,  a  young  gentleman  of  Portsmouth  who 
was  then  in  England. 

A  movement  inaugurated  in  New  Hampshire  to  do  away  with 
the  courts,  on  account  of  their  not  comi)lying  with  the  provisions 
of  the  Stamp  Act,  was  quickly  suppressed. 

Governor  Wentworth  had  received  no  official  notification  of 
the  Stamp  Act  and  had  taken  no  active  part  in  enforcing  it.  He 
was  now  in  the  decline  of  life,  had  made  his  fortune,  and  had 
occupied  his  office  for  twenty-five  years.  He  did  not  deem  it 
wise  to  oppose  the  popular  will. 

The  colonists,  however,  took  the  most  effectual  measures  to 
procure  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  tax  by  agreeing  to  import 
no  goods  until  its  repeal.  "  The  Sons  of  Liberty  "  became  an 
organized  and  effective  political  body  in  1766;  but  at  that  time 
were  not  disloyal  to  the  home  government.  During  the  year 
attacks  were  made  upon  Governor  Wentworth  to  unseat  him 
from  his  office.  Charges  were  preferred,  but  were  not  invest- 
igated ;  and  he  was  allowed  to  resign  his  office  in  favor  of  his 
nephew,  John  Wentworth,  who  arrived  in  the  Province  the 
following  spring. 

In  the  prime  of  life,  active  and  enterprising,  polite  and 
easy  in  his  address,  and  placed  in  power  by  the  same  minister 
who  had  procured  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  Governor  Went- 
worth became  a  popular  favorite.  His  inclination  and  interest 
led  him  to  cultivate  the  good  will  of  the  people.  Brought  up  to 
commercial  pursuits,  he  had  a  taste  for  agriculture,  and  contrib- 
uted to  the  encouragement  of  agricultural  pursuits.  He  began 
for  himself  a  plantation  in  Wolfeborough,  which  led  others  to 
emulate  his  example  in  cultivating  the  wilderness.  The  rapid 
progress  of  the  Province  drew  the  attention  of  the  people  from 
obnoxious  laws  enacted  for  raising  a  revenue  in  the  colonies. 
The  Assembly  voted  him  a  salary  of  jQyoo,  equal  to  $2,333, 
besides  ;^6o  to  ^100  for  house  rent. 


254  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/^S 

The  governor  encouraged  the  building  of  new  roads  and  was 
instrumental  in  locating  Dartmouth  College  at  Hanover,  in  1769. 
In  1771,  the  Province  was  divided  into  five  counties,  —  Rock- 
ingham, Strafford,  Hillsborough,  Cheshire,  and  Grafton  ;  and 
specie  payment  was  resumed. 

The  last  French  and  Indian  war  was  virtually  ended  at  the 
surrender  of  Montreal,  September  8,  1760,  and  the  victorious 
troops  returned  and  scattered  to  their  hillside  farms,  to  pursue 
the  paths  of  peace  and  discuss  the  exciting  incidents  of  the 
late  conflict. 

All  fear  of  an  Indian  outbreak  being  now  over,  the  rush  from 
the  lower  settlements  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Merrimack 
and  Connecticut  was  immediate  and  note-worthy. 

The  first  duty  of  the  pioneer  was  to  provide  shelter  for 
himself,  his  wife,  and  children.  The  first  houses  in  a  town 
were  built  of  logs,  the  floors  of  which  were  of  hewn  plank,  four 
or  more  inches  in  thickness.  As  the  land  was  cleared  these 
log-houses  gave  place  to  framed  buildings.  The  most  durable 
timber  was  chosen,  and  the  neighboring  Indians  frequently 
assisted  in  the  raising, 

The  tall  pines  and  oaks  were  incumbrances  to  the  land,  and 
the  first  efforts  were  directed  to  destroying  them.  The  blows 
of  the  axe  resounded  through  the  woods  ;  the  tree  which  had 
withstood  the  gales  of  a  century  fell  quickly  to  the  ground  ;  the 
limbs  were  cut  off,  and  the  trunk  cut  in  convenient  lengths  for 
handling,  when  great  piles  were  formed  and  the  torch  applied. 

After  a  rain  had  neutralized  the  ashes,  the  grain  was  sown  • 
and  harrowed  in  ;  and  the  harvest  gathered  frequently  paid  for 
the  labor  of  clearing  the  land  and  for  the  land  beside. 

The  roads  at  first  were  rough  and  bad,  mere  foot-ways  or 
bridle-paths.  Horses  were  trained  to  carry  double,  and  the 
pillion,  a  seat  behind  the  saddle  for  women,  was  in  general  use 
until  the  Revolution.  The  surveyor,  with  chain  and  compass^ 
laid  out  the  road  and  spotted  the  trees  ;  the  axe-men  followed 
after  and  cleared  a  way  one  or  two  rods  wide,  bridging  the 
brooks  and  streams  with  logs,  and  building  causeways  over 
wet  places  of  the  same  material. 


1765]  ROYAL    PROVINCE.  255 

These  roads  were  improved  slowly,  but  in  course  of  time 
would  allow  the  jaassage  of  oxen  and  heavy  loads  ;  and  later 
they  permitted  the  transit  of  the  chaise  and  wagon,  which  came 
into  use  soon  after  the  Revolution. 

The  clothing  was  almost  wholly  homespun  ;  sheep  were  kept 
for  their  wool,  and  flax  was  raised  on  every  farm.  The  wool 
was  carded  and  spun  by  the  women  of  the  family,  and  the  loom 
was  in  every  well-organized  household.  Rev.  Jacob  Emery  of 
Pembroke  once  received  a  summons  to  attend  the  Provincial 
Congress  the  next  day,  in  the  distant  town  of  Exeter.  He 
lacked  a  pair  of  pantaloons  befitting  his  dignity,  and  was  in  a 
quandary.  His  good  wife,  so  says  tradition,  was  equal  to  the 
emergency.  A  sheep  was  captured  and  shorn  ;  its  wool-carded, 
spun  and  woven  ;  the  necessary  garment  designed  and  made 
from  the  raw  material,  and  presented  to  the  worthy  and 
patriotic  parson,  in  season  for  him  to  set  out  for  the  meeting 
before  the  dawn  of  day. 

The  food  of  the  settlers  was  plain.  Very  little  tea  was  used, 
and  coffee  rarely  ever.  Game,  or  fish,  with  vegetables,  was 
eaten  for  dinner  ;  or  bean,  corn,  or  pea  porridge.  Bread,  milk, 
and  boiled  Indian  pudding  were  staple  articles  of  diet  morning 
and  evening. 

The  whole  settlement  were  neighbors,  and  shared  in  each 
other's  griefs  and  joys.  Ready  assistance  was  rendered  to  the 
sick  and  unfortunate,  and  interchange  of  labor  was  frequent. 

Patriarchal  simplicity,  respect,  and  submission  prevailed  in 
their  families  ;  and  especial  deference  was  paid  to  the  Sabbath. 
It  was  a  day  devoted  to  the  spiritual  improvement  of  the  old 
and  young  alike.  Aside  from  the  Bible,  books  were  very  scarce 
and  highly  prized,  —  a  minister's  library  consisting  of  a  few 
choice,  well-worn  volumes,  —  and  newspapers  were  almost 
unknown. 

The  first  iron  crane  was  used  in  Rumford  in  1758.  Until 
then  the  people  in  this  vicinity  used  what  were  known  as  lug- 
poles,  which  were  sometimes  burned  off,  letting  the  fat  into  the 
fire. 

^  Gilmantown  was  huge.     Eighteen  miles  was  the  length  from 

«  Rev.  J.  E.  Fullerton. 


256  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

Northfield,  Canterbury,  and  Loudon  to  the  Lake  Winnipi- 
seogee  at  the  Weirs.  In  some  places  it  was  ten  miles  wide. 
It  contained  83,500  acres.  The  old  town  included  the  present 
towns  of  Belmont,  Gilmantown,  Gilford,  and  the  portion  of 
Laconia  on  the  east  side  of  the  Winnipiseogee  river. 

The  township  was  granted  in  1727  to  twenty-four  persons  by 
the  name  of  Oilman,  together  with  153  others.  Many  of  the 
shares  were  the  gift  of  the  government  for  service  in  the  wars. 

The  character  of  the  first  proprietors  and  settlers  will  be  the 
acorn  determining  the  character  of  the  full-grown  tree.  A 
greater  part  of  the  early  inhabitants  came  from  Exeter.  As 
Exeter  was  settled  from  Massachusetts,  and  was  for  some  time 
under  Massachusetts,  the  early  settlers  were  imbued  with  the 
ideas  and  habits  of  the  State. 

It  is  worthy  of  special  notice  that  at  least  seventeen  of  the 
founders  were  college  graduates  ;  twelve  of  them  ministers  of 
the  gospel.  Others  were  men  of  note  and  influence  in  their 
old  homes. 

Though  all  the  proprietors  did  not  become  settlers,  their 
enlarged  ideas  in  regard  to  the  founding  of  schools  and  the 
early  building  of  churches  attracted  the  best  class  of  citizens, 
and  have  given  Gilmanton  a  proud  record  in  the  State. 

The  great  attractions  of  the  region  to-day  were  the  great 
liindrances  to  its  early  settlement. 

The  beautiful  lake  on  its  northern  boundary  was  a  favorite 
resort  of  the  red  men,  as  it  is  of  his  white  brother.  The  clear 
waters  abounded  with  food  for  his  scouting  parties.  The  chain 
of  lakes  and  rivers  served  as  the  thoroughfare  for  the  Canada 
Indians,  as  they  made  their  dreaded  incursions  upon  the  white 
settlers. 

Old  Belknap  was  a  point  of  observation  which  the  savage 
climbed,  not  to  revel  in  the  wonderful  view  of  lake  dotted  with 
green  islands,  of  mountain,  and  of  valley,  but  to  see  where  the 
curling  smoke  of  some  settler  revealed  the  hope  of  a  scalp. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  so  exposed  a  spot  was  not  settled  till 
1 76 1,  when  tlie  Indian  wars  were  over. 

We  little  realize  the  hardships  and  toils  of  the  early  settlers. 


1765]  ROVAL  PROVINCE.  257 

Imagine  all  the  iron  work  for  the  first  saw-mill  brought  on 
horseback.  Or  think  of  the  26th  of  December,  1761,  when 
Benjamin  Mudgett  and  wife  arrived  in  town.  Think  of  it,  oh 
ye  who  boast  of  an  hour's  walk  as  a  great  achievement.  The 
last  twelve  miles,  so  the  story  goes,  they  came  on  foot  and  on 
snowshoes.  It  is  not  strange  that,  a  mile  from  her  journey's 
€nd,  the  wife  threw  herself  upon  the  snow,  saying,  "  I  may  as 
well  die  here  as  anywhere  ;  if  I  attempt  to  go  farther  it  will  kill 
me,  and  if  I  stop  here  I  shall  but  die."  She  reached  her  home, 
and  lived  seventy-three  years  after. 

Lower  Gilmanton  was  the  first  region  settled.  Here  lived 
the  old  lawyers,  Stephen  Moody,  Esq.,  John  Ham,  Benjamin 
Emerson,  and  the  old  physicians,  Dr.  Silver,  Dr.  B.  Kelley,  and 
Dr.  N.  C.  Tebbetts. 

East  Gilmanton  was  of  importance.  Here  was  the  first  Con- 
gregational church,  and  when  Gilmanton  became  a  shire  town 
of  Strafford  county,  the  court  was  held  in  the  meeting-house. 

Iron  Works,  or  Averytown,  grew  up  from  the  operations  in 
iron  ore  commenced  in  1778.  The  ore  was  taken  from  Suncook 
or  Lougee's  Pond,  in  twenty  feet  of  water.  The  working  being 
unprofitable  was  discontinued.  Here  Senator  James  Bell  prac- 
tised law,  and  kept  the  post-office. 

Gilmanton  Corner  has  been  the  social  and  literary  centre  of 
the  town.  Gilmanton  Academy  was  erected  in  1796.  In  1799 
the  county  court  began  to  be  held  in  the  village.  Here  Judge 
Ira  A.  Eastman  commenced  his  practice.  The  Theological 
Seminary  was  opened  in  1836. 

Factory  Village,  now  Belmont  Village,  received  its  name 
from  the  brick  factory  erected  in  1834.  The  town  of  Belmont 
was  left  by  the  separation  of  the  lower  part  of  Gilmanton  from 
it  in  1859. 

Meredith  Bridge  Village,  Lake  Village,  and  Gilford  Village 
were  set  off,  in  18 12,  with  the  town  of  Gilford. 

The  first  settler  in  Meredith  Bridge  Village  was  Samuel 
Jewctt,  who  came  in  1777.  He  served  at  Bunker  Hill.  When 
he  enlisted  he  was  too  short  ;  but  the  enlisting  officer  run  his 
hand  through  the  soldier's  hair,  and  lifted  it  till  it  touched  the 


258  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  I  7^5 

pole  under  which  the  soldiers  stood,  telling  him  that  what  he 
lacked  in  inches  he  made  up  in  grit,  Daniel  Avery,  who  came 
in  1779,  by  his  energy  may  be  called  the  father  of  the  village  on 
the  Gilmanton  side. 

Lake  Village,  for  a  time,  boasted  her  iron  works,  the  ore  for 
which  came  from  Gunstock  mountain.  On  Gunstock  brook,  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  grew  the  rural  village  now  called 
Gilford  Village. 

Gilmanton  boasts  her  literary  ventures.  In  1800  appeared 
the  Gilmanton  Gazette  and  Farmer  s  Weekly  Magazine.  The 
Rural  Museum  appeared  the  same  year.     Both  soon  disappeared. 

For  four  years  from  its  first  number.  May,  1835,  the  SaboatJi- 
School  Advocate  was  issued.  The  Parents  Magazine  was  born 
in  Gilmanton,  September,  1840,  but  was  early  carried  to  Con- 
cord. In  1842  and  1843  the  Biblical  Journal  ^^.^  born  and 
died.     The  New  Hampshire  Repository  was  the  last  venture, 

Gilmanton  Academy  was  chartered  June  20,  1794.  Peter 
L.  Folsom,  A.  B.,  was  the  first  preceptor,  holding  the  position 
six  years.     The  tuition  was  ^i.oo  a  term. 

The  Academy  was,  for  a  while,  one  of  the  two  principal  in- 
stitutions in  the  State,  and  numbers  among  its  graduates  many 
leading  citizens.  It  was  a  part  of  the  original  design  to  have 
the  Academy  furnish  a  theological  training  for  ministers.  A 
department  called  Gilmanton  Theological  Seminary  was  formed 
in  1836,  "to  aid  in  providing  an  adequate  supply  of  able,  hum- 
ble, zealous  and  laborious  ministers  of  the  gospel  for  the 
churches  of  the  State  and  country,  especially  the  feeble  and 
destitute." 

Gilmanton  soil  and  climate  have  been  especially  favorable  to 
the  growth  of  churches.  There  have  been  three  Congregational 
churches.  The  first,  for  years  the  town  church,  was  incorpo- 
rated in  181 7  as  the  First  Congregational  Society,  Rev.  Luke 
A.  Spofford  succeeded  Rev.  Mr.  Smith  in  18 19,  and  was 
succeeded  in  1825  by  Rev.  Daniel  Lancaster,  who  became 
pastor  of  the  second  church  in  1835. 

The  Centre  (Congregational)  Church,  on  the  Academy  grounds, 
was  organized  in  1826.     Rev.  Herman  Rood  became  pastor  the 


1765]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  259 

same  year.  Enjoying  the  audience  from  the  Academy,  and  the 
j-jatronage  of  the  Seminary,  this  church  has  been  the  leading 
Congregational  church  in  town.  After  Mr.  Rood's  pastorate, 
it  was  ministered  to  by  Rev.  Daniel  Lancaster  half  the  time, 
till  he  became  its  pastor  in  1835.  ^^^-  Lancaster  conferred  a 
great  benefit  upon  the  town  by  compiling  a  laborious  and  accu- 
rate history,  which  must  serve  as  the  foundation  of  all  future 
histories  of  the  town. 

The  Iron  Works  Congregational  Church  was  organized  in 
1829.  The  first  pastor.  Rev.  Charles  G.  Safford,  came  in  1831, 
and  remained  till  1836.  Rev.  S.  S.  N.  Greeley  was  pastor  from 
1839  till  1842. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  was  organized  Nov.  16,  1773.  The 
original  male  members  were  Orlando  Wood,  Thomas  Edgerly, 
Thomas  Mudgett,  John  Fox,  Dudley  Young,  Samuel  Weeks. 

^  The  original  charter  of  Marlow,  signed  "  Ben.  Went- 
worth,"  and  bearing  date  October,  1761,  shows  that  the  town 
grant  was  divided  into  seventy  equal  shares,  containing  by 
admeasurement  twenty-three  thousand  and  foi't}-  acres,  six 
miles  square.  "  As  soon  as  there  shall  be  fifty  families  resi- 
dent," reads  the  charter,  "and  settled  thereon,  said  town  shall 
have  the  liberty  of  holding  two  fairs  annually."  The  grantees 
are  sixty-nine  in  number,  and  William  Noyes's  name  heads 
the  list. 

Good  authority  gives  the  names  of  the  first  settlers  as 
Joseph  Tubbs,  Samuel  and  John  Gustin,  N.  Royce,  N.  Miller, 
and  Natiian  Huntley,  and  the  same  authority  states  that  the 
first  town  meeting  was  held  in  Marcii,  1776;  but  the  records  of 
a  town  meeting  held  in  March,  1766,  are  now  in  existence,  and 
the  town  has  the  notices  of  such  meetings  from  that  time 
forward.     The  authentic  copy  reads  as  follows  : 

"  The  Inhabitants  of  this  town  met  according  to  the  warning 
in  the  Charter,  and  being  legally  warned  to  meet  at  the 
dwelling-house  of  Sam'l  Gustin,  Joseph  Tubbs  was  chosen 
Moderator  for  said  Meeting,  and  Sam'l  Gustin  Clerk  for  said 
town  ;  and  the  meeting  was  adjourned  to  the  third  Tuesday  of 

•  G.  n.  Griffith. 


26o  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

May  next  at  the  Dwelling-House  of  Joseph  Tubbs  of  Marlow  at 
one  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon  on  said  day. 

"  May  ye  i6th,  1766,  then  met  according  to  adjournment  and 
chose  Joseph  Tubbs  the  first  Selectman  ;  Sam'l  Gustin  the 
second  Selectman,  and  Martin  Lord  the  third  Selectman. 

"  Sam'l  Gustin,  Clerk." 

These  were  probably  the  first  selectmen  chosen.  In  1767 
Nathan  Huntley,  Samuel  Gustin,  and  Nehemiah  Royce  were 
chosen  selectmen. 

In  1773  is  the  first  copy  of  a  warrant  for  a  town  meeting. 
It  was  directed  to  the  constable. 

In  1778  the  first  minister  was  settled.  Rev.  Caleb  Blood, 
Congregationalist.  He  was  dismissed  the  next  year,  and  Rev. 
Eleazer  Beckwith,  Baptist,  succeeded,  and  preached  till  his 
death  in  1809. 

The  Proprietors'  committee  in  1767  were  Nathan  Huntley 
and  Samuel  Gustin.  In  1783  John  Lewis  was  chosen  collector 
of  the  Ruinbe  tax,  and  in  the  same  year  it  was  voted  to  exempt 
the  widows  from  taxation  for  twelve  months. 

It  is  evident  that  but  few  of  the  charter  members  remained 
in  town  for  a  long  period :  if  they  did,  they  left  no  descendants. 
Nathan  Huntley's  name  does  not  appear  on  that  document,  yet 
he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers. 

The  earliest  buildings  were  put  up  near  Baker's  Corner,  by 
John  Gustin.  Nathan  Huntley  settled  near  Marlow  Hill,  and 
Joseph  Tubbs  in  the  south  part  of  the  town.  The  first 
meeting-house  was  built  in  1798,  on  Marlow  Hill.  It  had  big» 
square,  two-story  galleries  all  around,  and  contained  the  "  box 
pews."  It  was  taken  down  in  1845,  and  removed  to  the  south, 
now  the  main,  village,  as  a  sort  of  a  union  church  ;  it  is  now 
called  the  Christian  Church.  There  is  no  preaching  in  it  at 
present,  and  the  basement  is  used  as  the  town  hall.  Origin- 
ally this  edifice  stood  near  Baker's  Corner ;  it  was  not 
clap-boarded  or  plastered,  and  was  furnished  with  the 
primitive  wooden  benches.  The  Methodist  church,  also, 
originally  stood  on  Marlow  Hill.  Before  its  erection,  therCj 
were  quite  a  number  of  Universalists  in  town,  and,  not  agree-J 


1765]  ROVAL  PROVINCE.  261 

ing  in  regard  to  a  minister,  a  committee  was  chosen  —  one  from 
the  Baptists,  one  from  tlie  Congregationalists,  and  one  from  the 
Universalists  —  to  procure  a  pastor  ;  and  in  order  to  have  one 
that  would  unite  them,  they  employed  the  Rev.  Peter  Jacobs,  a 
Methodist,  and  this  was  the  first  introduction  of  Methodism  in 
Marlow,  which  is  at  this  time  the  popular  chuich  of  the  place. 

Oral  tradition  says  that  a  Mr.  Marshall  was  tlie  first  man  to 
preach  a  Methodist  sermon  in  town,  but  nothing  is  remembered 
of  him  except  the  fact  that  he  preached  two  or  three  times. 

Mr.  Jacobs  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Paul  Dustin,  a  local 
preacher  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  he  organized  a 
Methodist  society.  Among  its  first  members  were  Francis 
Brown,  Amos  Gale,  Jr.,  and  wife,  Cyrus  Comstock  and  wife,  Mrs. 
Grififin,  and  Samuel  Rice.  Subsequently  Mr.  Dustin  preached 
for  the  Congregationalists  at  Alstead,  where  he  died,  February 
10,  181 1,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-six,  and  was  buried  in  the 
cemetery  at  Alstead  Centre. 

Rev.  Dexter  Bates  was  probably  his  successor,  as  he  was 
known  to  be  the  pastor  in  1812-13.  He  is  spoken  of  as  "a 
strong  man,  full  of  zeal  and  energy." 

In  181 5  Marlow  was  embraced  in  Grantham  Circuit,  New 
England  Conference,  Vermont  district,  with  P^leazer  Weils 
presiding  elder,  and  Warner  Bannister  preacher  ;  the  latter  did 
not  preach  in  Marlow  oftener  than  once  in  four  weeks.  The 
entire  circuit,  comprising  probably  from  six  to  ten  towns,  re- 
ported a  membership  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  whites  and 
one  colored. 

Cali.sta  M.  Huntley  (^Marie  Caliato  Picct'oli)  was  born  in  Marlow,  April  11, 
1S41,  and  with  her  parents  moved  to  Boston  in  1845,  and  froin  thence  to 
Lynn  in  1S51.  At  a  very  early  age  she  manifested  great  musical  talent,  and 
seemed  to  feel  the  strongest  desire  to  cultivate  her  gift.  The  sooner  to 
accomplish  her  darling  wish,  she  purchased  a  sewing  machine,  and  after 
working  upon  it  till  its  price  was  paid,  she,  at  the  tender  age  of  twelve,  begar» 
to  save  her  wages  till  she  was  enabled  to  purchase  a  piano.  Then  hr  mus- 
ical education  commenced  in  earnest.  Before  she  had  taken  any  lessons, 
Calista  had  mastered  many  of  the  problems  of  this  beautiful  science.  After 
receiving  instruction  a  while  from  a  competent  teacher,  she  herself  gave 
lessons,  remaining  a  pupil  still.      Jler  talent  not  only  secured  scholars,  but 


262  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/^S 

she  ere  long  was  offered  the  leading  place  in  churches  and  at  festivals;  so  she 
was  able  to  continue  her  favorite  study.  In  April,  1866,  she  went  to  Italy, 
and  pursued  her  chosen  vocation,  taking  lessons  till  she  had  perfected  a 
thorough  course  of  study,  under  the  tuition  of  the  best  masters.  In  the 
meantime  she  gave  concerts  and  other  entertainments  to  pay  her  expenses, 
under  the  stage  name  of  Marie  Calisto.  In  1869  she  married  Geromano 
Piccioli.  Since  then  she  has  visited  and  sung  in  all  the  principal  cities  of 
England,  Ireland,  Spain,  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and,  in  fact,  over  the 
whole  civilized  world,  and  has  won  a  lasting  and  well-deserved  fame.  She 
speaks  four  different  languages  fluently,  and  though  she  of  necessity  has 
quite  a  foreign  air,  still  she  is  very  easy  in  her  manners,  broad  in  her 
religious  views,  and  in  all  respects  is  a  lady  of  fine  appearance,  to  whom  the 
humblest  may  easily  find  access  at  her  elegant  home.  Her  residence  is  in 
Italy,  but  she  is  now  temporarily  stopping  in  Lynn,  Mass.  Marlow  has  good 
reason  to  be  proud  of  this  distinguished  artist. 

Here,  too,  was  the  native  place  of  Rosinee  Richardson,  familiarly  known 
as  "  Fat  Rosinee,"  who  in  her  day  was  the  wonder  of  the  world.  She  trav- 
elled with  Barnum  for  several  years,  and  died  not  long  since  in  Florida. 

Nahum  Stone,  son  of  Phineas,  who  in  olden  times  had  a  small  tannery  at 
the  head  of  Stone  Pond,  was  a  native  of  Marlow.  He  at  one  time  OAvned  and 
edited  what  is  now  known  as  the  Cheshire  Republican,  at  Keene. 

Among  the  early  settlers  and  substantial  citizens  passed  away  was  Mr.  Far- 
ley, who  came  from  Billerica,  Mass.,  and  who,  at  one  time,  owned  the  princi- 
pal part  of  the  "  Plains,"  selling  out  his  mill  rights  to  Mr.  Russel  Huntley. 

Wells  Wav,  commonly  called  the  "Old  Squire,"  was  a  very  popular  and 
prominent  man  ;  almost  all  arbitration  was  left  out  to  him.  He  was  a  town 
clerk  for  many  years  and  held  various  other  offices.  Silas  Mack  and  Samuel 
Royce  were  both  town  clerks  and  selectmen  for  many  years.' 

Old  manuscript  letters  tell  us  that  in  1788  there  were  forty- 
two  votes  cast  in  Marlow.  John  Langdon  had  thirty-six ; 
John  Sullivan,  six.  In  1800  it  was  voted  not  to  tax  a  widow's 
cow.  At  the  annual  town-meeting,  the  same  year,  William 
Lewis  was  chosen  constable  and  collector  ;  he  was  to  receive 
three  dollars  and  eighty  cents  for  his  labor  in  the  latter  office. 

Baker's  Corner  was  in  olden  times  the  only  business  resort. 
Here  was  a  flourishing  store,  a  potash  manufactory,  and  a  hotel. 
The  public-house  first  opened  had  Samuel  Richardson  for  pro- 
prietor. All  these  buildings  subsequently  passed  into  the  hands 
of  William  Baker.  The  first  store  ever  kept  in  town  was  opened 
by  Mr.  Lamphier  in  the  house  now  owned  by  Curtis  Winham, 
on  the  Hill.  Soon  after,  Francis  D.  Ellis  opened  a  store  and 
hotel,  and  a  hostelry  was  also  started  by  Elisha  Huntley,  Esq. 

I  G.  p..  (mffith. 


I765J  KOVAI.    PROVINCE.  263 

In  1761  charters  were  granted  to  Canaan,  Knfiekl,  Lebanon, 
Hanover,  Lyme,  Orford,  Bath,  Lyman,  Holderness,  Marlow, 
Goffstown,  Lempster,  Grantham,  Newport  and  Plainfield. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  in  Canaan  was  made  in  the 
winter  of  1766  or  1767,  by  John  Scofield,  who  conveyed  what 
effects  he  possessed  the  distance  of  fourteen  miles  over  a  crust 
of  snow  upon  a  hand-sled.  Among  others  of  the  first  settlers 
were  George  Harris,  Thomas  Miner,  Joshua  Harris,  Samuel 
Jones,  and  Samuel  Meacham.  The  first  church  was  formed  in 
1780.  Rev.  Thomas  Baldwin,  D.  D.,  a  Baptist  minister,  was 
ordained  in  1783.  Rev.  Joseph  Wheat  was  settled  in  18 13.  A 
Congregational  society  was  incorporated  in  1820  and  Rev. 
Charles  Calkins  was  settled  over  it.^ 

The  first  settlers  of  Enfield  were  Nathaniel  Bicknell,  Jonathan 
Paddleford,  and  Elisha  Bingham.  A  Congregational  church 
was  organized  in  December,  1799,  over  which  Rev.  Edward 
Evans  was  settled.  Jesse  Johnson,  one  of  the  early  settlers, 
was  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  a  member  of  the  legislature.  His 
son  of  the  same  name  was  a  leading  citizen  of  the  town.  A 
society  of  Shakers  was  organized  in  the  town  in  1792,  under  the 
administration  of  Elder  Job  Bishop.^ 

The  first  settlement  was  made  in  Lyme,  in  1764,  by  Walter 
Fairfield,  John  and  William  Sloan,  and  others  from  Connecticut. 
A  Congregational  church  was  organized  in  1772  and  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Conant  was  settled  the  next  year.^ 

The  first  settler  in  Orford  was  a  Mr.  Cross,  who  came  with 
his  family  from  Lebanon,  in  1765.  He  was  followed  the  same 
year  by  General  Israel  Morey,  John  Mann,  Esq.,  and  a  Mr.  Cas- 
well, with  their  families  from  Connecticut.  A  church  was  or- 
ganized in  1770  and  Rev.  Oliver  Noble  was  settled  as  minister. 
He  was  followed  in  1787  by  Rev.  John  Sawyer;  in  1801  by 
Rev.  Sylvester  Dana  ;  in  1823  by  Rev.  James  D.  Farnsworth. 
Rev.  Mr.  Dana  was  settled  over  the  West  church  for  over  ten 
years. 

The  settlement  of  Bath  was  commenced  in  1765  by  John 
Harriman,  from    Haverhill,   Mass.      He  was   soon   followed  by 

>  John  Farmer. 


264  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l?^^ 

Moses  Pike  and  the  family  of  Mr.  Sawyer.  A  Presbyteriart 
church  was  organized  in  1778  and  dissolved  in  1791,  when  a. 
Congregational  church  was  formed.  Rev.  David  Sutherland 
was  its  first  settled  minister. 

Among  the  first  settlers  of  Lebanon  were  William  Downer, 
William  Dana,  Levi  Hyde,  Charles  Hill,  Silas  Waterman,  and 
Nathaniel  Porter  from  Connecticut,  who  made  the  first  settle- 
ment north  of  Charlestown.  They  were  a  "  hardy,  brave  people  ;• 
tenacious  of  their  principles  ;  many  of  them  were  men  of  strong 
minds,  good  habits,  correct  principles,  and  good,  common  edu- 
cation." A  Congregational  church  was  organized  in  1771,  and 
Rev.  Isaiah  Potter  was  settled  as  minister.  A  Baptist  church 
was  formed  in  1782,  over  which  Rev.  Jedidiah  Hibbard  was 
settled.     A  Universalist  society  was  organized  in    1813.^ 

The  first  settlement  in  Hanover  was  made  in  1765  by  Colonel. 
Edmund  Freeman,  from  Connecticut.  The  next  year  he  was 
joined  by  Benjamin  Davis,  Benjamin  Rice,  Gideon  Smith,  and 
Asa  Parker,  all  from  the  same  colony.  In  1770,  Dartmouth 
College  was  established  there  by  Rev.  Dr.  Wheelock.^ 

Goffstown  was  granted  by  the  Masonian  proprietors  in  1748, 
and  incorporated  thirteen  years  later. 

The  first  settlement  of  Newport  was  made  in  1763,  by  Jesse 
Wilcox,  Ebenezer  Merritt,  Jesse  Kelley,  and  Samuel  Hurd, 
from  Connecticut. 

Plainfield  was  settled  in  1764,  by  L.  Nash  and  J.  Russell, 
from  Connecticut.  A  Congregational  church  was  formed  in 
1765  and  Rev.  Abraham  Carpenter  was  settled  as  minister. 
The  town  is  the  seat  of  the  Kimble  Union  Academy  at  Meriden, 
incorporated  June  16,  1813,  and  endcwed  by  Hon.  Daniel  Kim- 
ball. 

Hawke,  or  Danville,  Amherst,  Peterborough,  and  Boscawen 
were  incorporated  in  1761. 

The  first  settlement  was  made  in  that  part  of  Kingston  now 
Danville,  between  1735  and  1739,  by  Jonathan  Sanborn  and 
Jacob  Hook.  Rev.  John  Page  was  settled  as  minister  in  1763. 
He  died  in  1782. 

•  John   Farmer. 


1765]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  265 

The  first  settlement  was  made  in  Peterborough,  in  1739,  by 
William  Robbe,  Alexander  Seott,  Hugh  Gregg,  William  Scott„ 
and  Samuel  Stinson,  some  of  whom  were  aecompanied  by  their 
families.  The  settlement  was  abandoned  in  1744,  and  the  rcgioiv 
was  not  occupied  again  until  1748.  On  their  return  they  were 
joined  by  many  from  Londonderry  and  Lunenburg,  so  that  in  ten 
years  there  were  forty-five  families  in  the  township,  who  were 
mostly  Presbyterians.  Rev.  John  Morrison  was  settled  as  min- 
ister in  1766. 

Un  1762  happily  the  Bow  controversy,  which  had  been  so  long 
waged,  was  drawing  to  a  close.  In  the  courts  of  New  Hamp- 
shire every  case  brought  to  trial,  touching  the  title  to  theirlands, 
had  been  decided  against  the  proprietors  of  Rumford  ;  but  the 
Rev.  Air.  Walker  and  Benjamin  Rolfe,  P^sq. —  the  men  to  whom 
the  proprietors  had  entrusted  their  cause  —  confident  of  its 
justice,  were  neither  baffled  nor  discouraged.  With  a  firmness 
of  purpose  worthy  all  praise,  and  sustained  by  the  unanimous 
will  of  the  people,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Walker  persevered  in  his 
agency.  In  the  fall  of  1762  he  visited  England  for  the  third 
time,  to  attend  the  trial  of  the  cause,  which  was  still  pending. 
He  had  formed  valuable  acquaintances  among  ministers  of  re- 
ligion, members  of  Parliament,  and  members  of  his  Majesty's 
Council.  Sir  William  Murray,  his  learned  counsellor  and  advo- 
cate in  the  first  trial,  was  now  Lord  Mansfield,  chief  justice  of 
the  King's  Bench.  After  long  and  an.xious  suspense  the  trial 
came  on,  and  Mr.  Walker  announced  the  result  in  a  letter  dated 
in  December  as  favorable  to  the  Rumford  and  Suncook  settlers. 
The  decision  of  the  King  in  councd  states  :  — 

That  some  years  since,  upon  a  dispute  about  the  bouiulaiy  line  between 
the  provinces  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New  Hampshire,  his  Majesty 
was  pleased  to  issue  a  commission  to  mark  out  the  dividing  line  between  the 
said  Province  of  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts  Bay,  but  with  an  express 
declaration  that  private  property  should  not  be  affected  thereby.  And  upon 
hearing  the  report  of  the  commissioners  appointed  to  settle  the  said  boundary, 
his  Majesty  was  pleased,  by  his  order  in  council,  made  in  1740,  to  adjudge- 
and  order  that  the  northern  boundary  of  the  said  Province  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  are  and  be  a  similar  curve  line,  pursuing  the  course  of  Merrimark. 

•  kev.  Dr.  N.  liouton. 


266  mSTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

river  at  three  miles  distance  on  the  north  side  thereof,  beginning  at  the  At- 
lantic, ocean,  and  ending  at  a  point  due  north  of  a  place  called  Pautucket  Falls, 
^nd  a  straight  line  drawn  from  thence  due  west,  cross  the  said  river,  till  it 
meets  with  His  Majesty's  other  governments ;  by  which  determination  two 
third  parts  at  least  of  the  said  river  Merrimack,  with  the  lands  and  settlements 
thereon,  and  among  the  rest  the  said  towns  of  Pennicook,  or  Rumford,  and 
Suncook.  would  lay  upon  the  said  riverconsiderably  above  the  said  Pautucket 
falls,  were  excluded  out  of  the  said  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  which 
they  had  before  been  thought  and  reputed  to  be,  and  thrown  into  the  said 
■other  Province  of  New  Hampshire.  That  notwithstanding  his  Majesty'  had 
been  pleased,  at  the  time  of  issuing  the  said  coinmission,  to  fix  the  said  boun- 
dary, to  declare  the  same  was  not  to  affect  private  property :  yet  certain  per- 
sons in  New  Hampshire,  desirous  to  make  the  labors  of  others  an  advantage 
to  themselves,  and  to  possess  themselves  of  the  towns  of  Pennicook,  otherwise 
Rumford,  and  Suncook,  as  now  improved  by  the  industry  of  the  appellants 
and  the  said  first  settlers  thereof,  whom  they  seek  to  despoil  of  the  benefit  of 
all  their  labors. 

His  Majesty  this  day  took  the  said  report  into  consideration,  and  was 
pleased,  with  the  advice  of  his  privy  council,  to  approve  thereof,  and  to  order, 
as  it  is  hereby  ordered,  that  the  said  judgment  of  the  inferior  court  of  common 
pleas  of  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  of  the  2d  of  September,  1760,  and 
also  the  judgment  of  the  superior  court  of  judicature,  of  the  2d  Tuesday  in 
November,  affirming  the  same,  be  both  of  them  reversed,  and  that  the  appel- 
lants be  restored  to  what  they  may  have  lost  by  means  of  the  said  judgment, 
whereof  the  Governor  or  Commander-in-Chief  of  His  Majesty's  Province  of 
New  Hampshire,  for  the  time  being,  and  all  others  whom  it  may  concern,  are 
to  take  notice  and  govern  themselves  accordingly. 

But  notwithstanding  his  Majesty's  decision  the  controversy 
had  become  so  complicated,  and  involved  so  much  personal  in- 
terest and  feeling,  that  many  years  elapsed  before  its  final  set- 
tlement. The  difficulty  with  the  government  of  the  Province 
in  respect  to  taxes  was  terminated  by  a  charter  of  incorporation, 
but  conflicting  personal  interests  had  to  be  compromised.  The 
prudence,  decision,  and  readiness  for  reconciliation  on  just  prin- 
ciples, which  distinguished  the  proprietors  in  all  their  subse- 
quent proceedings,  appear  from  the  records.  The  controversy  was 
finally  terminated  in  1772.  The  common  lands  which  had  been 
reserved  were  divided  and  laid  off  to  the  respective  proprietors 
and  grantees. 

At  length  Mr.  Walker's  able  management  of  the  Bow  case  having 
won   a  favorable  decision,  Rumford  was  to  remain  intact,  and 


I 


lyCs]  KUVAl.    I'KOVINCE.  26/ 

so  was  Suncook.  Suncook,  however,  had  given  over  the  strug- 
gle and  was  no  more  ;  in  its  place  was  rcnibroke,  a  creation  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  New  Hampshire.  Who  would  blame 
their  worthv  divine,  the  Rev.  Aaron  Whittemore,  if  he  upbraided 
the  people  for  their  want  of  faith  in  the  paternal  guardianship 
oi  the  Old  15a)'  Colony,  in  whicli  he  hatl  filial  confidence  .-* 
Pi-obably  he  had  no  soft  answers  lo  turn  away  their  wralh,  but 
rather  enkindled  it  ;  for  thc\-  met  one  November  day  and  voted 
their  old  minister  out  of  his  parish.  Hei'e  their  anger  ended,  for 
the  next  year  they  petitioned  for,  and  obtained,  the  charter  for  a 
separate  parish  for  the  Presbyterians,  allowing  the  minority  to 
retain  the  services  of  their  faithful  minister  ;  and  not  forcing 
them,  in  retaliation  for  past  acts,  to  support  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Mitchel. 

^  In  1762  the  po[uilation  of  that  part  of  the  "Chesnut  Coun- 
try" called  Charmingfare  numbered  so  many  families  who  were 
obliged  to  make  their  way  o\'er  bridle-paths  and  through  woods 
ten  or  twelve  miles  to  meeting,  that  the  freeholders  of  Chester 
voted  to  set  off  a  new  parish  north  and  west  of  their  present 
limits  and  north  of  Long  Meadows,  now  Auburn.  The  new 
township  was  supposed  to  measure  five  and  one  half  miles  one 
■\va_\-,  by  four  miles  the  other,  being  nearly  a  parallelogram  in 
shape,  and  was  divided  into  one  hundred  and  thirty  proprietary 
lots. 

The  earliest  date  at  which  anyone  moved  within  the  limits  of 
the  new  parish  cannot  now  be  determined.  The  late  Colonel 
R.  E.  Patten  claimed  to  have  heard  it  said  by  one  of  the  fathers 
who  knew,  that  David  McClure  built  his  log  cabin  on  the 
north-east  slope  of  Patten's  hill,  in  1743.  Chase,  in  his  history 
of  Chester,  remarks  that  McClure  did  not  take  his  farm  at 
Chester  Centre  before  1744.  On  page  two  hundred  and  sixty, 
however,  of  that  history,  the  invoice  table  of  1741  gives  David 
McClure  as  assessed  for  a  house  and  a  horse. 

William  Turner,  generally  considered  the  first  settler,  and 
who  appears  to  have  been  in  Chester  in  1741,  or  before,  built  a 
house  in    1748,  on  a  swell  of   land    near   the    present    Candia 

'  F.  I!.  K.aton. 


268  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMf'SHIKE.  [ '  7^5 

village.  The  next  year  came  Benjamin  Smith  from  Exeter, 
and  began  a  clearing  about  one  half  mile  south-east.  Enoch 
Colby  came  from  Hampton  about  the  same  time,  and  settled  a 
mile  or  more  south-west  from  Turner.  They  appear  to  have 
been  neighborly,  for  Mr.  Turner  married  Colby's  sister,  and 
tlieir  daughter  Sarah  was  the  first  child  born  in  town.  In 
1753,  Nathaniel  Burpee  came  from  Rowley,  Massachusetts,  and 
built  one  quarter  of  a  mile  north  ;  he  united  in  his  person  two 
very  useful  functions  —  he  was  tailor  and  deacon.  After  this 
the  influx  of  population,  if  not  rapid,  was  steady.  The  earliest 
recorded  census  in  1767  giv^es  the  number  as  three  hundred  and 
sixty-three.      Eight  years  later  it  had  more  than  doubled. 

Under  the  consent  signified  by  the  vote  of  Chester,  thirty- 
eight  freeholders  petitioned  for  a  charter,  and  in  1763  it  was 
duly  granted  by  the  Governor,  Council  and  Assembly,  whereby 
"the  inhabitants  and  their  estates  are  made  a  parish  by  the 
name  of  Candia." 

In  Moore  and  Farmer's  New  Hampshire  Gazetteer,  it  is  said 
that  this  name  was  given  by  Governor  Benning  Wentworth, 
who  had  been  a  prisoner  on  the  island  of  Crete,  now  Candia,  in 
the  Mediterranean.  The  statement  was  adopted  in  Eaton's  His- 
tory, and  also  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Bouton,  in  some  notes  on 
the  names  of  towns  in  his  State  Papers.  I  have  not  seen  any 
allusion  to  this  impiisonment  in  Belknap's  or  in  Brewster's 
Rambles.  Some  circumstances  in  the  life  of  Wentworth,  how- 
ever, give  it  an  air  of  probability. 

It  is  to  the  distinction  of  the  people  of  that  rough  but  thrifty 
little  town,  that  the  world  knows  but  one  other  place  of  like 
name.  There  are  Chesters  and  Raymonds  and  Deerfields  in 
abundance,  but,  especially  to  those  to  the  manor  born,  but  one 
Candia  in  fact  or  in  sentiment. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  where  the  first  town  meeting 
was  held,  but  the  record  gives  us  no  hint,  though  John  Carr's 
tavern  was  surely  built  (and  is  now  the  oldest  inhabited  house 
in  town),  and  Deacon  Palmer's  "Lintel"  received  ^the  worship- 
ping congregation  on  Sunday. 

It   was  on  March  13,  1764,  that  this  precursor  of  a  long  and 


1765]  KOVAI.    PKONINCE.  269 

lively  series  of  March  meetings  was  called  by  Samuel  Emerson, 
Esq.,  duly  autiiorized  for  that  purpose.  Doctor  Samuel  Moore, 
as  the  record  styles  him,  who  came  from  Hampstead  two  years 
before,  was  chosen  Moderator  and  Parish  Clerk,  which  latter 
office  he  held  twenty-nine  years.  He  was  one  of  those  univer- 
sal factotums  useful  and  indispensable  in  the  building  up  of  new 
towns,  not  a  regular  physician  but  able  to  pull  teeth,  perform 
simple  surgical  operations,  and  give  common  sense  if  not  legal 
advice  in  matters  of  dispute.  His  wife  was  reputed  equally  effi- 
cient and  capable  in  her  own  particular  sphere. 

The  chief  reason  for  the  new  charter  was  the  difficulty  of  at- 
tending public  worship,  and  so  the  first  vote  to  raise  money  was 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  old  tenor,  to  hire  preaching, 
and  one  hundred  pounds  for  schooling.  A  small  sum,  the  old 
tenor  currency  having  depreciated  to  about  one  twentieth  of  its 
nominal  amount,  but  it  was  enough  for  immediate  use. 

"  Shirbane  "  Rowe  was  chosen  inspector  of  deer,  and  John 
Carr  tythingman.  Three  hawards  or  hay  wardens  were  also 
chosen,  whose  duty  it  was  to  take  up  and  impound  any  cattle 
found  trespassing  on  inclosures  or  cornfields. 

As  there  were  few  fences,  cattle  were  of  course  allowed  to 
roam  at  large,  as  well  as  sheep.  To  identify  the  sheep  a  system 
of  ear  marks  was  used,  and  they  are  recorded  in  quaint  lan- 
guage in  the  "  town  book,"  as  for  instance  :  "'Shirbane'  Roue's 
mark  for  creatures  a  happenny  under  side  left  ear."  "  Silas 
Cammet  mark  for  his  creatures  a  slit  in  ye  Rite  ear."  "  Nicho- 
las French's  mark  for  his  creatures  a  cropp  of  the  left  ear  swal- 
low tail  ye  right."  Inspectors  of  deer  were  appointed  to  see 
that  the  game  laws  were  enforced,  which  forbade  the  killing  of 
deer  at  certain  seasons.  The  tythingmen  served  as  local  police, 
not  only  maintaining  the  order  and  attention  in  meeting,  but 
they  arrested  unlucky  travellers  making  more  than  a  Sabbath 
day's  journey,  and  saw  that  the  guests  in  Colonel  John  Carr's 
Inn  did  not  carry  their  carousing  to  excess.  The  remaining 
officers  chosen  did  not  differ  in  title  or  function  from  those 
chosen  at   the   present  day,  and    therefore  call    for  no  mention. 

About  this  time  the  following  terse  vote  appears  upon  the 


270  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/65 

record,  without  gloss  or  comment  :     "  Concerning   Hoggs,  we 
will  stand  by  the  old  laws  in  that  case  provided." 

In  all  those  days  they  were  looking  out  for  a  minister, and  various  sums  were 
voted  for  preaching.  Rev.  Tristram  Oilman  very  acceptably  served  them  for 
forty-one  Snbhaths,  Rev.  Mr.  Webster  fifteen,  and  Rev.  Jonathan  Searle  ten. 
Besides,  Rev.  Messrs  Hall,  Joseph  Currier  and  Thomas  Lancaster  preached 
each  a  shorter  time.  Calls  were  extended  to  Messrs  Oilman  and  Searle,  but 
not  accepted.  Neither  were  the  schools  neglected,  eighteen  pounds  being 
appropi-iated  to  each  quarter  or  district,  and  a  writing  and  reading  school 
established  the  whole  of  the  year.  In  January,  1766,  the  amount  voted  for 
preaching  and  schools  was  more  than  doubled,  and  four  hundred  pounds  old 
tenor  expended  on  the  parsonage  lot.  September  8th,  at  a  special  meeting  of 
the  parish,  they  voted  sixty  pounds  lawful  money  in  labor,  and  five  pounds 
in  cash,  toward  building  a  meeting-house,  preaching  having  been  maintained 
meanwhile  in  Deacon  Palmer's  "  Lintel."  the  house  thus  designated  being  sit- 
uated a  few  rods  east  of  the  present  parsonage,  on  the  spot  where  the  late  N. 
B.  Hall  resided.  There  was  a  triangular  pediment  over  the  front  door  from 
which  the  name  given  to  the  v/hole  structure  doubtless  came.  Whether  this 
is  anything  more  than  a  local  term  my  observation  or  reading  does  not  inform 
me. 

It  was  voted,  that  the  meeting-house  frame  should  be  begun  on  the  22nd  of 
the  month,  and  "John  Clay,  Walter  Robie,  Esq.,  Benjamin  Cass,  Moses  Ba- 
ker, Jonathan  Bean,  Nathaniel  Emerson  and  Abraham  Fitts,"  were  chosen 
a  committee  to  take  the  work  in  charge. 

The  sixt}'  pounds  could  be  paid  in  labor  at  two  shillings  six  pence  per  day, 
or  in  lumber  at  current  rates,  and  the  frame  was  to  be  completed  by  the  last 
of  October.  If  any  member  of  the  parish  failed  to  pay  in  lumber  or  labor  the 
constable  could  collect  it  in  money. 

October  20th  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  assess  a  sutRcient  sum  to 
finish  the  frame,  and  codfish,  potatoes  and  butter  were  provided  for  the  rais- 
ing supper.  The  house  was  forty-five  feet  long  by  forty  wide  and  was  laid 
out  into  pew  lots  which  were  sold  to  raise  money  to  complete  the  building. 
Eighty-two  years  after,  when  this  meeting-house  was  burned,  a  neighboring^ 
blacksmith,  with  whimsical  thrift,  sowed  turnip  seed  in  the  ashes,  to  save,  as 
he  said,  the  interest  on  his  money.  Nearly  all  the  materials  required  could 
be  furnished  home  made,  except  the  glass,  and  in  order  to  provide  for  what 
the  record  calls  the  "glassing,"  liberty  was  given  to  cut  red  oak  timber  on  the 
school  and  parsonage  lots,  to  be  made  into  staves  three  feet  eight  inches  long. 
Eighteen  shillings  per  M  was  allowed  for  the  staves  until  enough  had  been 
cut  to  amount  to  sixty  pounds  lawful  monej'.  It  took  several  years  to  finish 
the  glazing,  and  in  1771  a  committee  was  chosen  to  look  after  the  glass  rate, 
and  see  that  no  more  red  oak  staves  were  cut  than  was  necessary.  Possibly 
the  incinnbent.  Rev.  Mr.  Jewett,  made  some  objections,  as  the  income  of  the 
lot  was  part  of  his  saIa^^■.  The  committee  oft'ered,  if  allowed  to  cut  the  staves, 
to  build  a  fence  around  the  lot. 


1765]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  27r 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  trials  of  a  frontier  life,  the  war  of 
the  Revolution  approached.  In  1770  they  had  called  and 
settled  the  Rev.  David  Jewett,  engaging  to  pay  him  eventually 
sixty-five  pounds  a  year,  with  the  income  of  the  parsonage,  ta 
build  him  a  house  and  barn,  and  dig  a  well,  thus  increasing  the 
burdens  of  the  day.  In  1796  a  steeple  and  porch  were  added 
to  the  meeting-house,  and  in  1802  a  bell  and  weather-cock. 
Major  Samuel  Moore  seems  to  have  been  the  contractor  for 
finishing  the  steeple,  as  it  is  said  that  he  employed  a  Ncwbury- 
port  copper-smith  to  make  the  weather-cock,  and  soon  after, 
failing  in  business,  did  not  pay  him.  The  town  had  paid  Mr, 
Moore  all  that  was  his  due,  but  on  a  representation  that  the 
copper-smith  was  a  poor  man,  voted  to  allow  his  claim.  One  of 
the  townsmen,  antedating  Wall  Street  by  a  century,  hurried  down 
to  Newbury,  bought  the  claim  at  half  price,  paying  in  sugar 
which  he  had  got  in  trade,  probably  for  barrels,  and  came  back 
to  the  selectmen  to  realize  :  by  some  means  the  transaction 
became  known  to  the  town  fathers,  and  they  sent  down  the  full 
amount  to  the  artisan.  Let  us  be  thankful  that  thus  this  bird  was 
an  honest  rooster,  and  served  the  parish  well  for  thirty-si.x  years^ 
when,  at  the  burning  of  the  house,  he  took  his  final  flight,  and 
was  resolved  into  his  native  copper,  ceasing  forever  to  breast 
the  storm,  or  guide  the  winds.  The  oaken  frame  of  the  house 
was  very  massive,  but,  heavy  as  it  was,  the  famous  gale  of  Sep- 
tember, 18 1 5,  started  the  roof,  which  was  seen  to  lift  as  if 
meditating  a  flight,  but  finally  thought  better  of  it,  and  settled 
back  to  its  old  position. 

The  house  stood  on  the  hill,  or  central  plateau,  fronting  the 
south,  and  not  far  from  the  geographical  centre  of  the  parish  ;  it 
was  at  least  beautiful  for  situation. 

^  In  June,  1735,  the  Massachusetts  General  Court  granted  to 
Samuel  King  and  others,  in  consideration  "  of  their  sufferings  " 
in  the  expedition  to  Canada  in  the  year  1690,  the  township  of 
Lyndeborough,  and  about  one  third  of  Wilton  on  the  north 
side,  under  the  name  of  Salem  Canada.  In  this  part  of  Wilton, 
in  June,  1739,  was  the  first  settlement  made.     The  first  settlers 

'  J.  B.  Conner. 


2/2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

were  Ephraim  and  Jacob  Putnam,  and  John  Dale,  who  removed 
to  this  place  from  Danvers,  Mass.  In  1749  the  Masonian  pro- 
prietors made  a  grant  of  the  rest  of  the  town  under  certain 
conditions,  to  forty-six  persons.  The  grantees  had  it  laid  out, 
and  annexed  to  a  part  of  Salem  Canada,  and  called  No.  2.  It 
was  incorporated  June  25,  1762,  under  the  name  of  Wilton,  a 
name  probably  derived  from  an  ancient  borough  in  Wiltshire, 
England;  and  the  first  town  meeting  was  held  July  27,  1762, 
twenty-three  years  after  the  first  settlement.  Before  the 
Revolution,  a  range  of  lots,  half  a  mile  wide,  was  set  off  to  Tem- 
ple, and  thus  the  town  finally  assumed  its  present  size  and 
shape.  Improvements  of  all  kinds  were  slow  and  gradual. 
The  first  settlers  went  to  Dunstable  to  mill  ;  and  when  Shep- 
pard's  mill  in  Milford,  seven  miles  distant,  was  built,  it  was  so 
great  a  convenience  that  it  was  hardly  thought  less  of  than  a 
modern  railroad.  The  first  grist  mill  in  Wilton  was  built  by 
Deacon  Samuel  Greeley  of  Nottingham  West.  The  first  saw 
mill  was  near  Philip  Putnam's,  on  the  North  Stream  (Stony 
Brook).  The  second  grist  and  saw  mill  was  Hutchinson's,  at 
the  east  village.  These  were  all  the  grist  mills  erected  before 
the  Revolution.  The  roads  were  at  first  little  more  than  foot- 
paths marked  by  spotted  trees.  For  a  long  time  there  were 
apprehensions  of  danger  from  the  Indians  ;  Wilton  seems  never 
to  have  been  a  fixed  residence  for  them,  but  merely  a  hunting- 
ground.  They,  however,  lived  along  the  Merrimack,  and  in 
time  of  hostility,  or  when  hostility  was  feared,  the  first  settlers 
went  into  garrison.  This  continued  about  ten  years.  One 
garrison  was  in  Milford,  the  other  in  Lyndeborough,  near 
where  Ephraim  Putnam  settled.  The  ecclesiastical  history  of 
our  New  England  towns  has  always  been  of  great  interest  and 
importance,  and  it  must  be  gratifying  to  all  whose  native 
place  is  Wilton,  that  the  means  for  religious  improvement  have 
€ver  been  carefully  provided  by  its  inhabitants. 

When  the  town  was  first  laid  out,  one  share  of  two  hundred 
acres  was  set  apart  for  the  first  minister,  and  another  for  the 
support  of  the  ministrv.  There  had  been  occasional  preaching 
here  most  of  the  time  ;  and  from  the  records  it  appears  that  at 


1765]  ROYAL  PROVINCE.  273 

least  two  persons  had  been  invited  to  settle;  but  the  first 
minister  actually  installed  was  Mr.  Jonathan  Livermore,  who 
was  ordained  December  14,  1763;  on  the  same  day  a  church 
was  formed,  consisting  of  eight  male  members.  Mr.  Livermore 
was  minister  thirteen  years  and  resigned.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned as  an  interesting  fact,  that  there  were  only  two  families 
in  town  during  his  ministry  whose  children  were  not  baptized. 
The  first  meeting-house  was  built  in  1752.  It  was  used  twenty- 
one  years  and  then  taken  down. 

The  second  one  was  built  during  tlie  ministry  of  Mr.  Livermore.  They 
commenced  raising  it  in  September,  1773.  Such  things  were  conducted  differ- 
ently then  from  what  they  are  now,  and  were  considered  a  work  of  two  days. 
People  came  from  distant  towns  to  see  the  spectacle,  and  great  preparations 
were  made.  A  committee  of  the  town  appointed  the  raisers,  and  ample  pro- 
visions were  made  to  entertain  sti angers.  The  morning  dawned  amid  all 
the  glories  of  that  beautiful  season,  and  people  from  all  parts  came  in  great 
numbers.  Some  came  on  foot,  and  some  practised  the  method,  unknown  to 
modern  days,  of  riding  and  tying;  others  were  on  horseback  with  their 
wives  or  sisters  behind  on  a  pillion.  It  was  an  occasion  of  universal  expecta- 
tion. The  timbers  were  all  prepared,  the  workmen  i-eady,  and  the  master- 
workman,  full  of  the  dignity  of  his  office,  issuing  his  orders  to  his  aids.  All 
went  on  prosperously.  The  good  cheer,  the  e.\citement  of  the  work,  the  crowd 
of  spectators,  men  looking  on,  women  telling  the  news,  boys  playing  their 
various  games,  all  made  it  a  scene  of  general  rejoicing.  The  sides  of  the 
house  were  already  up,  and  also  a  part  of  the  roof  at  the  east  end  of  the  build- 
ing. One  of  the  raisers  from  Lyndeborough,  Captain  Bradford,  had  brought 
over  his  wife,  whom  he  left  on  account  of  illness  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Baldwin, 
while  he  went  on  to  take  part  in  the  work.  Having  to  pass  along  the  centre 
of  the  building,  he  observed  that  the  middle  beam,  extending  across  the  centre 
of  the  church,  was  not  properly  supported.  A  post  was  under  the  centre,  but 
it  was  worm-eaten  and  was  already  beginning  to  yield  and  give  way  under  the 
pressure.  In  raising  the  middle  part  of  the  roof,  the  weight  of  the  workmen 
would  come  on  this  beam,  which  was  evidently  not  strong  enough  to  bear  up 
the  timbers  and  men.  He  immediately  ascended  to  the  roof  and  informed  the 
master-workman,  who,  being  made  over-confident  by  the  success  thus  far,  re- 
plied that  if  he  was  afraid  he  could  go  home,  that  they  wanted  no  cowards 
there.  Indignant  at  the  reply,  Captain  Bradford  went  down  and  started  ofi'  for 
his  wife,  with  the  intention  of  returning  home.  Before  reaching  Mr.  Baldwin's 
he  looked  back,  and  saw  the  men  swarming  upon  the  unsupported  beam. 
They  were  raising  up  with  much  exertion  and  shouts  of  direction  and  encour- 
agement the  beams  and  rafters,  when  suddenly  he  saw  the  frame  already 
erected  tremble,  the  men  shrink  back  aghast;  the  building  seemed  to  rock  for 
a  moment  to  and  fro,  then  all,  timbers  and  tools  and  men,  rushed  down  to- 
gether in  one  mingled  mass.     The  crash  was  so  loud  as  to  be  fteard   nearly  a 


274  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1765 

mile.  For  a  moment  all  was  silent,  then  the  air  was  filled  with  groans, 
and  outcries,  and  shrieks  of  terror.  Of  the  fifty-three  men  who  fell  with  the 
frame,  three  were  instantly  killed,  two  died  shortly  afterward,  and  most  of 
the  others  were  more  or  less  mangled  and  wounded.  To  understand  the  im- 
pression that  the  event  made  at  the  time,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
whole  population  of  the  town  was  less  than  five  hundred.  At  a  fast  which 
was  kept,  Mr.  Livermore  preached  from  the  text,  which  then  must  have  been 
peculiarly  impressive  :  "  Except  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they  labor  in  vain 
that  build  it."  After  many  mishaps  the  church  was  finally  completed  near 
the  end  of  the  year  1774,  and  dedicated  the  next  January,  when  Mr.  Livermore 
preached  a  sermon  from  the  text:  "But  who  am  I  and  what  is  my  people, 
that  we  should  be  able  to  offer  so  willingly  after  this  sort."  In  July,  1S04, 
the  house  was  struck  with  lightning,  and  the  middle  part  at  the  end  rent  from, 
top  to  bottom. 

In  former  days,  before  people  had  become  so  delicate  and 
luxurious  as  now,  there  was  no  fire  in  the  church  in  winter. 
The  older  men  chose  to  have  it  understood  that  their  zeal  kept 
them  warm  ;  while  the  young  men,  fearing  perhaps  lest  their 
reputation  for  hardihood  might  suffer  in  the  eyes  of  the  gentler 
sex,  would  not  confess  that  they  were  to  be  made  to  feel  cold 
by  any  weather.  But  it  has  been  intimated  that  there  were 
lads  who,  when  the  thermometer  was  at  zero,  by  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon  sermon,  were  ready,  after  some  misgivings,  to 
give  up  their  reputation  for  zeal  and  pride  of  sex,  for  the 
chance  of  holding  their  fingers  for  a  few  moments  over  their 
mother's  foot-stove. 

Many  of  the  town  papers  relating  to  the  affairs  of  Wilton 
during  the  war  of  the  Revolution  have  been  lost.  An  examin- 
ation of  those  remaining  prove,  that  nearly  every  able-bodied 
man  belonging  in  the  town  was  out  in  the  war,  and  either  did 
service  personally,  or  hired  another  to  fill  his  place  for  a  longer 
or  shorter  period.  Wilton  was  represented  in  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  and  a  large  number  of  her  men  were  in  the  army 
at  Cambridge.  It  is  known  that  at  least  eight,  and  probably 
more,  were  in  the  battle  of  Bennington,  one  of  whom, 
Ebenezer  Perry,  was  killed. 

New  Ipswich,  Wilton,  and  Dresham  were  incorporated  in 
1762.  The  former  town  was  granted  by  Massachusetts  and 
settled,  before   1749,  by    Reuben     Kidder,     Archibald    White,. 


1765]  ROVAi.  rkovi.xcE.  275 

Joseph  and  Ebenezcr  Ballard,  Joseph  Stevens,  and  others.  It 
was  regranted  in  1750  by  tlie  Masonian  proprietors.  The  first 
minister  was  Rev.  Stephen  Farrar,  who  died  in  1809.  He  was 
succeeded,  in  181 2,  by  Rev.  Richard  Hale. 

^  Lisbon  was  first  granted  in  the  year  1763,  under  the  name 
of  Concord,  which  name  it  retained  for  the  succeeding  five  years. 
The  grantees  not  complying  with  the  conditions  of  the  charter, 
the  same  became  forfeited,  as  was  supposed,  and  in  1768  it  was 
i"egranted  to  an  entirely  new  company  of  proprietors,  under  the 
name  of  Gunthwaite.  Through  the  influence  of  Captain  Leon- 
ard Whiting,  who  was  instrumental  in  procuring  the  second 
charter,  and  Major  John  Young,  of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  some  set- 
tlements were  made.  Matters,  however,  progressed  slowly,  and 
for  several  years  there  were  but  few  additions.  The  war  of 
the  Revolution  came  to  a  close,  and  a  new  impetus  was  given 
to  emigration. 

In  the  year  1785  there  were  comfortably  ensconced  in  log 
cabins  forty  families,  besides  a  respectable  contingent  of  bachel- 
ors. After  the  first  influx  subsequent  to  the  war,  emigration  in 
some  degree  abated  ;  yet  each  year  witnessed  a  sure  and  steady 
increase,  and  evidently  the  morning  of  prosperity  began  to 
dawn  upon  the  new  colony.  The  genuine  prosperity  which  had 
rewarded  the  efforts  of  tlie  Gunthwaite  proprietors  was  coveted 
by  the  original  grantees.  They  came  forward,  laid  claim  to  the 
township,  and,  as  is  surmised,  made  some  kind  of  a  compromise 
with  certain  influential  citizens.  The  controversy  thus  raised 
was  followed  by  litigation,  which  culminated  in  the  restoration 
of  the  Concord  charter.  Hence,  as  by  a  single  stroke  of  the 
pen,  the  Gunthwaite  titles  were  extinguished,  and  the  poor  set' 
tier,  who  with  his  wife  and  children  during  these  years  had 
shared  all  the  privations  of  pioneer  life  and  had  begun  to  enjoy 
some  of  the  comforts  so  dearly  earned,  was  at  once  deprived  of 
his  home,  with  nothing  left  but  his  pittance  of  personal  property. 
A  part  of  the  settlers  abandoned  their  claims  and  went  to 
Canada  and  places  further  north  ;  others  endeavored  to  sell 
their  improvements,  —  but  no  one  was  willing  to  purchase,  so 

'  .Samuel  Kmery. 


2/6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

prevalent  was  a  feeling  of  distrust  and  uncertainty.  Every  one 
knew  that  the  first  charter  had  actually  been  forfeited,  and  that 
points  had  been  carried  by  the  dint  of  bulldozing  and  fraud ; 
and  yet  there  was  no  redress,  inasmuch  as  the  courts  had  decided 
against  them.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  citizens  remained 
upon  their  farms  and  awaited  the  issue  ;  and  when  the  claims 
of  the  Concord  proprietors  were  fully  established  and  acknowl- 
edged, finding  they  must  yield  to  the  inevitable,  they  pur- 
chased their  farms  over  again.  At  length  the  excitement  and 
disturbance  subsided,  and  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  the  name 
of  Concord  was  resumed,  and  retained  until  1824,  when  it  was 
changed  to  Lisbon. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  town  were  Samuel  Martin,  Ebenezer  Richardson, 
William  Belknap,  and  Samuel  Sherman  ;  then  followed  the  Youngs,  the  most 
influential  family  through  a  considerable  period  ;  afterwards  came  these,  being 
the  surnames, — Dexter,  Darlej,  Judd,  Parker,  Aldrich,  Jesseman,  Bishop, 
Harris,  Rowland.  Northey,  Hildreth,  Jewett,  Colby,  Qi,iimby,  Streeter, 
'Spooner,  Oakes,  Priest,  Noyes,  Jameson,  Taylor,  Haines,  Applebee,  Morse, 
Bailey,  Ash,  Whitcomb,  Smith,  Page,  Wells,  Knapp,  Kinneston,  Burt,  Kay. 
Emery,  Cushman,  Moris,  Kelsea,  Gurnsey,  Mclntire,  Cooley,  Whiting,  Bar- 
rett, Clark,  Walker,  Palmer,  Robins,  Cole,  Eastman,  Whipple,  Cobleigh, 
Kimball,  Savage,  Gould,  and  Ela, — besides  individuals  and  other  families, 
perhaps  equally  early,  but  not  so  numerous. 

^  Gilsum  originally  included  the  larger  part  of  both  Sullivan 
and  Surry,  and  was  first  granted  in  1752,  under  the  name  of 
Boyle.  It  was  regranted  in  1763,  and  received  its  present 
unique  name  from  a  combination  of  the  names  of  two  of  its  lead- 
ing proprietors,  Colonel  Samuel  Gilbert  and  his  son-in-law.  Rev. 
Clement  Sumner.  Its  earliest  settlers  were  from  Connecticut, 
largely  from  Hebron,  Bolton,  and  Glastonbury.  The  promi- 
nent family  names  of  the  first  few  years  were  Kilburn,  Dewey, 
Wilcox,  Adams,  Pease,  Hurd,  Bliss,  and  Bill,  of  which  only 
Hurd  and  Bill  now  remain. 

Gilsum  had  no  Tories  in  the  Revolution,  and  has  always  fur- 
nished her  full  quota  of  men  when  called  to  defend  the  liberties 
of  the  people  or  the  nation's  honor.  Twenty  names  are  credited 
to  Gilsum  on  the  Revolutionary  rolls  of  the  State,  while  the 

*  Sylvanus  Hayward. 


1765]  ROVAT.    PROVINCE.  277 

wliolc  number  of  men  between  sixteen  and  fifty,  in  1777,  was 
only  thirty-nine.  Seven  Gilsum  men  served  in  the  war  of  18 12, 
and  seven  more  volunteered,  but  were  not  called  for.  In  the 
war  of  the  Rebellion,  Gilsum  furnished  seventy  one  men, 
twenty-nine  of  whom  were  her  own  citizens. 

A  Congregational  church  was  organized  here  in  1772,  but  no 
minister  was  secured  till  1794,  when  Rev.  Elisha  Fish  was  set- 
tled by  the  toivn,  and  remained  till  his  death  in  1807.  Opposi- 
tion to  the  old  system  of  supporting  preaching  by  public  taxa- 
tion was  very  early  developed,  and  after  Mr.  Fish's  death  no 
minister  was  settled  by  the  town.  The  only  church  in  Gilsum 
at  the  present  time  is  the  original  one  above  mentioned,  now 
passing  its  one  hundred  and  ninth  year,  with  about  forty  resi- 
dent members.  A  Methodist  church,  of  considerable  numbers 
and  activity,  flourished  here  for  some  years,  but  is  now  dis- 
banded. A  Christian  church  was  established  here  about  sixty 
years  since,  and  numbered  many  converts,  now  mostly  dispersed 
to  other  churches.  A  feeble  Baptist  church  was  removed  here 
from  Sullivan,  but  survived  only  a  few  years.  A  branch  of  the 
Mormon  church  was  organized  in  town  in  1841,  numbering 
nearly  fifty  resident  members.  Some  perished  on  their  way  to 
Utah,  and  some  are  now  residents  of  that  Territory. 

A  grist  mill  and  saw-mill  was  built  in  1776.  In  18 13  Luther 
Whitney  built  a  clothing  mill  on  the  brook  near  his  father's 
house.  Seven  years  later  he  removed  to  the  village.  In  1832 
the  manufacture  of  cloth  was  first  undertaken  by  David  Brig- 
ham  and  H.  G.  Howe.  Since  then  woollen  manufactures  in  va- 
rious forms  have  been  the  most  important  industry  of  the  place. 
Though  Gilsum  has  sent  out  almost  no  men  of  national  reputa- 
tion, yet  many  useful  men,  and  men  of  considerable  local  dis- 
tinction, are  identified  with  Gilsum  history. 

^  Lancaster  was  incorporated  on  the  5th  of  July,  1763,  and 
owes  its  early  settlement,  like  many  other  events  in  the  world, 
to  passion.  David  Page,  Esq.,  grand  uncle  of  Governor  Page, 
dissatisfied  with  the  division  of  the  rights  in  Haverhill,  and 
having    been     advised     of     the    extent    antl     fertility    of    our 

•John  W.   Weeks. 


278  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

"meadows"  by  some  of  the  survivors  of  that  party  of  Rogers'" 
Rangers,  who,  after  the  destruction  of  the  village  of  St.  Fran- 
cois, reached  and  passed  down  the  waters  of  the  Connecticut, 
being  a  man  of  great  resolution,  resolved  to  penetrate  at  once 
to  the  Upper  Coos.  With  this  view,  in  the  autumn  of  1763,  he 
sent  his  son,  David  Page,  Jr.,  and  Emmons  Stockv/ell,  to  build 
a  camp,  and  winter  in  Lancaster.  In  the  year.  1764,  David 
Page,  Esq.  (  called  by  the  settlers  Governor  Page),  with  his  large 
family,  "moved"  to  Lancaster,  followed  by  several  young  men, 
eager  to  improve,  or  rather  make,  their  fortune.  The  best 
tracts  of  land  were  immediately  occupied,  and  were  so  pro- 
ductive that  for  many  years  manure  was  considered  unnecessary, 
and  was  actually  thrown  over  banks  and  into  hollows,  where  it 
would  be  most  out  of  the  way.  At  this  period  there  was  no 
settlement  between  Haverhill  and  Lancaster,  and  but  few  north 
of  Number  Four,  now  Charlestown.  There  being  no  roads,  the 
settlers  suffered  inconceivable  hardships  in  transporting  their 
necessaries,  few  as  they  were,  being  obliged  to  navigate  their 
log  canoes  up  and  down  the  "fifteen  mile  falls,"  now  known  to 
be  twenty  miles  in  length,  with  a  descent  of  more  than  three 
hundred  feet ;  and  in  winter  to  pass  the  same  dangerous  rapids 
in  sleighs  and  with  ox-teams,  frequently  falling  through  the  ice, 
and  sometimes  never  rising  above  it.  High  water  to  descend, 
and  low  water  to  ascend,  were  thought  the  most  favorable 
tmies. 

The  first  town  meeting  was  held  on  the  nth  of  March,  1769. 

The  first  mill  was  operated  by  horse  power,  but  so  illy  con- 
structed, that  it  was  little  better  than  the  large  mortar  and 
pestle  attached  to  a  pole,  which  was  used  by  many.  A  "watei' 
mill"  was  erected,  and  soon  after  burnt;  another  and  another 
met  the  same  fate.  These  disasters,  with  the  Revolutionary  war,, 
reduced  the  settlers  to  extreme  distress.  Newcomb  Blodgett 
and  some  others  being  captured  by  the  Indians  and  carried  to 
Canada,  led  to  the  determination  of  abandoning  the  country ; 
and  for  this  purpose  the  settlers  collected  at  the  house  of 
Emmons  Stockwell,  whose  resolution  never  forsook  him,  even 
for  a  moment.      "  My  family,"  said  he,  "and  I  shan't  go,"     This 


WARREN,    N.   H. 


I765]  ROVAI,    PKOVINXE.  2/9 

remark  changed  the  opinion  of  several  families,  who  remained, 
yet  with  but  very  few  accessions  to  the  end  of  the  great  and 
glorious  struggle. 

On  the  /th  of  January,  1776,  Joseph  Whipple  was  chosen  to 
represent  the  towns  of  Lancaster,  Northumberland,  Dartmouth 
(now  Jefferson  ),  Apthorp  (merged  in  other  towns  )  and  Strat- 
ford. Voted  to  give  their  representatives  "instructions  from 
time  to  time."  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  Joseph  Whipple  was 
again  elected  to  the  same  office, —  a  vote  of  thanks  passed  for 
his  past  services,  and  a  committee  of  five  was  chosen  to  give 
him  instructions  for  the  future.  Thus  was  the  right  of  instruc- 
tion established  to  govern  the  first  representative.  Near  and 
soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  several  families,  who  had  lost 
much  of  their  property  during  the  conflict,  migrated  to  Lan- 
caster. Major  Jonas  Wilder,  with  a  large  and  highly  respectable 
family,  was  of  the  jiumber.  He  built  a  "grist  ami  sawmill." 
In  May,  1787,  Captain  John  Weeks,  for  a  like  reason,  came  to  this 
town.  At  the  March  meeting  in  1789,  twenty  votes  were  cast 
for  State  officers  ;  and  even  this  small  number  were  divided  by 
important  political  considerations;  twelve  friends  to  popular 
rights  however  prevailed. 

Li  the  year  1763  charters  were  granted  with  a  lavish  hand. 
Poplin,  or  Fremont,  Alstead,  Candia,  New  Boston,  Warren, 
Haverhill,  Woodstock,  Lancaster,  Gilsum,  Plymouth,  Cornish, 
and  Croydon  were  incorporated. 

Claremont,  Weare,  Benton,  Lincoln,  P'ranconia,  Pieimont, 
Lyndeborough,  Raymond,  Newington  and  Unity  were  incorpor- 
ated in  1764. 

Claremont  was  chartered  by  George  HL,  October  26,  1764. 
Josiah  Willard,  Samuel  Ashlev  and  sixty-eight  others  were  the 
grantees.  It  received  its  name  from  the  country-seat  of  Lord 
Clive,  an  English  general.  The  first  settlement  was  made  in 
1762  by  Moses  Spafford  and  David  Lynde.  In  1763  and  1766 
several  other  inhabitants  arrived.  In  1767  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  proprietors  and  others  from  the  towns  of  P^armington, 
Hebron  and  Colchester,  in  Connecticut,  made  settlements  in 
different  parts  of  the  town.      The  first  native  of  Claremont  was 


280  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^5 

Elijah,  son  ot  Moses  Spafford,  who  was  born  in  1763.  Among- 
the  early  inhabitants  to  whose  enterprise  the  town  was  essen- 
tially indebted  for  its  prosperity,  may  be  mentioned  Samuel 
Cole,  Esq.,  who  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1731,  and  was 
for  many  years  very  useful  as  an  instructor  of  youth.  He  died 
at  an  advanced  age.  Dr.  William  Sumner,  a  native  of  Boston, 
who  came  to  this  place  in  1768  from  Hebron,  Connecticut,  was 
a  resident  several  years  in  Claremont,  where  he  died  in  March, 
1778.  Colonel  Benjamin  Sumner,  who  was  many  years  a  civil 
magistrate,  died  in  May,  181 5,  aged  seventy-eight.  Colonel  Jo- 
seph Waite,  who  was  engaged  in  the  French  and  Indian  war,  was 
captain  of  one  of  Rogers'  companies  of  Rangers,  and  com- 
manded a  regiment  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  died  in  October, 
1776.  Captain  Joseph  Taylor,  who  was  engaged  in  the  Cape 
Breton,  the  French,  and  the  Revolutionary  wars,  who  was,  with 
one  P^arwell,  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians  in  the  summer  of 
1755,  carried  to  Canada  and  sold  to  the  trench,  returned  to 
Claremont,  and  died  in  March,  181 3,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four. 
Hon.  Samuel  Ashle)^  moved  to  this  town  in  1782.-  He  was  in 
the  wars  of  1745  and  1755.  He  sustained  several  civil  offices, 
and  was  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  died  in 
February,  1792. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  the  town  was  divided 
between  the  Whigs  and  Tories,  the  Loyalists  being  in  a  min- 
ority. No  overt  acts  on  their  part  having  been  undertaken, 
they  lived  at  peace  with  their  neighbors  throughout  the  war, 
although  under  the  watch  of  a  self-appointed  Committee  of 
Safety  from  among  the  citizens  of  Claremont  and  adjoining 
towns. 

The  early  inhabitants  were  about  equally  divided  in  their 
attachment  to  Episcopacy  and  Congregational  principles.  The 
churches  of  these  dendminations  may  be  considered  as  coeval. 
At  a  town  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Jones,  May  9, 
1 77 1,  it  was  decided  to  settle  in  town  a  minister  of  the  Gospel. 
A  committee  of  three  was  chosen  and  instructed  to  apply  to 
Mr.  Elijah  Parsons  to  come  and  preach  as  a  candidate;  "but  if 
he  fails,   to  apply  to   Dr.   Wheelock   (president  of  Dartmouth 


1765]  K(n'Ai.  rKOviNCK.  281 

College)  for  advice  who  to  apply  to  in  his  room."  The  first 
minister  settled  by  the  Congregational  society  was  Rev.  George 
Wheaton,  who  was  ordained  Feb.  19,  1772. 

The  first  minister  of  the  Episcopal  society  was  Rev.  Ranna 
Cossit,  who  sailed  for  England  for  holy  orders  in  December, 
1772.  He  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  but  was 
•succeeded  in  1775  by  Rev.  Daniel  Barber,  who  continued  in  the 
ministry  there  until  18 18. 

The  first  services  were  held  in  the  "  South  School-house,"  the 
meeting-house  of  that  day,  which  stood  on  Jarvis  hill,  in  the 
west  part  of  the  town.  It  was  a  frame  building  covered  with 
rough  boards,  furnished  with  rude  benches  for  seats,  and  having 
only  the  ground  for  a  floor.  The  first  meeting-house  was  built 
in  1 791,  on  the  road  from  Claremont  village  to  the  Junction, 
near  the  Draper  place.  It  was  subsequently  enlarged  and  was 
occupied  by  the  society  until  1836,  soon  after  which  it  was 
moved  to  the  village;  it  is  now  a  part  of  the  town-house. 

Raymond,  Conway,  Concord,  Centre  Harbor,  Dunbarton, 
Hopkinton,  Stark,  Lee,  and  Deerfield  were  incorporated  in 
1765. 

Acworth,  Bridgewater,  Burton,  Eaton,  Albany,  and  Farns- 
worth  were  incorporated  in  i  ^66. 

^  The  town  of  Wentworth  was  chartered  by  Gov.  Benning 
Wentworth  in  1766.  There  were  originally  sixty  grantees  or 
proprietors,  mostly  residing  in  the  towns  of  Kingston,  East 
Kingston,  Hawke  (now  Danville),  and  South  Hampton,  which 
originally  included  what  is  now  Seabrook,  and  Salisbury,  Mass. 
The  charter  is  in  the  usual  form  of  the  charters  of  those  days. 
"  In  the  name  of  George  the  Third,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  of 
Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith," 
etc.  A  tract  of  land  si.x  miles  square  was  granted,  containing 
23,040  acres,  "out  of  which  an  allowance  is  to  be  made  for  high- 
ways and  unimprovable  lands,  by  rocks,  ponds,  mountains,  and 
rivers,  1,040  acres."  The  land  was  to  be  divided  into  si.xty-six 
equal  shares,  and  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  Warren,  east  by 
Rumney,  south  by  Dorchester,  and  west  by  Orford  — and  to  be 

'   Hon.  J.  E.  Sargent. 


282  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^5 

known  as  the  town  of  Wentworth  ;  and  its  inhabitants  were  de- 
clared to  be  enfranchised  with  and  entitled  to  all  the  privi- 
leges and  immunities  which  other  towns  exercise  and  enjoy. 
When  the  town  should  consist  of  fifty  families  resident  therein, 
they  were  to  have  the  liberty  of  holding  two  fairs  therein  annu- 
ally, and  that  a  market  may  be  opened  and  kept  open  one  or 
more  days  in  each  week.  Provision  is  made  for  the  calling  of 
the  first  meeting  of  the  proprietors,  and  the  annual  meetings 
thereafter.  "  To  have  and  to  hold  "  said  granted  premises  upon 
the  following  conditions  :  Every  grantee  shall  plant  and  culti- 
vate five  acres  of  land  within  five  years,  for  every  fifty  acres 
contained  in  his  or  their  shares  or  proportions,  in  said  township, 
on  penalty  of  forfeiture,  etc.  All  white  pine  trees  in  said  town- 
ship, "  fit  for  masting  our  Royal  Navy,"  to  be  preserved  and 
not  to  be  cut  without  permission  ;  upon  the  division  of  the  lands, 
a  tract  of  land  as  near  the  centre  of  the  town  as  may  be,  to  be 
marked  off  as  town  lots  of  the  contents  of  one  acre,  one  of 
which  lots  shall  be  assigned  to  each  proprietor.  The  rent  to 
be  paid  for  the  same  is  one  ear  of  English  corn  per  annum ; 
and  in  1777,  on  the  25th  day  of  December,  one  shilling  procla- 
mation money  for  every  hundred  acres  of  land  owned  by  him, 
was  to  be  paid  by  every  proprietor  and  owner  to  the  King,  and 
in  the  same  ratio  for  a  larger  or  smaller  tract,  which  was  to  be 
in  full  of  all  future  rents  and  services. 

Dated  November  i,  1766. 

There  was  a  reservation  of  five  hundred  acres  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  plan  of  the  town,  marked  "  B.  W.  "  and 
known  as  the  Governor's  reservation. 

This  charter  was  granted  to  John  Paige,  Esq.,  and  fifty-nine 
others.  There  were  five  sons  of  said  John  Paige,  Esq.,  who 
were,  with  him,  grantees  and  proprietors  of  the  town,  namely,. 
Samuel,  Moses,  John,  Ephraim,  and  Enoch.  They  all  lived  in 
Salisbury,  Mass.,  and  so  far  as  we  know  only  two  of  them  ever 
came  to  Wentworth.  The  two  younger  sons,  Ephraim  and 
Enoch,  afterwards  settled  in  Wentworth  and  died  there.  Proba- 
bly but  few  of  those  original  proprietors  ever  saw  any  part  of 
the  township  thus  granted   to  them.      We  cannot  learn  that  any 


1765]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  285 

others  of  the  whole  sixty  original  proprietors  ever  settled  in 
Wentworth,  except  Ephraim  and  Enoch  Paige. 

John  Paige,  Esq.,  the  first  grantee,  was  the  son  of  one  Onesi- 
phorus  Paige  of  Salisbury,  Mass.,  and  was  born  P^ebruary  21, 
1696.  He  married  Mary  Winsley,  of  said  Salisbury,  April  16, 
1720.  They  had  five  sons  and  several  daughters,  none  of  whom, 
so  far  as  we  know,  ever  came  to  Wentworth,  except  the  two 
youngest  sons  as  before  mentioned,  l^ut  they  were  not  among 
the  first  settlers  of  the  town. 

During  the  year  1770  the  first  settlement  was  made  in  town  by 
David  Maxfield,  Abel  Davis,  and  Ephraim  Lund,  and  in  the 
order  above  named,  though  all  in  the  same  season.  David  Max- 
well settled  on  the  White  farm,  as  it  was  formerly  called,  on  the 
intervale  since  occupied  by  Richard  Pillsbury  and  Colonel  Joseph 
Savage.  He  lived  in  town  about  two  years.  Abel  Davis  cleared 
a  small  piece  of  land  and  built  a  log  house  on  the  Jonathan 
Eames  place,  so-called,  and  since  occupietl  by  Daniel  Eames, 
and  now  by  Amos  Rollins.  This  house  was  west  of  the  pres- 
ent buildings  toward  the  river.  He  remained  in  town  but  a  short 
time,  removing  to  Vermont.  His  daughter,  Mary  Davis,  after- 
ward came  into  town  and  lived  with  Enoch  Paige's  family,  and 
became  the  second  wife  of  P2bcnezer  Gove,  one  of  the  early 
settlers,  about  1780.  Ephraim  Lund  erected  a  log  house  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  near  where  the  red  school-house  now  stands 
in  District  No.  i.  He  resided  in  town  for  five  or  six  years,  and 
then  removed  to  Warren,  where  he  afterward  lived  and  died  at 
an  advanced  age. 

Ephraim  Paige,  son  of  John  Paige,  Esq.,  and  Mary  Paige,  of 
Salisbury,  Mass.,  was  born  at  said  Salisbury,  March  16,  1731- 
He  married  Hannah  Currier  there,  and  had  ten  children  born 
in  Salisbury,  and  then  in  the  summer  of  1773  he  moved  his 
family  to  Wentworth,  where  he  had  three  more  children,  mak- 
ing thirteen  in  all — ten  daughters  and  three  sons.  John  Paige, 
the  eldest  son,  was  born  at  Salisbury  in  1769.  Samuel,  the  sec- 
ond son,  was  born  in  Wentworth  in  October,  1773,  and  is  .said 
to  have  been  the  first  male  child  born  in  the  town  of  Went- 
worth.     His   third  son,  Currier  Paige,  was  born    in  Wentworth, 


284  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

March  29,  1781,  and  was  the  youngest  of  the  family.  Ephraim 
first  settled  in  a  log  house- on  the  lower  end  of  the  intervale, 
since  owned  by  James  K.  Paige,  and  afterward  occupied  as  a 
town  farm,  near  the  brook.  The  road  that  then  passed  up  the 
west  side  of  the  river  went  east  of  the  village,  round  the  hil] 
.and  back  of  it,  to  the  intervale  above. 

Salisbury  was  incorporated  in  1767. 

1  In  the  political  canvass  in  our  State  which  closed  with  the 
March  election,  1858,  it  was  publicly  stated  by  some  of  the 
speakers  that  Judge  Webster,  the  father  of  Hon.  Daniel  Web- 
ster, could  neither  read  nor  zvrite.  There  is  sufficient  evidence 
in  Franklin  and  Salisbury  to  satisfy  the  most  sceptical  that  he 
could  not  only  read  and  write,  spell  and  cipher,  but  he  knew 
how  to  lend  the  means  to  found  a  State.  Daniel  Webster,  in 
his  autobiography,  gives  a  brief  but  too  modest  outline  o  f  the 
life  of  his  father.  His  acts  and  works  gave  him  deserved  in- 
fluence and  fame  in  the  region  of  his  home. 

Ebenezer  Webster  was  born  in  Kingston,  in  1739.  He 
resided  many  years  with  Major  Ebenezer  Stevens,  an  influential 
citizen  of  that  town,  and  one  of  the  first  proprietors  of  Salisbury, 
Salisbury  was  granted  in  1749,  and  first  named  Stevenstown,  in 
honor  of  Major  Stevens.  It  was  incorporated  as  Salisbury,  1767. 
Judge  Webster  settled  in  Stevenstown  as  early  as  1761.^  Pre- 
vious to  this  time  he  had  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  French  war, 
and  once  afterwards.  He  was  married  to  Mehitable  Smith,  his 
first  wife,  in  1761.  His  first  two  children  died  while  young. 
His  third  child  was  Susannah,  who  married  John  Colby,  and 
recently  died  in  Franklin.  He  had  also,  by  his  first  wife,  two 
sons  —  David,  who  died  some  years  since  at  Stanstead  ;  and 
Joseph,  who  died  in  Salisbury.  His  first  wife  died  in  1774. 
Judge  Webster  again  married — Abigail  Eastman,  in  1774.  By 
his  last  wife  he  had  five  children,  viz.:  Mehitable,  Abigail  (who 
married  Wm.  Hadduck);  Ezekiel,  born  March  11,  1780;  Dan- 
iel,  born  January   18,  i782,"^n«J   Sarah,  born  in  May,  1784,  and, 

■  Hon.  George  W.  Nesmith. 

2  When  Judge  Webster  first  settled  in  Stevenstown,  he  was  called  Ebenezer  Webster,  Jr.  I» 
1694,  Kingston  was  granted  to  James  Prescott  and  Ebenezer  Webster  and  others,  of  Hampton. 
He  descended  from  this  ancestry. 


1765]  ROVAL  PROVINCK.  285 

with  his  last  wife  and  many  of  his  cliiklrcn,  now  lies  buried  in 
the  graveyard  originally  taken  from  the  Elms  farm.  For  the 
first  seven  years  of  his  life,  after  he  settled  on  the  farm  now 
occupied  by  John  Taylor,  in  Franklin,  he  lived  in  a  log  cabin, 
located  in  the  orchard  west  of  the  highway,  and  near  Punch 
Brook.  Then  he  was  able  to  erect  a  house  of  one  story,  of 
about  the  same  figure  and  size  as  that  now  occupied  by  William 
Cross,  near  said  premises.  It  was  in  this  house  that  Daniel 
Webster  was  born.  In  1784  Judge  Webster  removed  to  the 
tavern  house,  near  his  intervale  farm,  and  occupied  that  until 
1800,  when  he  exchanged  his  tavern  house  with  William  Had- 
duck  for  that  where  he  died. 

In  1 76 1  Captain  John  Webster,  Eliphalet  Gale,  and  Judge 
Webster  erected  the  first  saw-mill  in  Stevenstown,  on  Punch 
Brook,  on  his  homestead  near  his  cabin. 

In  June,  1764,  Matthew  Pettengill,  Stephen  Call,  and  Eben- 
ezer  Webster  were  the  sole  highway  surveyors  of  Stevenstown. 
In  1765  the  proprietors  voted  to  give  Ebenezer  Webster  and 
Benjamin  Sanborn  two  hundred  acres  of  common  land,  in  con- 
sideration that  they  furnish  a  privilege  for  a  grist  mill,  erect  a 
mill  and  keep  it  in  repair  for  fifteen  years,  for  the  purpose  of 
grinding  the  town's  corn. 

In  1768  Judge  Webster  was  first  chosen  moderator  of  a  town- 
meeting  in  Salisbury,  and  he  was  elected  forty-three  times  after- 
wards, at  different  town  meetings  in  Salisbury,  serving  in  March, 
1803,  for  the  last  time. 

In  1769  he  was  first  elected  selectman,  and  held  that  office 
for  the  years  1771,  '72,  '74,  '76,  '80,  '8$,  '86  and  1788  ;  resigned 
it,  however,  in  September,  1776,  and  performed  a  six  months' 
service  in  the  army. 

In  1 77 1,  1772,  and  1773,  he  was  elected  and  served  in  the 
office  of  town  clerk.  In  1778  and  '80,  he  was  elected  represen- 
tative of  the  classed  towns  of  Salisbury  and  Boscawen ;  also, 
for  Salisbury,  1790  and  '91.  He  was  elected  senator  for  the 
years  1785,  '86,  '88,  and  '90;  Hillsborough  county  electing  two 
senators  at  this  time,  and  Matthew  Thornton  and  Robert  Wal- 
lace of    Henniker  served    as  colleagues,  each  for  two  of   said 


286  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

years.  He  was  in  the.  senate  in  1786,  at  Exeter,  when  the 
insurgents  surrounded  the  house.  His  proclamation  then  was, 
"I  command  you  to  disperse." 

In  March,  1778,  the  town  chose  Captain  Ebenezer  Webster 
and  Captain  Matthew  Pettengill  as  delegates  to  a  convention  to  be 
held  at  Concord,  Wednesday,  June  10,  "for  the  sole  purpose  of 
forming  a  permanent  plan  of  government  for  the  future  well 
being  of  the  good  people  of  this  State." 

In  1788,  January  16,  Colonel  Webster  was  elected  delegate  to 
the  convention  at  Exeter,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
proposed  United  States  Constitution.  A  committee  was  also 
chosen  by  the  town  to  examine  said  constitution  and  advise 
with  said  delegate.  This  committee  was  composed  of  Joseph 
Bean,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Fifield,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Cram,  Capt. 
Wilder,  Dea.  John  Collins,  Edward  Eastman,  John  C.  Gale, 
Capt.  Robert  Smith,  Leonard  Judkins,  Dea.  Jacob  True,  Lieut. 
Bean,  Lieut.  Severance,  and  John  Smith.  At  the  first  meeting 
of  the  convention  in  February,  Colonel  Webster  opposed  the 
constitution  under  instructions  from  his  town. 

A  majority  of  the  convention  was  found  to  be  opposed  to  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution.  The  convention  adjourned  to 
Concord,  to  meet  in  the  succeeding  month  of  June.  In  the  mean- 
time Colonel  Webster  conferred  with  his  constituents,  advised 
with  the  committee  on  the  subject,  asked  the  privilege  of  sup- 
porting the  constitution,  and  he  was  instructed  to  vote  as  he 
might  think  proper.  His  speech,  made  on  this  occasion,  has 
been  printed.  It  did  great  credit  to  the  head  and  heart  of  the 
author : 

"Mr.  President:  I  have  listened  to  the  arguments  for  and 
against  the  constitution.  I  am  convinced  such  a  government  as 
that  constitution  will  establish,  if  adopted, — a  government  acting 
directly  on  the  people  of  the  States, — is  necessary  for  the  com- 
mon defence  and  the  general  welfare.  It  is  the  only  govern- 
ment which  will  enable  us  to  pay  off  the  national  debt, —  the 
debt  which  we  owe  for  the  Revolution,  and  which  we  are  bound 
in  honor  fully  and  fairly  to  discharge.  Beside,  I  have  followed 
the  lead  of  Washington  through  seven  years  of  war,  and  I  have 


I  76 7]  KOYAL    l'R()\]\CE.  ^87 

never  been  misled.      His  name  is  subscribed  to  this  constitution. 
He  will  not  mislead  us  now.      I  shall  vote  for  its  adoption." 

The  constitution  was  finally  adoj)ted  in  the  convention  by  a 
vote  of  57  yeas,  47  nays. 

Colonel  Webster  gave  his  support  to  the  constitution.  He 
was  one  of  the  electors  for  President  when  Washington  was 
first  chosen  to  that  office. 

In  the  spring  of  1791,  Colonel  Webster  was  appomted  judge 
for  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  county  of  Hillsborough. 
This  office  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  April,  1806. 
He  was  one  of  the  magistrates,  or  justice  of  the  peace,  for  Hills- 
borough county  for  more  than  thirty-five  years  prior  to  his 
decease. 

Atkinson,  Chatham,  Campton,  and  Runiney  were  incorpo- 
rated in  1767;  Seabrook,  Meredith,  Lisbon,  Henniker,  Sand- 
wich, Rindge,  and  Mason  were  incorporated  in  1768. 

Brookline,  Surry,  and  Temple  were  incorporated  in  1769; 
Sanbornton  and  Wolfeborough  were  incorporated  in  1770. 

Milan  was  granted  in  December,  1771,  as  Paulsborough,  in 
honor  of  Paul  Went  worth. 

Berlin  was  granted  in  December,  1771,  as  Maynesborough,  in 
honor  of  Sir  William  Mayne  of  Barbadoes. 

The  town  of  Hillsborough  was  incorporated  in  November, 
1772,  there  being  at  that  time  twenty-two  men  who  were  free- 
holders. 

^  In  1 741,  contemporary  with  the  running  of  the  boundary 
line  which  separated  the  province  of  New  Hampshire  from 
that  of  Massachusetts,  a  company  was  formed  in  13oston,  who 
travelled  thence  through  the  forests  to  Hillsborough,  ^nd 
pitched  their  tents  in  its  wilderness.  This  territory  had  been 
formerly  granted  to  Colonel  John  Hill.  The  little  settlement  was 
called  Hillborough  in  honor  of  Colonel  Hill ;  the  leading  men  were 
Samuel  Gibson,  James  Lyon,  Robert  McClure,  and  James  Mc- 
Colley,  —  the  two  latter  being  natives  of  the  north  of  Ireland. 
There  was  in  the  little  colony  a  commingling  of  Puritanism  and 
Presbyterianism,   concentrating  in    a    strong   religious    feeling. 

■  Kr.ink  11.  Pierce. 


288 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1772 


In  proof  of  this  sentiment,  among  the  earliest  labors  of  the 
settlers  was  the  erection  of  a  meeting  house  and  a  parsonage. 
Land  was  assigned  for  a  grave-yard,  in  which  several  members 
of  the  colony  were  buried.  There  remains  to-day  no  vestige  of 
this  solitary  cemetery.  The  wife  of  McColley  was  the  only 
female  in  the  settlement,  and  remained  exiled  from  her  sister- 
hood for  more  than  a  year.  Her  husband  built  the  first 
dwelling  —  a  log  hut — near  the  Bridge,  where  the  first  child 
born  in  the  settlemeni  saw  the  lijjht. 


VIEW    FROM    BRIDGE    IN    BERLIN. 


Lieut.  John  McColley  subsequently  entered  the  Royal  service 
and  fought  against  the  French  and  Indians.  Afterwards  he 
was  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  in  the  militia  corps  which 
New  Hampshire  sent  against  Gen.  Burgoyne.  Hewasaman 
of  exemplary  character,   and  died   in    1834,   at  the   age  of  92. 


1772]  KOVAL    PROVINCE.  289 

Some  five  months  after  the  birth  of  Lieut.  McCoUey's  child  a 
(laughter  was  born  to  Samuel  Gibson,  who  was  named 
Elizabeth. 

In  1744  the  Cape  Breton  war  broke  out  between  the  English 
and  French  and  Northwestern  Indians.  This  war  carried 
death  and  destruction  wherever  it  was  prosecuted.  The  Indian 
raids  upon  many  of  the  early  settlements,  and  the  slaughter  and 
destruction  of  the  dwellers  therein,  are  matters  of  tragic  his- 
tory, in  which  Hillborough  shared. 

In  1746  the  menaces  of  the  Indians  were  so  threatening  that 
the  feeble  colony  of  seven  or  eight  families  in  Hillsborough,  on 
hasty  consultation,  agreed  to  abandon  their  homes  and  seek 
safety  in  Massachusetts.  They  hid  away  their  agricultural  im- 
jDlements,  loaded  their  cattle  with  what  household  property  and 
provisions  they  could  carry,  buried  the  remainder  of  their  port- 
able property,  and  set  forth.  It  appears  that  the  party  made 
its  way  to  Litchfield  and  there  settled  down. 

The  population  of  Hillsborough  slowly  increased  until  1775, 
when  the  settlement  contained  forty  families.  At  this  time 
the  war  with  England  broke  out,  and  elicited  a  common  resis- 
tance against  the  wrongs  sought  to  be  inflicted  by  the  govern- 
ment of  the  mother  country  on  her  North  American  colonists. 
No  locality  manifested  more  patriotic  ardor  or  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  liberty  than  the  people  of  this  town.  They  armed 
and  equipped  themselves  for  local  protection  and  national 
resistance.  No  patriotic  sacrifice  within  their  power  was 
withheld — they  offered  their  all  that  the  rights  of  the  people 
should  be  asserted.  The  town  assessed  itself  in  nine  thousand 
seven  hundred  pounds  to  purchase  provisions  for  the  American 
Army,  and  more  than  thirty  stalwart  men  from  the  forty  fami- 
lies gave  their  personal  service  in  the  war  that  ensued,  and 
fough.t  in  Stark's  regiment  at  Bunker  Hill,  where  their  brave 
commander.  Captain  Isaac  Baldwin,  fell  mortally  wounded. 

In  royal  Rockingham,  in  southeastern  New  Hampshire,  lies 
the  territory  incorporated  under  the  name  of  Northwood,  a  day's 
journey  from  the  fair  old  town  of  Portsmouth.  Settlement  was 
begun  on  Northwood  soil  by  emigrants  from   North   Hampton. 


290  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^773 

Their  names  were  John  and  Increase  Batchelder,  and  Moses 
Godfrey.  This  was  in  the  year  1763.  Then  Northvvood  was  a 
dependency  of  Nottingham.  After  them  the  Johnsons,  the 
Hoyts,  and  the  Knowltons  came.  These  men  felled  the  forests 
and  subdued  the  rocky  soil  ;  and  these  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  future  township. 

In  the  year  1773,  ten  years  later  than  the  first  settlement,  it 
was  erected  into  an  independent  borough,  electing  Samuel  John- 
son, Joseph  Demeritt,  and  Benjamin  Hill  as  selectmen.  Jona- 
than Jenness  was  first  justice  of  the  peace.  The  first  postmaster 
was  John  Furber. 

Religiously,  the  early  pioneers  were  Baptists.  In  the  year 
1772,  a  church  was  built,  the  third  of  that  denomination  in  the 
State.  This  edifice  was  rebuilt  in  18 16.  A  bell  was  added  in 
1878.  Recently  was  witnessed  the  completion,  free  from  debt, 
of  a  commodious  parsonage.  The  society  has  had  twelve  pas- 
tors.—  Edmund  Pillsbury  having  been  the  first. 

The  Congregationalists  erected  a  meeting-house  here  in  1780. 
This  was  rebuilt  in  1840.  A  call  was  extended  to  Rev.  Josiah 
Prentice  of  Alstead,  who  sustained  the  charge  forty-three 
}'ears.     This  society  has  had  six  pastors. 

The  rise  of  the  Free  Baptist  church  in  Northwood  was  due 
to  the  evangelical  labors  of  Rev.  D.  P.  Cilley,  though  David 
Marks  had  preached  here  a  few  times  before  him.  Cilley 
labored  here  in  1833.  Then  the  society  was  organized,  which 
held  its  meetings  at  the  mountain  school-house.  Not  until  six 
years  later,  or  in  1838,  was  their  house  of  worship  completed. 

^General  James  Reed,  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Mon- 
adnock  Number  Four,  now  Fitzwilliam,  was  a  native  of 
Woburn,  Massachusetts,  where  he  was  born  in  the  year  1724. 
He  was  a  descendant,  in  the  fifth  generation,  of  William  and 
Mabel  Reed,  who  sailed  from  London  in  July,  1635. 

His  military  life  commenced  in  1755,  when  he  served  in  the 
campaign  against  the  French  and  Indians,  commanding  a 
company  of  provincial  troops  under  Colonel  Brown.  In  the 
same  capacity  he  served  with  General  Abercrombie  in   1758,  at 

'  A.  J.  Hlake. 


1774]  KOVAI,    PROVINCE.  29I 

Ticonderoga ;  and  with  General  Amherst  in  1759.  He  was 
employed  in  various  public  services  until  the  peace  of  1763. 
In  the  year  1765  he  settled  in  Fitzwilliam,  and  in  1770  he 
received  the  commission  of  lieutenant-colonel.  The  lapse  of 
time  has  hidden  from  view  the  detailed  account  of  his  services 
in  these  campaigns  ;  but  his  early  selection  by  his  countrymen 
for  the  command  of  a  regiment  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revo- 
lution indicates  that  his  military  career  was  creditable  to  himself 
and  valuable  to  his  country.  It  was  in  this  severe  school  that 
he,  like  many  of  the  officers  of  the  Revolution,  acquired  that 
military  skill  which  gave  strength  and  efficiency  to  the  Conti- 
nental army. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1773,  Colonel  Reed,  with  several  others, 
received  a  grant  of  Fitzwilliam,  or  Monadnock  Number  Four,  from 
John  Went  worth,  the  Provincial  Governor  of  New  Hampshire. 
In  1770,  he  settled  with  his  family  about  a  mile  northwesterly 
of  the  centre  village  in  Fitzwilliam,  where  he  erected  a  large 
and  commodious  house.  Being  the  owner  of  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  area  of  \he  town,  he  was  actively  employed  in 
promoting  its  settlement,  and  for  those  times  was  considered 
wealthy  ;  and  the  first  school  in  Fitzwilliam  was  taught  in  his 
house  by  Miss  Sarah  Harris,  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  His 
name  appears  upon  the  records  as  the  leading  spirit  of  the  town. 
He  was  proprietors'  clerk  and  moderator  of  the  town  meetings 
for  several  years  after  its  incorporation. 

In  April,  1774,  the  town  of  Portsmouth  ^  instructed  their  repre- 
sentatives to  use  their  influence  in  the  General  Assembly,  to 
join  with  the  other  colonies  in  every  constitutional  method  to 
oppose  the  claim  of  Parliament  to  tax  the  American  colonies 
without  their  consent,  and  to  keep  up  a  continual  correspon- 
dence with  them  for  that  purpose  ;  to  abolish  the  Court  of  Ap- 
peals, and  also  to  employ  their  efforts  that  the  justices  of  the 
courts  of  law  should  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior, 
and  not  at  the  will  of  the  crown  ;  that  adequate  salaries  should 
be  granted  to  the  justices  of  the  superior  court  ;  that  they  strenu- 
ously oppose  any  salaries  being  granted  to  either  of  the  justices 

'   Annals  of  Portsmouth. 


292  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^774 

of  the  courts  of  law  independent  of  this  government  ;  that  they 
should  take  the  opinion  of  the  judges  and  some  lawyers  as  to  the 
operation  of  any  law  of  consequence  which  they  are  about  to 
pass  ;  that  good  roads  be  made  into  the  interior  part  of  the  prov- 
ince ;  that  laws  be  passed  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  slaves; 
that  secure  places  be  provided  for  the  records  of  the  several 
offices  ;  that  the  fees  in  all  public  offices  be  established  by  law; 
that  enquiry  be  made  concerning  the  application  of  all  money 
granted  for  the  use  of  the  government,  especially  the  powder 
money ;  that  the  representatives  be  chosen  annually,  and  that 
their  doors  should  be  open  to  all  who  choose  to  hear  their  de- 
bates. 

On  the  25th  of  June  twenty-seven  chests  of  tea,  subject  to 
the  duty,  were  landed  and  stored  in  the  custom  house  before 
the  inhabitants  had  knowledge  of  it.  A  town  meeting  was  held 
on  the  27th,  which  appointed  a  guard  to  keep  the  tea  secure 
and  to  prevent  insults  being  offered  to  any  individual  on  account 
of  it.  Upon  consultation  with  Edward  Parry,  Esq.,  the  con- 
signee, it  was  agreed  that  he  should  re-ship  the  tea,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  chosen  to  see  this  agreement  executed.  The  tea  hav- 
ing been  entered,  the  consignee  paid  the  duty  upon  it  openly, 
which  was  necessary  before  it  could  be  re-shipped.  The  gover- 
nor used  every  precaution  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  town, 
and  everything  remained  quiet.  The  tea  was  re-shipped  and 
sent  to  Halifax. 

A  committee  of  inspection  was  appointed  to  examine  and 
find  out  if  any  tea  should  be  imported,  and  upon  the  discovery 
of  any,  to  give  the  earliest  notice  thereof  to  the  town. 

Deputies  were  chosen  at  Portsmouth,  July  15,  to  meet  the 
deputies  from  the  other  towns  in  the  province,  to  elect  a  dele- 
gate to  the  General  Congress,  which  was  to  meet  at  Philadelphia 
September  i. 

The  inhabitants  entered  into  an  agreement  in  writing,  which 
was  generally  signed,  by  which  they  pledged  their  faith  and 
honor  that  they  would  not  import,  sell,  purchase,  or  consume  any 
kinds  of  Ea.st  India  teas,  nor  suffer  the  same  to  be  used  or  con- 
sumed in  their  respective  families,  until  the  duties  should  be 
taken  off. 


1774]  KOVAI.    PROVINCE.  293 

In  September  the  ship  Fox,  ct)mman(Icil  by  Captain  Zacha- 
riah  Norman,  arrived  at  Portsmouth,  havini;"  on  board  thirty 
chests  of  tea  consigned  to  lulward  Parry,  which  caused  some 
disturbance  in  the  town  ;  the  j^opulace  broke  the  windows  of  the 
consignee,  and  lie  appHed  to  the  governor  for  protection.  The 
governor  convened  the  council,  and  required  the  aid  of  the 
magistrates  and  other  civil  officers  to  suppress  the  riot,  which 
was  soon  effected. 

The  town  assembled  the  next  day,  and  Edwaid  Parry,  Esq., 
being  present,  publicly  declared  that  he  would  not  accept  the 
consignment  of  said  tea,  nor  have  anything  to  do  with  it  ; 
and  Captain  Norman  promised  that  he  would  at  his  own  expense 
re-ship  said  tea  and  send  it  to  Halifax.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  guard  the  tea  and  see  it  sent  off,  who  reported  that 
it  was  shipped  on  board  another  vessel,  and  that  they  saw  the 
vessel  with  the  tea  on  board  outside  of  Eort  Point. 

On  the  loth  of  October,  the  town  "voted  to  give  two  hun- 
dred pounds  for  the  relief  of  the  industrious  poor  of  the  town.s 
of  Boston  and  Charlestown,  imder  the  oppression  they  now 
suffer  from  the  port  of  Boston  being  blocked  up  by  an  Act  of 
the  British  Parliment." 

A  very  numerous  committee  was  chosen  to  keep  up  the  good 
order  and  quiet  in  the  town,  and  to  examine  into  every  matter 
that  may  appear  unfriendly  to  the  interests  of  the  community. 

Governor  Wentworth  retained  his  popularity  as  extensively 
as  possible  for  a  person  of  his  situation,  which  was  extremely 
critical — for  he  was  placed  between  two  contending  parties,  of 
opposite  interests,  and  it  could  not  be  expected  that  he  would 
please  both.  His  wishes  were  to  preserve  the  union  of  the  two 
countries.  He  was  attached  to  his  government,  and  was  de- 
sirous of  promoting  its  welfare  as  far  as  he  could  consistently 
with  his  duty  to  the  King,  which  he  considered  paramount  to 
all  other  obligations.  A  circumstance  took  place  which  lessened 
him  in  the  estimation  of  the  people.  The  troops  at  Boston 
were  destitute  of  barracks,  and  the  carpenters  there  refused 
assistance  in  building  them.  General  Gage  applied  to  Went- 
worth to  procure  workmen,  and  he  secretly  employed  an  agent 


294 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1774 


to  hire  carpenters  to  construct  the  barracks.      As  soon  as  it  was 
known,  his  conduct  was  severely  censured,  and  the  Committee 


GOVERNOR    WENTWORTH     HOUSE,    PORTSMOUTH.' 

of  Safety,   of  which  his  uncle,   H  unking  Went  worth,  Esq.,  was 
chairman,  declared  that  the  person  guilty  of  such  conduct  was 


'  The  family  portraits  of  the  Wentworths,  by  Copley  and  his  master,  Blackburn,  and  other  valu. 
able  historical  mementos  of  colonial  days  and  royal  stat.>,  are  still  preserved  in  the  Mansion.  In  the 
house  was  born,  July  14,  iSio,  Edward  Henry  Durell,  who  became  a  distinguished  lawyer  in  New 
Orleans  and  a  Judge  of  the  United  States  court  for  the  district  of  Louisiana  — a  man  eminent  tor 
his  learning  and  ability. 


I774j  KovAi    rkoviNCE.     -  295 

^' an  enemy  to  the  community."  From  this  time  his  influence 
<leclinecl,  and  he  retained  only  the  shadow  of  authority.  The 
real  power  was  transferred  to  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  their 
orders  were  implicitly  obeyed. 

Hon.  Hunking  Wentworth,  who  was  the  uncle  of  the  gover- 
noi .  was  the  efficient  chairman  of  the  Portsmouth  Committee  of 
Safety  as  long  as  his  health  and  age  would  admit.  He  died  in 
Portsmouth,  Sept.  21,  1784. 

The  proceedings  of  the  General  Congress  were  published  in 
evcr\-  part  of  the  country,  and  received  with  approbation.  They 
made  a  declaration  of  their  rights,  stated  their  grievances,  and 
entered  into  an  association  suspending  all  commercial  inter- 
course with  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the  West  Indies.  When 
these  })roceedings  were  laid  before  this  town,  they  voted  unani- 
niousl)-,  "That  they  did  cordially  accede  to  the  just  state  of 
the  rights  and  grievances  of  the  British  colonies,  and  of  the 
measures  adopted  and  recommended  by  the  American  Conti- 
nental Congress,  for  the  restoration  and  establishment  of  the 
former,  and  for  the  redress  of  the  latter."  They  voted,  "That 
the  association,  strictly  adhered  to,  would  in  their  opinion  prove 
the  most  peaceable  and  successful  method  for  the  removal  of 
the  distresses  these  colonies  are  labf)ring  under,  and  the  restor- 
ation of  their  violated  rights  ;  thercf'  I'c  they  cheerfully  adopted, 
and  would  punctually  and  religious!}-  e.vecute  the  same,  as  far 
as  in  them  lies."  A  committee  of  twenty-five  persons  was 
chosen  "to  observe  the  conduct  of  all  persons,  touching  the 
association,  that  every  j^erson  within  the  limits  of  their  appoint- 
ment conform  to  the  same  ;  and  if  any  should  be  hardy  enough 
to  violate  it.  in  such  case  the  majorit)-  of  the  committee  shall 
forthwith  cause  the  truth  of  the  case  tci  be  ])ublished  in  the 
Gazette,  according  to  the  recommendation  of  Congress."  And 
"lest  some,  for  sordid  gain,  should  be  tempted  to  violate  the 
association,  they  recommended  a  non-consumption  as  the  best 
guard  against  any  infraction  of  the  non-importation  agreement." 
They  bore  "  testimony  against  every  species  of  gambling,  and 
recommended  industrv  and  frugalitv  to  the  inhabitants." 

Amongst  other  systems  of  economy  which  were  adopted,   the 


296 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


1774 


regulation  of  funerals  was  one  of  the  most  important.     They 
were    usually    attended   with  great  expense,  often  beyond  the 


ability  of  the  survivors  of  the  family  to  meet.      All   the  connec- 
tions were  obliged  to  dress  in  a  full  suit  of  mourning  ;  cnam- 


1774]  ROVAL  PROVINCE.  297 

elled  rings  wefe  distributed  to  the  near  relatives ;  gloves  and 
rings  were  given  to  the  i)all-bearers  and  to  the  clergyman  who 
officiated  at  the  grave.  In  many  instances  escutcheons  with 
the  family  armorial  bearings  painted  on  silk  were  laid  on  the 
coffin,  placed  over  the  door,  and  sent  to  the  particular  friends 
of  the  deceased.  By  general  consent  these  expenses  were  dis- 
pensed with,  and  instead  of  them  gentlemen  wore  black  crape 
round  the  left  arm,  and  ladies  black  ribbons,  as  badges  of 
mourning. 

The  corporation  of  Harvard  College  made  choice  of  Rev. 
Doctor  Langdon  as  president  of  that  institution.  After  due 
consideration,  and  by  advice  of  his  friends,  he  accepted  the 
appointment.  His  parish  was  strongly  attached  to  him,  and 
consented  to  the  separation  very  reluctantly.  The  connection 
between  them  was  dissolved  October  9th,  1774.  lie  was 
born  in  Boston  in  1722,  of  respectable  parents,  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1740,  with  a  high  reputation  as  a  scholar. 
He  came  to  Portsmouth  soon  after,  and  had  the  charge  of  the 
grammar  school. 

In  1745  he  was  appointed  chaplain  of  Colonel  Meserve's 
regiment,  and  was  present  at  the  capture  of  Louisburg.  Aftei 
his  return,  he  was  invited  to  preach  at  the  North  j^arish,  as 
assistant  to  Mr.  Fitch,  whom  he  succeeded  in  the  ministr\'  in 
the  year  1747.  He  protracted  a  map  of  New  Hampshire,  in 
company  with  Colonel  Blanchard,  which  they  published  in 
1 761,  and  inscribed  it  to  the  Honorable  Charles  Townsend,  Sec- 
retary at  War.  In  return  for  this  compliment,  the  Secretary 
obtained  for  Mr.  Langdon  a  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity  from 
the  University  of  Aberdeen  in  Scotland.  On  the  formation  of 
the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  in  Massachusetts 
he  became  a  member.  Doctor  Langdon's  publications  are 
numerous. 

He  resigned  his  office  in  1780,  and  the  following  January  was 
installed  over  the  church  at  Hampton  Falls,  where  he  spent 
the  residue  of  his  days  in  usefulness  and  peace,  a  blessing  to 
the  people  of  his  charge,  and  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
affection  and  respect. 


298  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l774 

An  order  had  been  passed  by  the  King  in  council,  prohibit- 
ing the  exportation  of  gunpowder  and  miHtary  stores  to  Amer- 
ica. The  Committee  of  Safety  received  a  copy  of  it  by  express 
from  Boston,  the  13th  of  December.  They  collected  a  com- 
pany with  great  secrecy  and  dispatch,  who  went  to  Fort 
William  and  Mary  at  New  Castle,  under  the  direction  of  Major 
John  Sullivan  and  Captain  John  Langdon,  confined  the  cap- 
tain of  the  fort  and  his  five  men,  and  brought  off  one  hundred 
barrels  of  gunpowder.  The  next  day  another  company  brought 
off  fifteen  of  the  lightest  cannon,  all  the  small  arms,  and  some 
warlike  stores. 

On  the  13th  December,  1774,  Paul  Revere  took  h\s,  first  public 
ride.  While  it  may  not  have  been  of  so  far  reaching  impor- 
tance as  his  later  one,  it  richly  deserves  a  place  in  history.  It 
happened  in  this  manner.  The  Boston  Committee  of  Safety  had 
just  heard  of  the  British  order  that  no  military  stores  should 
be  exported  to  America.  They  accordingly  sent  Paul  Revere 
on  a  fleet  horse  to  Portsmouth,  to  apprise  the  similar  committee 
there  of  the  news  and  probably  to  urge  them  to  secure  the 
powder  which  was  in  Fort  William  and  Mary  in  the  harbor,  as 
reinforcements  were  expected  shortly  from  England. 

The  garrison  consisted  of  only  five  men,  and  they  had  under 
their  charge  a  hundred  guns  and  a  large  cjuantity  of  powder  and 
balls,  the  possession  of  which  was  deemed  important  to  the  patriot 
cause.  John  Sullivan  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
that  year,  and  had  just  arrived  in  Portsmouth  from  Philadelphia. 
War  had  not  been  declared,  but  there  was  no  telling  when  the 
flames  of  dissension  would  burst  forth.  When  the  conflict  did 
come  there  would  be  need  of  arms  and  ammunition.  When  the 
British  troops  arrived, —  and  they  were  momentarily  expected, 
—  the  fort  would  be  in  their  hands,  and  it  would  be  too  late  to  . 
capture  it.  Sullivan  proposed  the  immediate  capture  of  the 
place,  and  offered  to  lead  the  men  to  the  attack.  A  military 
force  vv^as  accordingly  summoned  as  secretly  as  possible  from 
the  neighborhood.  Sullivan  and  John  Langdon  took  the  com- 
mand, and  the  march  was  commenced  toward  the  English  fort. 
It   was  a  hazardous    undertaking.     The    sycophants    of    Went- 


1774]  KOVAL  PROVINCE.  299 

worth  thronged  the  town,  who  would  consider  the  capture  of 
the  patriots  as  a  good  passport  to  the  governor's  favor.  Besides, 
there  was  danger  from  the  fort.  If  the  captain  became  aware 
of  their  design,  he  was  sure  to  turn  the  guns  upon  them  and 
destroy  them.  But  no  alarm  was  given,  and  in  silence  Sullivan 
and  his  little  band  approached  the  works.  With  a  rush  they 
gained  the  gate,  captured  the  sentry,  and  before  a  challenge 
could  be  given  had  the  captain  and  every  man  in  the  fort 
prisoners.  The  British  flag  was  hauled  down.  The  gunpowder, 
of  which  there  was  one  hundred  barrels  in  the  fort,  was  immed- 
iately taken  away  and  hid  in  the  houses  of  the  patriots.  Sullivan 
concealed  a  portion  of  it  under  the  pulpit  of  the  Durham  meet- 
ing-house. A  large  part  of  this  plunder  afterwards  did  good 
service  at  Bunker  Hill.  Next  day  fifteen  of  the  lighter  cannon 
and  all  of  the  small  arms  were  carried  away.  The  governor  and 
his  officers  received  no  intelligence  of  the  affair  until  it  was  too 
late  to  remedy  it,  and  when  the  British  troops  arrived  they  found 
only  a  dismantled  fortress.  The  affair,  which  in  itself  may 
appear  to  be  of  no  great  moment,  assumes  a  different  aspect 
when  we  consider  the  time  at  which  it  occurred.  It  was  the 
first  act  of  armed  hostility  committed  against  the  crown  of  Great 
Britain  by  an  American. 

^  Holderness  was  granted  in  1751.  One  of  the  original 
grantees  was  Hon.  Samuel  Livermore,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  New  Hampshire  in  the  Revolutionary 
period.  AH  of  the  Livermores  in  this  country  are  supposed 
to  be  descendants  from  John  Livermore,  who  settled  in  Water- 
town,  Massachusetts,  as  early  as  1642.  Samuel  Livermore  was 
one  of  the  great-grandsons  of  John  Livermore.  He  was  born 
May  14,  1732,  at  Waltham.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  graduated 
at  Nassau  Hall,  Princeton,  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  respec- 
table collegiate  institutions  in  the  country.  Selecting  law  for 
his  profession,  he  became  a  student  under  Hon.  Edward  Trow- 
bridge, and  was  admitted  to  practice  at  the  supreme  judicial 
court  of  Middlesex  county,  in  1756.  The  next  year  he  removed 
to  New  Hampshire,  established  himself  at  Portsmouth,  where 

*  Fred    Myron  Colby. 


300  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^774 

he  soon  became  a  distinguished  member  of  the  bar.  He  filled 
some  of  the  most  honorable  and  lucrative  offices  in  the  Province, 
and  was  for  several  years  judge  advocate  of  the  Admiralty  Court, 
and  subsequently  succeeded  Wyseman  Claggett  as  the  king's 
attorney-general  of  New  Hampshire.  In  this  position  he 
became  the  most  necessary  adviser  to  John  Wentworth  in  the 
troubles  that  were  growing  up  between  the  colonists  and  the 
crown. 

From  the  first  Mr.  Livermore  was  found  on  the  popular  side, 
and  doubtless  it  was  on  account  of  some  embarrassment 
between  himself  and  Governor  Wentworth  that  he  removed  his 
home  to  Londonderry,  then  the  second  town  of  the  Province  in 
wealth  and  population.  From  1768  to  1772  he  represented  that 
town  in  the  General  Assembly.  He  still  continued  to  hold  the 
■office  of  attorney-general,  thus  showing  that,  though  an  op- 
ponent of  the  encroachments  of  viceregal  power,  his  abilities 
were  respected  by  the  Wentworths.  His  circuit  embraced  not 
only  all  New  Hampshire,  but  the  counties  of  York  and  Cum- 
berland in  Maine  as  well,  extending  as  far  as  Portland.  His 
earnings  at  this  time  could  not  have  amounted  to  less  than 
^5000  per  annum,  a  large  sum  for  the  period. 

One  of  Livermore's  ambitions  was  to  be  a  great  land  owner. 
He  was  one  of  the  original  grantees  of  the  township  of  Holder- 
ness,  and  by  purchase  gradually  became  the  proprietor  of  nearly 
two-thirds  of  its  territory.  For  Gov.  Wentworth's  right  he  paid 
^50,  and  for  James  Kelley's  the  sum  of  $88.88.  In  this  way 
some  ten  or  twelve  thousand  acres  in  Holderness,  Campton  and 
Plymouth  came  under  his  ownership,  and  it  was  good  land,  too, 
—  pasture,  woodland  and  valley,  whose  yearly  income  brought 
more  than  one  good  pound  into  the  proprietor's  pocket.  Incited 
perhaps  by  the  example  of  Governor  Wentworth,  who  in  1770 
had  built  a  splendid  summer  residence  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Winnipiseogee  in  Wolfeborough,  and  perhaps,  too,  desiring  to 
be  at  a  distance  from  the  tempest  that  he  saw  gathering  over 
the  government  at  Portsmouth,  Livermore  sold  his  farm  in 
Londonderry  to  John  Prentice,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  who  had 
studied  law  with  him,   and  afterwards  was  attorney-general    of 


1/74]  ROYAL    l'KO\INCE.  3OI 

the  State  from  1787  to  1793,  and  betook  himself  with  his  family 
to  his  wilderness  home.     This  was  in  the  year  1774. 

At  that  time  there  were  but  nme  families  in  Holderness. 
William  Piper  had  come  there  in  1763;  the  others,  John  Fox, 
John  Sheppard,  Bryant  Sweeney,  Samuel  Eaton,  Joseph  Sin- 
clair, Andrew  Smith,  John  Herron,  and  Nathaniel  Thompson 
settled  later.  Several  families  followed  the  Livcrmores  from 
Londonderry  and  vicinity.  Among  them  was  John  Porter  who 
became  the  first  settled  lawyer  of  Plymouth,  but  returned  to 
Londonderry  in  1806,  which  town  he  represented  for  eleven 
years.  Mrs.  Porter  was  a  very  accomplished  lady,  and  was  Mrs. 
Livermore's  most  intimate  friend. 

Mr.  Livermore  lived  successively  in  two  or  three  small  build- 
ings before  he  built  the  large  and  handsome  mansion  in  which 
he  died,  and  which  he  erected  during  the  last  of  the  Revolution. 
During  the  first  years  of  the  struggle  he  took  no  prominent 
part.  It  was  from  no  lukewarm ness  to  the  cause,  however. 
Doubtless  his  high  office  that  he  had  held  under  the  crown  and 
his  well-known  friendship  to  Governor  Wentworth  caused  some 
of  the  patriot  leaders  to  regard  him  with  suspicion.  These 
years  he  remained  entirely  aloof  from  public  affairs,  caring  for 
his  own  affairs  in  Holderness.  He  had  a  grist  mill  at  the 
mouth  of  Millbrook,  and  here  he  might  have  been  seen  any  day 
in  1776  and  1777  dressed  in  a  white  suit,  and  tending  the  mill 
with  his  own  hands.  We  find  him  soon  after  this  a  member  of 
the  State  Assembly  from  Holderness.  He  had  now  a  splendid 
opportunity  to  prove  that  he  was  no  lukewarm  adherent  to  the 
cause  of  the  colonists.  He  threw  the  whole  weight  of  his 
power  and  influence  into  the  popular  scale  and  became  the  con- 
trolling spirit  of  the  assembly.  Such  men  as  Meshech  Weare 
and  Matthew  Thornton,  who  knew  his  worth  and  his  vast 
ability,  embraced  his  cause.  In  1778  he  was  appointed  attorney- 
general  of  the  State,  again  superseding  Wyseman  Claggett,  who 
had  held  the  office  for  two  preceding  years. 

^The  just  claims  for  services  of  some  of  the  hardy  rangers, 
among  the  original  proprietors  of  Whitefield  we  find  recognized 

«  L.  W.  Dodge. 


302  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^774- 

by  Gov.  Wentworth.  There  were  Captain  Gerrish,  and  Lieut. 
Waite,  and  Ensign  White,  and  the  Farringtons,  all  of  Rogers's 
company.  Then  there  were  the  Cloughs,  five  of  them,  all  from 
Canterbury,  and  under  Stark,  and  there  was  Colonel  Jonathan 
Bailey,  whose  possessions  were  also  increased  in  this  region  by 
purchases  with  Colonel  Moses  Little.  This  latter  once  owned 
nearly  all  of  what  was  known  as  Apthorp,  extending"  for  fifteen 
miles  or  more  along  the  Connecticut  river,  and  embracing  the 
present  towns  of  Littleton  and  Dalton.  The  name  of  the  terri- 
tory was  changed  from  its  first  English  title  of  "  Chiswick,"  so 
named  from  the  celebrated  country  seat  of  the  duke  of  Devonshire, 
to  Apthorp,  in  memory  of  a  distinguished  divine  who  came  to  this 
country  in  1759,  ^^  a  missionary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.  After  its  purchase  by 
Colonel  Little,  who  was  then  the  Surveyor  of  the  King's 
Woods  in  this  section,  it  was  divided,  one  part  taking  the 
name  of  Littleton,  from  its  owner,  and  the  other  Dalton,  from 
an  old  towsman  of  the  colonel's,  Hon.  Tristram  Dalton,  who 
was  also  one  of  the  original  grantees.  Colonel  Little  was  a 
native  of  the  old  town  of  Newbury,  Massachusetts,  and  was 
greatly  distinguished  throughout  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 

The  town  of  Whitefield,  until  July  4,  1774,  formed  a  part  of 
the  ungranted  lands,  and  lays  claim  to  being  the  last  town- 
ship granted  within  the  State  under  ro)"al  favor,  and  by  its 
last  royal  governor,  John  Wentworth.  At  that  date  it  only  re- 
quired an  organization  and  a  name,  for  its  metes  and  bounds 
were  already  established  by  surveys  of  surrounding  townships  ; 
therefore  this  was  literally  what  was  left,  and  they  called  it 
Whitefield  when  organized,  from  the  celebrated  Methodist 
divine  of  that  name,  who  a  few  years  previously  in  an  itinerating 
tour  in  southern  New  Hampshire  and  in  Massachusetts  stirred 
the  religious  thoughts  of  the  people  into  intense  activity,  so 
that,  says  a  writer  of  the  day,  his  name  was  a  household  word. 
His  last  sermon  was  at  Exeter,  where,  on  his  journey  from 
Portsmouth  to  Boston,  he  had  stopped  by  the  importunities  of 
friends  to  preach  one  of  his  unique  discourses.  It  was  delivered 
in  the  open  air,  for  the  doors  of  the  established  churches  were 


1774]  ROYAL  rKoviNCE.  305 

closed  against  him,  ami  only  God's  great  temple  was  open,  and 
for  two  long  hours  he  interested  the  crowd  which  had  flocked 
to  see  him  and  to  hear  his  wonderful  doctrines.  Greatly  fatigued 
he  continued  his  journey  to  Newburyport,  where,  by  appoint- 
ment, he  was  to  preach  the  next  day,  but  on  the  following 
morning  he  was  seized  with  a  return  of  a  long-fought  asthmatic 
trouble,  and  died  suildenly  at  ihc  home  of  his  friend,  Rev.  John 
Parsons,  September  30,  1770. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  of  the  early  jiroprietors  of  Whitefield, 
save  those  who  joined  the  first  surveying  part)'  under  Captain 
(ierrish,  and  those  of  the  scouting  rangers,  ever  set  foot 
upon  their  pine-land  possessions.  Certain  it  is,  none  ever  be- 
came actual  settlers.  Timothy  Nash  may  have  hunted  there, 
and  the  Rev.  Jeremy  Belknap,  New  Hampshire's  early  his- 
torian, who  was  one  of  the  Cutler  exploring  party,  in  1784,  at 
which  time  the  name  of  Washington  was  first  applied  to  the 
highest  peak  of  the  mountains,  doubtless  surveyed  with  his  eye 
from  afar  off  his  gubernatorial  donation  of  the  ninety-fourth 
part  of  the  township,  but  aside  from  these  no  one  of  the 
grantees  of  the  town  ever  saw  their  Cohos  estates.  So  it 
remained  for  Major  John  Burns,  Colonel  Joseph  Kimball, 
John  McMaster,  and  their  followers,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century,  to  develop  the  wild  Whitefield  tract,  which  the 
early  organizers  of  the  township,  in  their  down-country  meet- 
ings, had  vainly  tried  to  accomplish. 

Samuel  Adams  was  chosen  moderator  at  the  first  meeting 
of  the  proprietors  of  the  town,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
the  early  records  of  the  township  bear  his  signature,  in  the 
same  unmistakable  characters  that  are  shown  upon  that  Record 
of  Independent  Declarations  that  made  us  a  nation. 

Perhaps  to  the  energies  of  Samuel  Minot  is  due  the 
revival  of  interest  in  the  early  settlement  of  Whitefield,  after 
the  disappearance  of  the  original  proprietors.  He  owned  at 
one  time,  by  vendue  j)urchase,  more  than  three  fourths  of  the 
first  granted  rights  of  the  township.  His  father.  Captain 
Jonas  Minot,  was  the  first  proprietors'  clerk. 

Colonel  Samuel  Adams  and  Captain  Robert  Faster  were    two 


304  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l774 

of  the  chosen  assessors,  in  those  primitive  days  of  the  town ; 
and  their  duties  as  well  as  all  the  transactions  relating  to  the 
unsettled  location  were  conducted  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  the  place  of  interest  ;  the  first  meeting 
having  been  held  at  old  Dunstable,  which  town  and  its  divi- 
sions probably  furnished  more  men  for  the  famous  Rogers  Ran- 
gers than  any  other  section.  Also  for  the  Powers  expedition, 
which  located  and  named  the  wild  river  along  whose  hill- 
shadowed  valley  we  are  traversing.  For  many  years  the  early 
proprietors  of  Whitefield  could  hardly  be  content  with  their 
chartered  boundaries,  supposing  by  semi-authoritative  descrip- 
tion that  the  western  limit  was  along  the  summit  of,  or  near 
to,  the  Apthorp  range  of  hills  ;  but  the  corner  monuments  of 
Colonel  Gerrish,  established  in  1779,  and  the  blazed  line  of 
Captain  Eames,  in  1802,  settled  the  doubt,  and  the  river 
rippled  into  Dalton  at  its  present  boundary,  and  Blake's 
Pond  marked  the  designated  corner.  This  name  was  left  to 
that  fountainless  lakelet  above  Whitefield  village,  by  a  famous 
hunter,  Moses  Blake,  who  in  the  wilderness  days,  here  among 
the  pines,  pitched  his  cabin  and  scouted  this  region  for  peltries. 
What  changes  have  taken  place  along  this  historic  stream, 
since  the  wild  Coosauke  roamed  in  undisputed  freedom  along 
its  pine-clad  borders !  Or  since  John  Stark,  in  a  military 
point  of  view  New  Hampshire's  George  Washington,  as  an 
Indian  captive,  explored  its  valley,  fished  its  waters,  and  hunted 
its  game-haunted  solitudes.  The  rock-lined  hills  along  its 
boundaries  are  almost  disforested  ;  the  dark-shadowed  trail  of 
the  roving  native  has  become  the  steel-clad  track  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  the  scream  of  the  steam  whistle  echoes  above  the 
savage  war-whoop ;  grain-burdened  fields  and  sunny  pas- 
tures are  spread  over  the  broad  uplands,  where,  but  a  century 
ago,  amid  the  unbroken  forests  howled  the  prowling  bear,  and 
tramped  the  unhunted  moose,  while  up  from  below  comes  the 
hum  of  industry  from  a  thousand  mill-wheels  of  improvement. 
It  was  from  the  top  of  the  Cherry  Mountain  that  Timothy 
Nash,  one  of  the  solitary  hunters  of  this  region,  in  1771,  first 
discovered    the    old    Indian   pass    now  famous  as  the  "  White 


1774]  ROYAL    I'KOVIXCE.  305 

Mountain  Notch."  Up  one  of  the  rivulet  paths  he  had  tracked 
a  moose,  and  finding  himself  near  the  highest  point,  in  his 
eagerness  for  an  unobstructed  view  he  climbed  a  tall  tree,  and 
from  this  birchen  lookout  he  saw,  away  to  the  southward,  what 
he  at  once  surmised  must  be  the  hitherto  unknown  defile. 
Steering  with  the  acquired  precision  of  an  old  woodman  for 
the  desired  point,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  realizing  the  truth 
of  lus  surmises  ;  for  it  was  indeed  the  rocky  pass, —  the  gateway 
of  the  mountains.  Admitting  to  his  secret  a  fellow-hunter,  by 
the  name  of  Sawyer,  together  they  repaired  to  Governor  Went- 
worth,  at  Portsmouth,  who,  after  suflficient  and  novel  proof  of 
the  fact  of  the  discovery,  gave  to  the  fortunate  liunters  a  grant 
of  land,  since  known  as  the  "  Nash  and  Sawyer"  location.  Nash 
was  also  one  of  the  original  grantees  of  the  town  of  Whitefield, 
but  whether  by  purchase  or  in  consideration  of  services  rendered 
is  not  known. 

All  along  the  pathways  of  the  world's  history  there  are  scat- 
tered monuments  to  the  memory  of  its  men  of  mark  —  pioneers 
in  its  enterprises,  foremost  in  its  leading  events,  great  captains 
in  the  onward  march  of  improvement.  Around  the  headwaters 
of  John's  and  Israel's  rivers,  in  those  days,  between  the  depar- 
ture of  the  Indians  and  the  coming  of  the  white  man,  settled 
Colonel  Joseph  Whipple.  He  was  a  brother  of  that  General 
William  Whipple  whose  illustrious  name  goes  down  to  posterity 
along  with  those  others  of  the  framers  and  signers  of  that  "im- 
mortal instrument  "  which  gave  us  our  liberties.  They  were 
successful  merchants  in  the  town  of  Portsmouth,  and  acquired 
large  landed  estates  north  of  the  White  Mountains, — most  of 
them,  doubtless,  as  reward  for  valuable  service,  both  civil  and 
military,  rendered  the  State.  Colonel  Whipple's  title  to  these 
Jefferson  meadows  followed  that  of  Colonel  John  Goffe,  the 
first  owner  after  the  extinction  of  the  Indian  titles,  and  by  him 
named  Dartmouth.  What  particular  incentive  brought  Colonel 
Whipple  hither  so  early  as  1773  it  would  be  satisfactory  to 
know.  i\  lu.xurious  home  by  the  sea-side  exchanged  for  a  wild 
haunt  among  the  mountains  ;  the  enjoyments  of  civilizntion 
for  the  deprivations  of  the  wilderness.      Was  it  an   inborn   love 


306  HISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l774 

for  adventure  to  be  gratified,  or  really  the  acquisition  of  more 
wealth  and  power  in  the  development  of  his  broad  acres  ?  Or 
was  it  the  allurements  of  the  grand  old  mountains  themselves, 
and  he 

"  A  lover  true,  who  knew  hy  heart 
Each  joy  the  mountain  dales  impart." 

The  settlement  of  the  colonel  lying  in  the  track  of  the  In- 
dians, as  they  passed  from  the  valley  of  the  Saco  to  the  Con- 
necticut, by  way  of  the  Notch  and  Cherry  Mountain  pass,  he  was 
at  times  greatly  annoyed  by  the  visits  of  the  redskins.  They 
never  seemed  to  wish  him  any  harm,  however,  until  during  the 
Revolutionary  war.  He  one  day  found  himself  a  captive  in  his 
own  house.  A  wandering  party  of  warriors  applied  to  him  for 
entertainment,  and  he,  as  usual,  suspecting  no  evil  intentions, 
admitted  them  to  his  house  and  his  table.  Their  wants  supplied 
they  coolly  informed  him  of  their  purpose  to  take  him  to  Can- 
ada as  a  prisoner.  Feigning  submission,  he  at  once  commenced 
bustling  around  in  preparation  for  the  journey,  telling  them  they 
must  wait  a  little  until  he  could  make  ready  to  go.  During  his 
seeming  preparations,  he  contrived  to  instruct  his  housekeeper 
to  gain,  by  some  stratagem,  their  attention  from  his  movements  ; 
this  she  successfully  did,  by  the  help  of  some  curious  mechanism 
which  the  Colonel  possessed.  Passing  into  his  sleeping  room 
for  the  alleged  purpose  of  changing  his  clothing,  he  leaped  from 
a  rear  window,  and  ran  for  the  meadow  where  his  workmen 
were  engaged  in  fence-building.  Directing  each  man  to  shoulder 
a  stake,  as  soon  as  his  would-be  captors  appeared  in  search  of 
him,  the  sham  hunters  started  for  them.  Seeing,  as  they  sup- 
posed, a  party  of  v/ell-armed,  brawny  fellows  coming  for  them 
in  dead  earnest,  the  red  devils,  hastily  seizing  what  booty  they 
could  conveniently  make  way  with,  took  to  the  woods,  firing  as 
they  went  on  a  Mr.  Gotham,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Whipple 
household. 

These  Indians  were,  doubtless,  members  of  the  warlike  tribe 
of  Sokokies,  or  Pequauquaukes,  who -were  driven  from  the  valley 
of  the  Saco  and  their  ancient  hunting-grounds  by  the  advance 


I 


17741  KOVAI.    I'ROVINCK.  3O7 

of  the  white  man  in  the  early  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
They  were  the  most  warlike  of  all  the  Abenakis  tribes,  but 
seem  to  have  disbanded  after  the  I.ovewell  tii;ht,  and  joined  the 
Anasagunticooks  of  northern  Maine,  and  the  Coosaukes  at  the 
head-waters  of  the  Connecticut,  and,  in  a  few  years  thereafter, 
the  St.  Francis  tribe  in  Canada.  Those  who  attempted  the  ab- 
duction of  Colonel  Whipple  were,  doubtless,  in  the  employ  of  the 
English,  and  this  was  among  the  last  of  hostile  demonstrations 
by  the  subdued  natives,  before  their  final  disappearance. 

About  a  mile  below  the  first,  or  Dodge  and  Abbott,  damming 
of  the  John's  riv^er,  is  a  second  artificial  obstruction.  Here 
was  built,  in  early  Whitefield  days,  the  "Foster  mill,"  and  here 
among  the  pineries  settled  one  Foster.  There  are  Fosters  and 
Fosters  ;  but  there  was  but  one  Perley  Foster,  and  he  the  sire 
of  a  son  who  became  the  hero  of  two  wars.  In  a  humble  home 
in  this  secluded   spot  was  born,  in  1823,  Gen.  John  G.  Foster. 

The  last  trace  of  the  old  Foster  house  is  obliterated.  Noth- 
ing remanis  to  mark  the  birth-place  of  a  man  of  note  but  the 
dim  outlines  of  a  cellar  ;  not  even  the  traditional  sentinel  of  an 
ancient  apple  tree.  ^  We  remember  to  have  passed  along  the 
almost  disused,  half-forgotten  road,  one  summer  day  in  the  long- 
ago,  when  the  old  house,  from  dilapidation,  had  become  unten- 
antable. Clapboards  were  rattling  in  the  wind  ;  the  doors  and 
windows  were  in  useless  ruin  ;  a  thicket  of  unrebuked  thistles 
was  crowding  about  the  entrance  ;  and  the  only  thing  of  beauty 
about  the  spot  was  a  broad-disked  sun-flower,  growing  upon  the 
sunny  side,  with  a  flourishing  family  of  tall  hollyhocks.  After 
awhile  the  old  structure,  from  constant  wind-beatings,  tumbled 
down ;  the  ruins  were  gathered  up  or  burned,  and  the  site 
plowed  under.  Descendants  of  the  ancient  May-weeds  still 
linger  around  the  place  of  the  old  gateway,  and  there  are  relics 
of  a  way-side  fence ;  but  even  the  noisy  brook,  which  tinkled  its 
way  across  the  road  and  down  into  the  beaver  meadow,  is  almost 
run  dry. 

Thus  does  time,  the  oblitcrator,  crowd  away  the  past,  with  its 
homes  and  its  hallowed  spots,  to  make  room  tor  the  future. 

'  1,.  W.  Dodge. 


308  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [>774 

The  old  Foster  mill,  by  its  addition  and  changes,  has  lost  its 
originality,  but  the  river  still  rushes  onward,  singing  as  it  runs, 

"  Men  may  come  and  men  may  go, 
But  I  flow  on  for  ever." 

1  The  principal  town  officers,  prior  to  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, authorized  or  required  by  the  Province  Laws  of  New 
Hampshire  to  be  elected  at  the  annual  town  meetings,  were  a 
moderator  for  the  meetings,  town-clerk,  treasurer,  selectmen  or 
"townsmen,"  constables,  fence-viewers,  field-drivers  or  "hay- 
wards,"  surveyors  of  highways,  surveyors  of  lumber,  sealers  of 
weights  and  measures,  sealers  of  leather,  tithingmen,  deer-reeve 
or  deer  keepers,  hog-reeves,  pound  keepers,  overseers  of  the 
poor,  and  overseers  of  houses  of  correction.  Several  of  these 
offices  have  now  for  many  years  become  obsolete,  there  bemg 
no  statute  law  authorizing  them.  The  powers  and  duties  per- 
taining to  some  others  of  them,  since  the  adoption  of  the  con- 
stitution of  1792,  differ  widely  from  what  they  were  under  the 
Province  Laws,  while  those  of  others  remain  substantially  as 
before  the  Revolution. 

The  moderator,  then  as  now,  was  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
town  meeting,  with  much  the  same  powers  and  duties  as  under 
the  present  State  laws.  No  person  was  allowed  to  speak  in  the 
meeting  without  leave  first  obtained  of  that  dignitary,  "  nor 
when  any  other  person  was  speaking  orderly."  All  persons 
also  were  required  to  keep  silent  at  the  request  of  the  moder- 
ator, under  the  penalty  of  five  shillings  for  the  breach  of  every 
such  order.  {Colonial  Laius,  IJlS)  By  an  Act  of  the  General 
Court  in  1791,  it  was  further  provided  that  if  any  person,  after 
being  notified  by  the  moderator,  should  persist  in  disorderly 
conduct,  the  moderator  should  order  him  to  withdraw  from  the 
meeting,  and  that  if  the  offender  should  fail  to  obey,  he  should 
forfeit  and  pay  a  fine  of  twenty  shillings  for  the  use  of  the 
town.     ( Laivs  of  lygy,  p.  187.) 

In  pursuance  of  an  Act  of  the  General  Court  of  the  Province 
passed  in    17 19,  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  each 

'   Samuel  T.  Worcester. 


1774]  ROYAL  rKoviNCK.  309 

town,  having  taxable  property  ot"  the  value  of  ;!^20,  were  required 
to  meet  sometime  in  the  month  of  Mareh  annually,  and  beside 
other  town  officers,  to  choose  "three,  five,  seven,  or  nine  able 
and  discreet  persons  of  good  conversation,  inhabitants  of  said 
town,  as  selectmen  or  townsmen."  Under  the  laws  of  the 
Province  no  inhabitant  had  a  right  to  vote  at  these  meetings 
except  freeholders  and  such  others  as  had  taxable  jDcrsonal 
estate  of  the  value  of  ;£20. 

In  respect  to  several  matters  of  public  concern,  the  selectmen 
of  towns  at  that  time  had  much  more  power  and  a  wider  field  of 
duty  than  the  like  officers  of  the  present  day.  Unless  other 
peisons  were  elected  to  that  office,  the  selectmen  were  ex  officio 
overseers  of  the  poor  of  the  town,  chargeable  not  only  with  the 
care  of  providing  for  their  needs,  but  also  with  the  further  in- 
hospitable duty  of  "  warning  out  "  of  their  town  all  such  new 
comers  or  settlers  as  it  was  feared  might  become  paupers  if 
allowed  to  remain  as  permanent  residents.  They  also  had  the 
exclusive  charge  of  the  public  schools  of  the  town,  including 
the  building  of  school-houses,  the  employment  and  payment  of 
teachers,  and  the  assessment  of  all  school  taxes  for  school  build- 
ings and  accommodations,  and  the  wages  and  salaries  of  school- 
masters. In  addition  to  the  assessment  of  taxes  for  schools,  it 
was  also  their  duty  "  to  assess  taxes  upon  the  polls,  personal 
estates,  and  lands  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  in  just  and 
equal  proportion,  according  to  their  known  ability,  for  all  such 
sums  as  may  have  been  ordered  at  the  town  meeting  for  the 
support  of  the  ministry,  the  poor,  and  all  other  necessary- 
charges  of  the  town."  {Colonial  Lazvs  of  I  Jig)  Under  the 
Province  Laws,  males  were  chargeable  with  a  poll  tax  at  the 
age  of  eighteen.  The  valuation  of  some  of  the  items  consti- 
tuting the  basis  of  taxation  was  as  follows  : — Polls,  or  white  males 
over  eighteen  years  of  age,  eighteen  shillings  ;  male  slaves  from 
sixteen  to  fifty  years  old,  sixteen  shillings  ;  female  slaves  of  the 
like  age,  eight  shillings  ;  horses  and  oxen  four  years  old.  three 
shillings  ;  improved  land,  sixpence  per  acre. 

The  office  of  "  field-driver,"  one  of  the  town  offices  in  New 
Hampshue    for   one  luuidred  years  and   more,   has    long    since 


310  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIKE.  [  1 774 

gone  into  disuse,  and  the  word  itself,  though  in  current  use  in 
the  old  colony  statutes,  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  unabridged 
Dictionaries  of  either  Webster  or  Worcester.  It  is,  however, 
defined  in  Bartlett's  Dictionary  of  Americanisms,  as  "a  civil 
officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  take  up  and  impound  swine,  cattle, 
sheep,  and  horses  going  at  large  in  the  public  highways  or  the 
common  and  improved  lands,  and  not  under  charge  of  a  keeper," 
For  very  many  years  after  the  first  settlement  of  most  of  the 
towns  in  New  Hampshire  a  very  large  part  of  the  unimproved 
land  was  unfenced,  the  rights  of  the  owners  of  such  land  lying 
in  common.  These  common  lands  in  most  of  the  towns  fur- 
nished much  valuable  pasturage  for  cattle,  and  acorns  and  other 
nuts  for  swine,  and  by  the  laws  of  the  Province  no  cattle,  swine, 
or  other  domestic  animals  were  permitted  to  run  at  large  upon 
them  without  the  consent  of  the  land  owners.  If  such  animals 
were  found  at  large  upon  the  highway,  or  upon  those  lands  lying 
in  common,  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  it  became  the 
•duty  of  the  field-driver  to  impound  them,  for  which  service  he 
was  allowed  one  shilling  each  for  neat  cattle  and  horses,  and 
three  pence  each  for  sheep  and  swine,  to  be  paid  by  the  owner 
of  the  animals  before  being  allowed  to  take  them  from  the 
pound. 

The  ancient  office  of  "  tithingman,"  like  that  of  "field- 
driver,"  has  also  become  obsolete  in  the  State,  and  the  name 
itself,  once  a  terror  to  rude  and  wayward  youth,  very  nearly  so. 
Two,  and  in  some  towns  four,  of  these  officials  were  chosen  at 
the  annual  town  meetings.  It  was  among  their  duties,  under 
the  colony  laws,  to  visit  and  inspect  licensed  public-houses,  and 
to  inform  of  all  disorders  in  them.  Also  to  inform  of  all  idle 
and  dissolute  persons,  profane  swearers,  and  Sabbath  breakers. 
But  one  of  their  principal  and  most  important  duties  appears  to 
have  been  to  attend  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  to  take 
note  of  and  prevent  all  rudeness  and  disorders  during  the  ser- 
vices, and,  if  needful,  to  arrest  on  view,  and  to  aid  in  the  trial 
and  punishment  of  all  such  persons  as  were  guilty  of  irreverent 
or  disorderly  conduct.  In  towns  where  four  of  these  dignitaries 
were  chosen,  it  appears  that  two  of  them  were  expected  to  take 


1774]  KOVAI,  PKOVMNCE.  3II 

their  seats  on  the  lower  floor  of  the  meeting-house,  to  take  note 
of  all  rudeness  and  disorder  "below,"  and  the  two  others  to  be 
installed  in  the  gallery,  ehargeable  with  the  like  duties  in  respect 
to  all  improprieties  and  misconduct  "above."  As  a  badge  of 
this  office  and  authority  the  colony  laws  provided  that  each  of 
them  should  carry  "a  black  staff  or  wand  two  feet  in  length, 
and  tipped  at  one  end  for  about  three  inches  with  brass  or  pew- 
ter." {Colonial  Lcnvs  of  171^.)  By  an  Act  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire General  Court,  passed  in  1789,  the  law  in  respect  to 
tithingmen  was  amended,  and  their  j)()wers  and  duties  somewhat 
enlarged.  This  amended  Act  required  the  tithingmen  to  be 
chosen  to  be  "  persons  of  good  substance  and  sober  life,"  and 
among  other  things  made  it  their  duty  to  stop  and  detain  all 
persons  travelling  on  the  Sabbath  between  sunrise  and  sunset, 
*' except  in  attending  public  worship,  visiting  the  sick,  or  on 
ijome  work  of  charity." 

By  a  Province  Law  enacted  in  17 19  swine  were  not  per- 
mitted to  run  at  large  between  the  first  day  of  April  and 
the  first  day  of  October  of  each  year,  without  being  yoked  and 
rung  in  the  mode  described  in  the  law  ;  and  two  or  more  offi- 
cials, known  as  hog-reeves  or  hog  constables,  were  required  to 
be  chosen  at  the  annual  town  meeting,  chargeable  with  the 
duty  of  enforcing  the  law  at  the  expense  of  the  guilty  owner  of 
the  swine.  The  regulation  hog  yoke,  as  defined  in  the  law, 
was  made  of  wood,  "  and  to  be  in  length  above  the  swine's 
neck,  equal  to  the  depth  of  the  neck,  and  half  as  long  below, 
the  bottom  piece  of  the  yoke  to  be  equal  in  length  to  three 
times  the  thickness  of  the  neck."  The  ri/ii^,  as  defined  in  the 
Act,  "was  made  of  strong  flexible  iron  wire  to  be  inserted  in 
the  top  of  the  nose  to  prevent  rooting,  the  ends  of  the  wire  to 
be  twisted  together  and  to  project  one  inch  above  the  nose." 
{Colonial  Lazvs,  I7l§.)  The  fees  of  the  hog-reeve,  as  fixed  by  a 
law  passed  in  1794,  were  one  shilling  for  yoking,  and  sixpence 
for  ringing,  each  swine. 

In  accordance  with  a  long-established  custom  prevailing  in 
many  towns  in  New  Hampshire,  all  the  young  men  of  the  town 
who  were  married    within   the  year  next   jjreccding  the  annual 


312  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  ['774 

March  election   were  entitled  to  the  compliment  of  an  election 
to  the  very  honorable  and  responsible  office  of  hog-reeve. 

The  forests  of  New  Hampshire,  at  the  time  of  its  first  settle- 
ment, and  for  many  years  after,  abounded  with  deer.  Both  the 
skin  and  flesh  of  these  animals  being  of  great  value  to  the  set- 
tlers, laws  were  passed  to  prevent  the  killing  of  them  at  such 
seasons  of  the  year  as  would  tend  to  diminish  their  natural  in- 
crease. By  a  Province  Law  enacted  in  1741,  it  was  made  a 
crime  to  kill  deer  between  the  last  day  of  December  and  the 
first  day  of  August.  An  offender  against  this  law  was  liable, 
on  conviction,  to  a  fine  of  ten  pounds.  If  not  able  to  pay  the 
fine  he  might  be  sentenced  to  work  forty  days  for  the  govern- 
ment for  the  first  offence,  and  fifty  days  if  he  should  offend  a 
second  time.  It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  town,  at  their 
annual  March  meeting,  to  choose  two  officers,  known  as  deer- 
reeves  or  eleer  keepers,  to  see  that  this  law  was  observed  and  to 
aid  in  the  prosecution  for  its  violation,  coupled  with  the  au- 
thority to  enter  and  search  all  places  where  they  had  cause  to 
suspect  that  the  skins  or  flesh  of  deer,  unlawfully  killed,  had 
been  concealed. 

A  Colony  Law  passed  in  17 19  provided  for  the  erection  an  d 
regulation  of  houses  of  correction  for  the  Province,  designed 
for  the  keeping,  correcting  and  setting  to  work  "  of  rogues, 
vagabonds,  common  beggars,  and  lewd  and  idle  persons." 
Such  persons,  on  conviction  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  or  the 
court  of  sessions,  were  to  be  sent  to  the  house  of  correction  and 
set  to  work  under  the  master  or  overseer  of  that  institution. 
Upon  his  admission,  the  unlucky  culprit  was  to  be  put  in 
shackles,  or  to  be  whipped,  not  to  exceed  ten  stripes,  unless 
the  warrant  for  his  commitment  otherwise  directed.  {Colonial 
Lazvs  of  lyiS-lJig.)  Such  was  the  New  Hampshire  tramp 
laiv  one  hundred  and  seventy  years  ago.  By  an  Act  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court  in  1766,  this  Act  for  the  maintenance  of  houses  of 
correction  was  extended  to  towns,  with  the  like  powers  and 
duties  in  respect  to  them,  and  coupled  with  the  duty  and  au- 
thority to  choose  masters  or  overseers  of  them  at  the  annual 
election. 


1774] 


K()\AI.     I'KOXINCE. 


1    T     1 


Prior  to  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  the  qualifications  for 
voting"  at  the  town  meetings  wiricd  with  the  object  of  such 
meetings.  To  be  qualified  to  vote  for  town  officers,  the  person 
offering"  his  vote,  as  we  have  seen,  was  required  to  be  a  free- 
holder in  the  town,  or  if  not  a  freeholder  to  have  other  taxable 
property  of  the  value  of  twenty  pounds.  {Colonial  Lazvs  of 
lyig.)  In  the  choice  and  settlement  of  a  minister  for  the  town 
and  the  fixing  the  amount  of  his  salary,  the  right  to  vote,  as  we 
have  also  seen,  was  limited  to  the  owners  of  real  estate  in  the 
town.  But  notwithstanding"  this  restriction,  the  taxes  for  the 
support  of  the  minister  were  required  to  be  assessed  by  the 
selectmen  on  the  personal  estate  and  polls  in  the  town  as  well 
as  on  the  real  estate,  in  the  same  manner  as  taxes  for  all  other 
town  charges.  {Colonial  Lazvs,  I"] 1 4.)  In  order  to  be  competent 
to  vote  for  a  delegate  to  the  General  Court,  the  elector  was  re- 
quired to  have  property  to  the  value  of  fifty  pounds,  and  the 
candidate  to  be  eligible  to  that  office  to  be  possessed  of  real 
estate  to  the  \'alue  of  three  hundred  pounds.  {Colonial  Lazvs, 
i6gg) 


I.UTCH     OF     WHITt     MOUNTAINS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  REVOLUTION,    1 775-1 783. 

Lexington  —  Portsmouth  Fortified  —  Bunker  Hill  —  General  Stark 
—  General  Reed  —  Nottingham  — Meshech  Weare  —  House  of 
Representatives  —  Gov.  John  Wentworth  —  Gen.  John  Sullivan  — 
Siege  of  Boston  —  Exeter  in  1776  —  Committee  of  Safety  —  Ben- 
nington—  Stillwater  —  Saratoga —  First  Schoolmasters  —  Keene 
Raid  —  Freewill  Baptists  —  Samuel  Livermore  and  Family  —  Slav- 
ery  NORTHFIELD ShAKERS  CANTERBURY  GENERAL      StARK. 

'T^HE  history  of  the  Revokition,  and  the  causes  which  led  to 
that  event,  are  properly  treated  in  a  more  general  history 
than  this  purports  to  be.  The  attention  of  the  reader  is  called 
to  the  part  taken  by  the  people  of  the  Province  and  State  of 
New  Hampshire  in  that  struggle. 

1  A  convention  was  holden  at  Exeter,  on  the  25th  of  January, 
1775,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  delegates  to  the  General  Con- 
gress, which  was  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  the  loth  of  May. 

The  British  troops  commenced  hostilities  by  firing  on  the 
people  collected  at  Lexington,  in  Massachusetts,  the  19th  of 
April.  The  news  of  this  attack  spread  rapidly  through  the 
country. 

The  battle  created  great  excitement  in  the  province  of  New 
Hampshire.  From  the  central  and  southern  towns  about  four- 
teen hundred  men,  in  independent  companies  and  unorganized 
detachments,  immediately  marched  to  Cambridge.  Runners 
were  sent,  by  the  provincial  "  Committee  to  call  a  Congress,"  to 
the  several  towns  in  the  Province,  to  send  delegates  to  a  conven- 
tion to  be  holden  at  Exeter  on  the  21st  of  April,  to  consult  for 
the  general  safety. 

'  Annals  of  Portsmouth. 


3l6  HISTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

At  this  convention,  Col.  Nathaniel  Folsom  of  Exeter  was 
chosen  brigadier-y;eneral,  to  command  the  troops  that  had  gone 
or  might  go  "from  this  government  to  assist  our  suffering 
brethren  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts." 

Meanwhile,  formal  notices  had  been  given  the  towns  to  choose 
delegates  to  a  convention,  to  be  holden  on  the  17th  of  May  at 
Exeter,  and  in  this  convention,  on  the  20th,  it  was  voted  to 
raise  three  regiments  of  troops,  including  those  already  in  the 
field,  to  be  commanded  by  Colonels  John  Stark,  Enoch  Poor, 
and  James  Reed.  The  term  of  service  of  the  troops  was  to  expire 
in  December,  1775. 

For  the  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Poor,  afterwards 
designated  as  the  nth  Continental  Foot,  Portsmouth  con- 
tributed nearly  a  full  company. 

Colonel  Poor's  regiment  was  stationed  on  the  seacoast  from 
Ordiorne's  Point  to  the  Merrimack  river  until  after  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  when  it  was  ordered  to  join  the  army  besieging 
Boston. 

The  two  forts  constructed  by  the  citizens  of  Portsmouth  at 
the  "Narrows"  were  earthworks,  and  armed  with  the  heavy 
ordnance  taken  from  P^ort  William  and  Mary,  and  were  named 
in  honor  of  Generals  Washington  and  Sullivan. 

As   an   additional    security  to    the    main    harbor,  a  boom   of 
masts  and  chains  was  thrown  across  the  "■  Narrows,"  which  was 
several  times  broken   by  the  force  of  the  current,  until,  finding 
it  was  impossible  to  obstruct  the  passage  by  this  means,  an  old  m 
ship  was  sunk  in  the  northern  or  main  channel  of  the  river.  ™ 

Portsmouth  met  on  the  20th  of  April  to  consider  "what 
measures  are  most  expedient  to  be  taken  at  this  alarming 
crisis."  They  recommended  every  man  to  furnish  himself  with 
a  good  firelock,  bayonet,  powder,  and  balls,  and  every  other 
requisite  for  defence  ;  "  that  they  form  themselves  into  com- 
panies, and  obtain  what  instruction  they  can  in  the  militaiy  art ; 
that  one  hundred  be  enlisted,  and  properly  equipped  to  march 
at  a  minute's  warning  ;  that  they  divide  themselves  into  two 
companies  of  fifty  men  each,  choose  their  own  officers,  and 
enter  into  such  aerreements  as  that  the  strictest  subordination 


1775]  T"l'    KKVOI.UTIDN.  317 

and  discipline  be  prcscr\-ed  amon<;-  them."  They  then  chose  a 
committee  "to  consult  with  the  provincial  committee  and  adopt 
such  measures  as  they  shall  judi;"e  necessary."  They  voted  to 
use  their  utmost  endeavors  to  keep  up  good  order  and  peace  in 
the  town,  to  support  all  civil  officers,  and  "  pay  ready  obedience 
to  the  law,  to  avoid  the  horror  and  confusion  which  a  contrary 
conduct  may  produce."  And  as  groundless  reports  and  false 
rumors  had  prevailed,  that  the  person  or  property  of  his  Ex- 
cellency John  Wentworth  was  in  danger,  it  was  unanimously 
voted,  "  that  we,  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  will  use  our 
utmost  endeavors  to  prevent  any  insult  being  offered  to  his 
person  or  dignity,  and  that  we  will  take  every  method  in  our 
power  to  assist  and  support  him  in  the  due  and  legal  exercise  of 
his  authority."  A  committee  was  chosen  to  wait  upon  the 
governor  with  the  above  vote. 

Governor  Wentworth  still  retained  the  hope  that  all  difficul- 
ties between  the  two  countries  might  be  adjusted  ;  and  in  his 
speech  to  the  Assembly  on  the  4th  of  May  he  desired  them  to 
adopt  "  such  measures  as  might  tend  to  secure  their  peace  and 
safety,  and  effectually  lead  to  a  restoration  of  the  public  tran- 
quillity and  an  affectionate  reconciliation  with  the  mother 
country."  He  laid  before  them  Lord  North's  conciliatory  pro- 
position. The  House  requested  a  short  adjournment,  to  give 
them  an  opportunity  to  consult  their  constituents,  to  which 
the  governor  consented,  and  adjourned  them  to  the  I2th 
of  June. 

The  Scarborough,  ship  of  war,  commanded  by  Captain  Bar- 
clay, lay  in  Portsmouth  harbor,  and  had  dismantled  the  fort. 
She  seized  two  vessels  laden  with  provisions,  which  were  com- 
ing into  the  harbor.  The  inhabitants  remonstrated  against  this 
proceeding,  and  the  governor  solicited  Captain  Barclay  to 
release  them  ;  but  he  refused,  and  sent  them  to  lioston  under 
convoy  of  the  Canseau,  for  the  use  of  the  King's  forces  there. 
A  body  of  armed  men,  irritated  by  these  proceedings,  brought 
off  from  the  battery  at  Jerry's  Point,  on  Great  Island,  twenty- 
eight  cannon  of  twenty-four  and  thirty-two  pounders,  which 
they  safely  landed  in  Portsmouth. 


3l8  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^775 

^The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  opened  wide  the  breach  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  and  rendered  American  Inde 
pendence  inevitable. 

The  repulse  of  Howe  at  Breed's  Hill  practically  ejected  him 
from  Boston. 

The  hastily  constructed  earthworks  on  Breed's  Hill  forewarned 
the  assailants  that  every  ridge  might  serve  as  a  fortress,  and 
every  sand-hill  become  a  cover,  for  a  persistent  and  earnest 
foe. 

The  city  of  Boston  was  girdled  by  rapidly  increasing  earth- 
works. These  were  wholly  defensive,  to  resist  assault  from  the 
British  garrison,  and  not,  at  first,  as  cover  for  a  regular  siege 
approach  against  the  island  post.  They  soon  became  a  direct 
agency  to  force  the  garrison  to  look  to  the  sea  alone  for  supplies 
or  retreat. 

Open  war  against  Great  Britain  began  with  this  environment 
of  Boston.  The  partially  organized  militia  responded  promptly 
to  call. 

The  vivifying  force  of  the  struggle  through  Concord  and 
Lexington  had  so  quickened  the  rapidly  augmenting  body  of 
patriots,  that  they  demanded  offensive  action  and  grew  impa- 
tient for  results.  Having  dropped  fear  of  British  troops,  as 
such,  they  held  a  strong  purpose  to  achieve  that  complete  de- 
liverance which  their  earnest  resistance  foreshadowed. 

Lexington  and  Concord  were,  therefore,  the  exponents  of 
that  daring  which  made  the  occupation  and  resistance  of 
Breed's  Hill  possible.  The  fancied  invincibility  of  British  dis- 
cipline went  down  before  the  rifles  of  farmers  ;  but  the  quicken- 
ing sentiment,  which  gave  nerve  to  the  arm,  steadiness  to  the 
heart,  and  force  to  the  blow,  was  one  of  those  historic  ex- 
pressions of  human  will  and  faith  which,  under  deep  sense  of 
wrong  incurred  and  rights  imperilled,  overmasters  discipline, 
and  has  the  method  of  an  inspired  madness.  The  moral  force 
of  the  energizing  passion  became  overwhelming  and  supreme. 
No  troops  in  the  world,  under  similar  conditions,  could  have 
resisted  the  movement. 

■  (leneral  H.  B.  Carrington  in  the  Grati He  Monthly. 


17/5]  'A'"'    HF.VOI.U'IION.  319 

The  opposing  forces  did  not  alike  estimate  the  issue,  or  the 
relations  of  the  parties  in  interest. 

The  ostensible  theory  of  the  Crown  was  to  reconcile  the 
colonies.  The  actual  policy,  and  its  physical  demonstrations, 
repelled  and  did  not  conciliate. 

Threats  and  blows  towards  those  not  deemed  capable  of  re- 
sistance were  freely  expended.  Operations  of  war,  as  against 
an  organized  and  skilful  enemy,  were  ignored.  ]iut  the  lega- 
cies of  English  law  and  the  inheritance  of  English  liberty  had 
vested  in  the  colonies.  Their  eradication  and  their  withdrawal 
were  alike  impossible.  The  time  had  passed  for  compromise  or 
limitation  of  their  enjoyment.  The  filial  relation  toward  Eng- 
land was  lost  when  it  became  that  of  a  slave  toward  master,  to 
be  asserted  by  force.  This  the  Americans  understood  when 
they  environed  Boston.  This  the  British  did  not  understand 
until  after  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  The  British  worked  as 
against  a  mob  of  rebels.  The  Americans  made  common  cause, 
"  liberty  or  death,"  against  usurpation  and  tyranny. 

At  the  time  of  the  American  occupation  of  Charlestown 
Heights,  the  value  of  that  position  was  to  be  tested.  The 
Americans  had  previously  burned  the  lighthouses  of  the  harbor. 
The  islands  of  the  bay  were  already  miniature  fields  of  conflict  ; 
and  every  effort  of  the  garrison  to  use  boats,  and  thereby  secure 
the  needed  supplies  of  beef,  tlour,  or  fuel,  only  developeel  a 
counter  system  of  boat  operations,  which  neutralized  the  former 
and  gradually  limited  the  garrison  to  the  range  of  its  guns. 
This  close  grasp  of  the  land  approaches  to  Boston,  so  persis- 
tently maintained,  stimulated  the  Americans  to  catch  a  tighter 
hold,  and  force  the  garrison  to  escape  by  sea.  Expulsion  was 
the  purpose  of  the  rallying  people. 

General  Gage  fortified  Boston  Neck  as  early  as  1774.  It  vvas 
also  the  intention  ^  \  General  Gage  to  fortify  Dorchester 
Heights.  Early  in  .^Vpril,  a  British  council  of  war,  in  which 
tClinton.  l^urgoyne,  and  Percy  took  part,  unanimously  advised 
khe  immediate  occupation  of  Dorchester,  as  both  indispensable 
to  the  protection  of  the  shipping,  and  as  assurance  of  access  to 
the  country  for  indispensable  supj)lics. 


320  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  U77S 

General  Howe  already  appreciated  the  mistake  of  General 
Gage  in  his  expedition  to  Concord,  but  still  cherished  such 
hope  of  an  accommodation  of  the  issue  with  the  colonies  that 
he  postponed  action  until  a  peaceable  occupation  of  Dorchester 
Heights  became  impossible,  and  the  growing  earthworks  of  the 
besiegers  already  commanded  Boston  Neck. 

General  Gage  had  also  advised,  and  wisely,  the  occupation  of 
Charlestown  Heights,  as  both  necessary  and  feasible,  without 
risk  to  Boston  itself.  He  went  so  far  as  to  announce  that,  in 
case  of  overt  acts  of  hostility  to  such  occupation,  by  the  citizens 
of  Charlestown,  he  would  burn  the  town. 

It  was  clearly  sound  military  policy  for  the  British  to  occupy 
both  Dorchester  and  Charlestown  Heights  at  the  first  attempt 
of  the  Americans  to  invest  the  city. 

As  early  as  the  middle  of  May,  the  Massachusetts  Committee 
■of  Safety,  as  well  as  the  council,  had  resolved  "to  occupy  Bun 
ker  Hill  as  soon  as  artillery  and  powder  could  be  adequately 
furnished  for  the  purpose,"  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
examine  and  report  respecting  the  merits  of  Dorchestei 
Heights  as  a  strategic  restraint  upon  the  garrison  of  Boston. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  June,  upon  reliable  information  that  the 
British  had  definitely  resolved  to  seize  both  heights,  and  had 
designated  the  eighteenth  of  June  for  the  occupation  of  Charles- 
town, the  same  Committee  of  Safety  voted  "  to  take  immediate 
possession  of  Bunker  Hill." 

Mr.  Bancroft  states  that  "the  decision  was  so  sudden  that  na 
fit  preparation  could  be  made."  Under  the  existing  conditions, 
it  was  indeed  a  desperate  daring,  expressive  of  grand  faith  and 
self-devo1?fon,  worthy  of  the  cause  in  peril,  and  only  limited  in 
its  immediate  and  assured  triumph  by  the  simple  lack  of 
powder. 

General  Ward  fully  realized  that  the  he  tation  of  the  British 
to  emerge  from  Boston  and  attack  the  Americans  was  an  index 
of  the  security  of  the  American  defences,  and,  therefore,  depre- 
cated the  contingency  of  a  general  engagement,  until  ample 
supplies  of  powder  could  be  secured. 

The  British  garrison,  which  had  been  reinforced  to  a  nominal 


1775J  '^"1"'    REVOLUTION.  321 

Strength  of  ten  thousand  men,  had  become  reduced,  through 
inadequate  supphes,  csi)ecially  of  fresh  meat,  to  eight  thousand 
effectives,  but  these  men  were  well  officered  and  well  disciplined. 

Bunker  Hill  had  an  easy  slope  to  the  isthmus,  but  was  quite 
steep  on  either  side,  having,  in  fact,  control  of  tiie  isthmus,  as 
well  as  commanding  a  full, view  of  l^oston  and  tlic  surrounding- 
country.  Morton's  Hill,  at  Moulton's  Point,  .v'here  the  British 
landed,  was  but  thirty-five  feet  above  sea-level,  while  Breed's 
Pasture  (as  then  known)  and  Bunker  Hill  were,  respectively, 
si.venty-five  and  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  high.  The  Charles 
and  Mystic  rivers,  which  flanked  Charlestown,  were  navigable, 
and  were  under  the  control  of  the  British  ships  of  war. 

To  so  occupy  Charlestown,  in  advance,  as  to  prevent  a  suc- 
cessful British  landing,  required  the  use  of  the  nearest  available 
l^osition  that  would  make  the  light  artillery  of  the  Americans 
effective.  To  occupy  Bunker  Hill,  alone,  would  leave  to  the 
British  the  cover  of  Breed's  Hill,  under  which  to  gain  effective 
fire  and  a  good  base  for  approach,  as  well  as  Charlestown  for 
quarters,  without  prejudice  to  themselves. 

When,  therefore.  Breed's  Hill  was  fortified  as  an  advanced 
position,  it  was  done  with  the  assurance  that  reinforcements 
would  soon  occupy  the  retired  summit,  and  the  course  adopted 
was  the  best  to  prevent  an  effective  British  lodgment.  The 
previous  reluctance  of  the  garrison  to  make  any  effective  dem- 
onstration against  the  thin  lines  (jf  environment  strengthened 
.the  belief  of  the  Americans  that  a  well-.selected  hold  upon 
Charlestown  Heights  would  securely  tighten  the  grasp  upon 
the  city  itself. 

As  a  fact,  the  British  contempt  for  the  Americans  might 
have  urged  them  as  rashly  against  Bunker  Hill  as  it  did  against 
the  redoubt  which  they  gained,  at  last,  only  through  failure 
of  the  ammunition  of  its  defenders  ;  but,  in  view  of  the  few 
hours  at  dispo.sal  of  the  Americans  to  prepare  against  a  landing 
so  soon  to  be  attempted,  it  is  certain  that  the  defences  were 
well  placed,  both  to  cover  the  town  and  force  an  immediate 
issue  before  the  British  coukl  increase  tlieir  own  force. 

It   is  ec|ually  certain   that  the   liritish    utterly  failed   to  appre- 


^22  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIKE.  [1/75 

date  the  fact  that,  with  the  control  of  the  Mystic  and  Charles 
rivers,  they  could,  within  twenty-four  hours,  so  isolate  Charles- 
town  as  to  secure  the  same  results  as  by  storming  the  American 
position,  and  without  appreciable  loss.  This  was  the  advice  of 
General  Clinton,  but  he  was  overruled.  They  did,  ultimately, 
thereby  check  reinforcements,  but  suffered  so  severely  in  the 
battle  itself  that  fully  two-thirds  of  the  Americans  retired 
safely  to  the  main  land. 

The  delay  of  the  British  to  advance  as  soon  as  the  landing 
was  effected  was  bad  tactics.  One  half  of  the  force  could  have 
followed  the  Mystic,  and  turned  the  American  left  wing,  long- 
before  Colonel  Stark's  command  came  upon  the  field.  The 
British  dined  as  leisurely  as  if  they  had  only  to  move  any  time 
and  seize  the  threatening  position,  and  thereby  lost  their  chief 
opportunity. 

One  single  sign  of  the  recognition  of  any  possible  risk  to 
themselves  was  the  opening  of  fire  from  Boston  Neck  and  such 
other  positions  as  faced  the  American  lines,  as  if  to  warn  them 
not  to  attempt  the  city,  or  endanger  their  own  lives  by  sending 
reinforcements  to  Charlestown. 

Colonel  William  Prescott,  of  Pepperell,  ^Massachusetts,  Colo- 
nel James  Fryc,  of  Andover,  and  Colonel  I^beiiezer  l^ridge,  of 
Billerica,  whose  regiments  formed  most  of  the  original  detail, 
were  members  of  the  council  of  war  which  had  been  organized 
on  the  20th  of  April,  when  General  Ward  assumed  command 
of  the  army.  Colonel  Thomas  Knowlton,  of  Putnam's  regi- 
ment, was  to  lead  a  detachment  from  the  Connecticut  troops. 
Colonel  Richard  Gridley,  chief  engineer,  with  a  company  of 
artillery,  was  also  assigned  to  the  moving  columns. 

To  ensure  a  force  of  one  thousand  men,  the  field  order  cov- 
ered nearly  fourteen  hundred,  and  Mr.  P'rothingham  shows 
clearly  that  the  actual  force  as  organized,  with  artificers  and 
drivers  of  carts,  was  not  less  than  twelve  hundred  men. 

Cambridge  Common  was  the  place  of  rendezvous,  where,  at 
early  twilight  of  June  i6,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Langdon,  presi- 
dent of  Harvard  College,  invoked  the  blessing  of  Almight)'  God 
upon  the  solemn  undertaking. 


17751  ''"''■  Ki-voLUTioN.  ^2;^ 

This  silent  body  of  earnest  men  crossed  Charlestown  Neck, 
and  halted  for  a  clear  definition  of  the  impending  duty.  Major 
Brooks,  of  Colonel  Dodge's  regiment,  joined  here,  as  well  as  a 
company  of  artillery.  Captain  Nutting,  with  a  detachment  of 
Connecticut  men,  was  promptly  sent,  by  the  quickest  route,  to 
patrol  Charlestown,  at  the  summit  of  Hunker  Hill.  Captain 
Ma.wvell's  company,  of  Prescott's  regiment,  was  next  detailed 
to  patrol  the  shore  in  silence  and  keenly  note  any  activity  on 
board  the  British  men-of-war. 

The  six  vessels  lying  in  the  stream  were  the  Somerset,  sixty- 
eight.  Captain  Edward  Le  Cross  ;  Cerberus,  thirty-six,  Captain 
Chads  ;  Glasgow,  thirty-four,  Captain  William  Maltby  ;  Lively, 
twenty.  Captain  Thomas  B.  Bishop ;  Falcon,  twenty.  Captain 
Linzee ;  and  the  Symmetry,  transport,  with  eighteen  guns. 

While  one  thousand  men  worked  upon  the  redoubt  which  had 
been  located  under  counsel  of  Gridley,  Prescott,  Knowlton,  and 
other  ofificers,  the  dull  thud  of  the  pickaxe  and  the  grating  of 
shovels  were  the  only  sounds  that  disturbed  the  pervading 
silence,  except  as  the  sentries'  "All's  well!"  from  Copp's  Hill 
and  from  the  warships  relieved  anxiety  and  stimulated  work. 
Prescott  and  Putnam  alike,  and  more  than  once,  visited  the 
beach,  to  be  assured  that  the  seeming  security  was  real ;  and  at 
daybreak  the  redoubt,  nearly  eight  rods  square  and  six  feet 
high,  was  nearly  complete. 

Scarcely  had  objects  become  distinct,  when  the  battery  on 
Copp's  Hill  and  the  guns  of  the  Lively  opened  fire,  and  startled 
the  garrison  of  Boston  from  sleep,  to  a  certainty  that  the  col- 
onists had  taken  the  offensive. 

General  Putnam  reached  headquarters  at  a  very  early  hour, 
and  secured  the  detail  of  a  portion  of  Colonel  Stark's  regiment 
to  reinforce  the  first  detail  which  had  already  occupied  the  hill. 

At  nine  o'clock  a  council  of  war  was  held  at  Breed's  Hill. 
Major  John  Brooks  was  sent  to  ask  for  more  men  and  more 
rations.  Richard  Devens,  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  then  in 
session,  was  influential  in  persuading  General  Ward  to  furnish 
prompt  reinforcements.  By  eleven  o'clock  the  whole  of  Stark's 
and   Reed's   New   Hampshire  regiments  were  on  their    march, 


324  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77 S 

and  in  time  to  meet  the  first  shock  of  battle.  Portions  of  other 
regiments  hastened  to  the  aid  of  those  already  waiting  for  the 
fight  to  begin. 

The  details  of  men  were  not  exactly  defined,  in  all  cases, 
when  the  urgent  call  for  reinforcements  reached  headquarters. 
Little's  regiment  of  Essex  men  ;  ]irewer's,  of  Worcester  and 
Middlesex,  with  their  Lieutenant-Colonel  Buckminster  ;  Nixon's, 
led  by  Nixon  himself;  Moore's,  from  Worcester;  Whitcomb's, 
of  Lancaster,  and  others,  promptly  accepted  the  opportunity  to 
take  part  in  the  offensive,  and  challenge  the  British  garrison  to 
a  contest-at-arms,  and  well  they  bore  their  part  in  the  struggle. 

The  completion  of  the  redoubt  only  made  more  distinct  the 
necessity  for  additional  defences.  A  line  of  breastworks,  a  few- 
rods  in  length,  was  carried  to  the  left,  and  then  to  the  rear,  in 
order  to  connect  with  a  stone  fence  which  was  accepted  as  a 
part  of  the  line,  since  the  fence  ran  perpendicularly  to  the 
Mystic  ;  and  the  intention  was  to  throw  some  protection  across 
the  entire  peninsula  to  the  river.  A  small  pond  and  some 
spongy  ground  were  left  open,  as  non-essential,  considering  the 
value  of  every  moment ;  and  every  exertion  was  made  for  the 
protection  of  the  immediate  front.  The  stone  fence,  like  those 
still  common  in  New  England,  was  two  or  three  feet  high,  with 
set  posts  and  two  rails  ;  in  all,  about  five  feet  high,  the  top  rail 
giving  a  rest  for  a  rifle.  A  zigzag  "  stake  and  rider  fence  "  was 
put  in  front,  the  meadow  division-fences  being  stripped  for  the 
purpose.  The  fresh-mown  hay  filled  the  interval  between  the 
fences.  This  line  was  nearly  two  hundred  yards  in  rear  of  the 
face  of  the  redoubt,  and  near  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill.  Captain 
Knowlton,  with  two  pieces  of  artillery  and  Connecticut  troops, 
was  assigned,  by  Colonel  Prescott,  to  the  right  of  this  position, 
adjoining  the  open  gap  already  mentioned.  Between  the  fence 
and  the  river,  more  conspicuous  at  low  tide,  was  a  long  gap, 
which  was  promptly  filled  by  Stark  as  soon  as  he  reached  the 
ground,  thus,  as  far  as  possible,  to  anticipate  the  very  flanking 
movement  which  the  British  afterward  attempted. 

Putnam  was  everywhere  active,  and,  after  the  fences  were  as 
well  secured  as  time  would  allow,  he  ordered  the  tools  taken  to 


17751  '"'■'  Ki-^  oii'i'oN.  325 

Bunker  Hill  for  the  establishment  of  a  second  line  on  hij^her 
ground,  in  case  the  first  could  not  be  maintained.  His  impor- 
tunity wiih  General  Ward  had  secured  the  detail  of  the  whole 
of  Reed's,  as  well  as  the  balance  of  Stark's,  regiment,  so  that 
the  entire  left  was  protected  by  New  Hampshire  troops.  With 
all  their  energy  they  were  able  to  gather  from  the  shore  only 
;tone  enough  for  partial  cover,  while  they  lay  down,  or  kneeled,. 
.0  fire. 

The  whole  force  thus  spread  out  to  meet  tlie  Hritish  army 
was  less  than  sixteen  hundred  men.  Six  ]jicces  of  artillery 
were  in  use  at  different  times,  but  with  little  effect.  The  can- 
non cartridges  were  at  last  distributed  for  the  rifles,  and  five  of 
the  guns  were  left  on  the  field  wlien  retreat  became  inevitable. 

Reference  to  a  map  will  indicate  the  position  thus  outlined. 
It  was  evident  that  the  landing  could  not  be  j^revented.  Suc- 
cessive barges  landed  the  well-equipped  troops,  and  they  took 
their  positions,  and  their  dinner,  under  the  blaze  of  the  hot  sun,, 
as  if  nothing  but  ordinary  duty  was  awaiting  their  leisure. 

It  was  nearly  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  the  British 
army  formed  for  the  advance.  General  Howe  was  expected  tt> 
break  and  envelop  the  American  left  wing,  take  the  redoubt  in 
the  rear,  and  cut  off  retreat  to  Bunker  Hill  and  the  mainland. 
The  light  infantry  moved  closely  along  the  Mystic.  The  gren- 
adiers advanced  upon  the  stone  fence,  while  the  British  left 
demonstrated  toward  the  unprotected  gap  which  was  between 
the  fence  and  the  short  breastwork  next  the  redoubt.  (jeneral 
Pigot  with  the  extreme  left  wing  moved  directly  upon  the  re- 
doubt. The  British  artillery  had  been  supplied  with  twelve- 
pound  shot  for  six-pounder  guns,  and,  thus  disabled,  were 
ordered  to  use  only  grape.  The  guns  were,  therefore,  advanced 
to  the  edge  of  an  old  brick-kiln,  as  the  spongy  ground  and  heavy 
grass  did  not  permit  ready  handling  of  guns  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill  slope,  or  even  just  at  its  left.  This  secured  a  more  effec- 
tive range  of  fire  u[)on  the  skeleton  defences  of  ihe  American 
centre,  and  an  eligible  position  for  a  direct  fire  up'  n  the  ex- 
posed portion  of  tlie  Amei  ican  front,  and  both  breastwork  and 
redoubt. 


226  mSTOKY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

The  advance  of  the  British  army  was  like  a  solemn  pageant 
in  its  steady  headway,  and  like  a  parade  for  inspection  in  its 
completeness.  This  army,  bearing  knapsacks  and  full  cam- 
paign equipment,  moved  forward  as  if,  by  the  force  of  its 
closely  knit  columns,  it  must  sweep  every  barrier  away.  But 
right  in  the  way  was  a  calm,  intense  love  of  liberty.  It  was 
represented  by  men  of  the  same  blood  and  of  equal  daring. 

A  strong  contrast  marked  the  opposing  Englishmen  that 
summer  afternoon.  The  plain  men  handled  plain  firelocks. 
Oxhorns  held  their  powder,  and  their  pockets  held  their  bullets. 
Coatless,  under  the  broiling  sun,  unincumbered,  unadorned  by 
plume  or  service  medal,  pale  and  wan  after  their  night  of  toil 
and  their  day  of  hunger,  thirst,  and  waiting,  this  live  obstruc- 
tion calmly  faced  the  advancing  splendor. 

A  few  hasty  shots,  quickly  restrained,  drew  an  innocent  fire 
from  the  British  front  rank.  The  pale,  stern  men  behind  the 
slight  defence,  obedient  to  a  strong  will,  answer  not  to  the 
quick  volley,  and  nothing  to  the  audible  commands  of  the  ad- 
vancing columns,  —  waiting,  still. 

No  painter  can  make  the  scene  more  clear  than  the  recital 
of  sober  deposition,  and  the  record  left  by  survivors  of  either 
side.  History  has  no  contradictions  to  confuse  the  realities  of 
tliat  momentous  tragedy. 

The  British  left  wing  is  near  the  redoubt.  It  has  only  to 
mount  a  fresh  earthbank,  hardly  six  feet  high,  and  its  clods  and 
sands  can  almost  be  counted;  it  is  so  near,  so  easy  —  sure. 

Short,  crisp,  and  earnest,  low-toned,  but  felt  as  an  electric 
jDulse,  are  the  words  of  Prescott.  Warren,  by  his  side,  repeats. 
The  words  fly  through  the  impatient  lines.  The  eager  fingers 
give  back  from  the  waiting  trigger.  "Steady,  men."  "Wait 
until  you  see  the  white  of  the  eye."  "Not  a  shot  sooner." 
■"Aim  at  the  handsome  coats."  "Aim  at  the  waistbands." 
■"Pick  off  the  commanders."  "Wait  for  the  word,  every  man, 
- — ■  steady. 

Those  plain  men,  so  patient,  can  already  count  the  buttons, 
can  read  the  emblems  on  the  breastplate,  can  recognize  the 
officers    and    men    whom    they    had    seen    parade    on    Boston 


i/zSJ  Tur.  Ki'.voi.uTioN.  327 

Common.  Features  grow  more  distinct.  The  silence  is  awful. 
The  men  seem  dead  —  waiting  for  one  word.  On  the  Ikitish 
right  the  light  infantry  gain  equal  advance  just  as  the  left  wing 
almost  touched  the  redoubt.  Moving  over  more  level  ground, 
thc\-  quickly  made  the  greater  distance,  and  passed  the  line  of 
those  who  marched  directly  up  the  hill.  The  grenadiers  moved 
firmly  upon  the  centre,  with  equal  confidence,  and  space  lessens 
to  that  which  the  spirit  of  the  impending  word  dehncs.  That 
word  waits  behind  the  centre  and  left  wing,  as  it  lingei's  at 
bie.istwork  and  redoubt.  Sharp,  clear,  ami  deadly  in  tone  and 
<;sscnce,  it  rings  forth,  —  Fire  ! 

l"^"om  redoubt  to  liver,  along  the  whole  sweep  of  devouring 
flame,  the  forms  of  men  wither  as  in  a  furnace  heat.  The 
whole  front  goes  down.  For  an  instant  the  chirp  of  the  cricket 
and  grasshopper  in  the  fresh-mown  hay  might  almost  be  heard ; 
then  the  groans  of  the  wounded,  then  the  shouts  of  impatient 
yeomen  who  spring  forth  to  pursue,  until  recalled  to  silence  and 
chity.  Staggering,  but  reviving,  grand  in  tiie  glory  of  their 
manhood,  heroic  in  restored  self-possession,  with  steady  step  in 
the  face  of  fire,  and  over  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  the  British 
remnant  renew  battle.  Again,  a  deadly  volley,  and  the  shat- 
tered columns,  in  spite  of  entreaty  or  command,  speed  back  to 
the  i)lace  of  landing,  and  the  first  shock  of  arms  is  o\er. 

A  lifetime,  when  it  is  past,  is  but  as  a  moment.  A  moment, 
sometimes,  is  as  a  lifetime.  Onset  and  repulse.  Three  hun- 
dred lifetimes  ended  in  twent\-  minutes. 

Putnam  hastened  to  Bunker  Hill  to  gather  scattering  parties 
in  the  rear,  and  urge  coming  reinforcements  across  the  isthmus, 
wheie  the  fire  from  British  frigates  swept  with  fearful  energy,  but 
nothing  could  bring  them  in  time.  The  men  who  had  toiled  all 
night,  and  had  just  proved  their  valor,  were  again  to  be  tested. 

The  British  reformed  promptly,  in  the  i^erfection  of  their 
discipline.  Their  artillery  was  pushed  forward  nearer  the  angle 
made  by  the  breastwork  next  the  redoubt,  and  the  wjiole  line 
advanced,  deployed  as  before  across  the  entiie  American  front. 
The  ships  of  war  increased  their  fire  across  tlie  isthmus. 
Charlestown    had    been    hred,    and    more    than     four    hundred 


^28  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  '[^775 

houses  kindled  into  one  vast  wave  of  smoke  and  flame,  until 
a  sudden  breeze  swept  its  quivering  volume  away  and  exposed 
to  view  of  the  watchful  Americans  the  returning  tide  of  battle. 
No  scattering  shots  in  advance  this  time.  It  is  only  when  a 
space  of  hardly  five  rods  is  left,  and  a  swift  plunge  could  almost 
forerun  the  rifle  flash,  that  the  word  of  execution  impels  the 
bullet,  and  the  entire  front  rank,  from  redoubt  to  river,  is  swept 
away.  Again  and  again  the  attempt  is  made  to  rally  and 
inspire  the  paralysed  troops  ;  but  the  living  tide  flows  back, 
even  to  the  river. 

Another  twenty  minutes,  —  hardly  twenty-five,  —  and  the 
death  angel  has  gathered  his  sheaves  of  human  hopes,  as  when 
the  Royal  George  went  down  beneath  the  waters  with  its  price- 
less value  of  human  lives. 

At  the  first  repulse  the  thirty-eighth  regiment  took  shelter 
by  a  stone  fence,  along  the  road  which  passes  about  the  base  of 
Breed's  Hill ;  but  at  the  second  repulse,  supported  by  the  fifth, 
it  reorganized  just  under  the  advanced  crest  of  Breed's  Hill  for 
a  third  advance. 

It  was  an  hour  of  grave  issues.  Burgoyne,  who  watched  the 
progress  from  Copp's  Hill,  says  :  "  A  moment  of  the  day  was 
critical." 

Stedman  says:  "A  continuous  blaze  of  musketry,  incessant 
and  destructive." 

Gordon  says  :  "The  British  officers  pronounced  it  downright 
butchery  to  lead  the  men  afresh  against  those  lines." 

Ramsay  says  :  "  Of  one  company  not  more  than  five,  and  of 
another  not  more  than  fourteen,  escaped." 

Lossing  says  :  "  Whole  platoons  were  lain  upon  the  earth, 
like  grass  by  the  mower's  scythe." 

Marshall  says:  "The  British  line,  wholly  broken,  fell  back 
with  precipitation  to  the  landing-place." 

Frothingham  quotes  this  statement  of  a  British  officer :  — 
"  Most  of  our  grenadiers  and  light  infantry,  the  moment  they 
l)resented  themselves,  lost  three-fourths,  and  many  nine-tentl  s, 
of  their  men.  Some  had  only  eight  antl  nine  men  to  a  com- 
pany left,  some  only  tliree,  four,  and  fwc." 


i775j  '^"'"    Ki"-\'oLL"riON.  329 

Botta  says  :  "  A  sliDwor  ot  bullets.  The  field  was  covered 
with  the  slain." 

Bancroft  says  :  "A  continuous  sheet  of  fire." 

Stark  says  :  "The  dead  lay  as  thick  as  sheep  in  a  fold." 

It  was  indeed  a  strange  episode  in  British  history,  in  view  of 
the  British  assertion  of  assured  supremacy,  whenever  an  issue 
challenged  that  supremacy. 

Clinton  and  Burgoyne,  watching  from  the  redoubt  on  Copp's 
Hill,  realized  at  once  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  and  Clinton 
promptly  offered  his  aid  to  rescue  the  army. 

Four  hundred  additional  marines  and  the  forty-seventh  regi- 
ment were  promptly  landed.  This  fresh  force,  under  Clinton, 
was  ordered  to  flank  the  redoubt,  and  scale  its  face  to  the 
extreme  left.  General  Howe,  with  the  grenadiers  and  light 
infantry,  supported  by  the  artillery,  undertook  the  storming;  of 
the  breastworks,  bending  back  from  the  mouth  of  the  redoubt, 
and  so  commanding  the  centre  entrance. 

General  Pigot  was  ordered  to  rally  the  remnants  of  the  fifth, 
thirty-eighth,  forty-third,  and  fifty-second  regiments,  to  connec- 
the  two  wings,  and  attack  the  redoubt  in  front. 

A  mere  demonstration  was  ordered  upon  the  American  left 
while  the  artillery  was  to  advance  a  few  rods  and  then  swing  t(v 
its  left,  so  as  to  sweep  the  breastwork  for  Howe's  advance. 

The  dress  parade  movement  of  the  first  advance  was  not  re- 
peated. A  contest  between  equals  was  at  hand.  Victory  or 
ruin  was  the  alternative  for  those  who  so  proudly  issued  from 
the  Boston  barracks  at  sunrise  for  the  suppression  of  preten- 
tious rebellion.  Knapsacks  were  thrown  aside.  British  vet- 
erans stripped  for  fight.  Not  a  single  regiment  of  those 
engaged  had  passed  such  a  fearful  ordeal  in  its  whole  history  as 
a  single  hour  had  witnessed.  The  power  of  discipline,  the 
energy  of  experienced  commanders,  and  the  pressure  of 
honored  antecedents,  combined  to  make  the  movement  as  try- 
ing as  it  was  momentous. 

The  Americans  were  no  less  under  a  solemn  responsibility. 
At  the  previous  attack,  some  loaded  while  others  fired,  so  that 
the  expenditure  of  powder  was  great,  almost  exhaustive.     The 


330  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  [^775 

few  remaining  cannon  cartridges  were  economically  distributed. 
There  was  no  longer  a  possibility  of  reinforcements.  The  fire 
from  the  shipping  swept  the  isthmus.  There  were  less  than 
fifty  bayonets  to  the  entire  command. 

During  the  afternoon  Ward  sent  his  own  regiment,  as  well  as 
Patterson's  and  Gardner's,  but  few  men  reached  the  actual 
front  in  time  to  share  in  the  last  resistance.  Gardner  did 
indeed  reach  Bunker  Hill  to  aid  Putnam  in  establishing  a 
second  line  on  that  summit,  but  fell  in  the  discharge  of  the 
duty.  Febiger,  previously  conspicuous  at  Quebec,  and  after- 
ward at  Stony  Point,  gathered  a  portion  of  Gerrish's  regiment, 
and  reached  the  redoubt  in  time  to  share  in  the  final  struggle  ; 
but  the  other  regiments,  without  their  fault,  were  too  late. 

At  this  time  Putnam  seemed  to  appreciate  the  full  gravity  of 
the  crisis,  and  made  the  most  of  every  available  resource  to 
concentrate  a  reserve  for  a  second  defence,  but  in  vain. 

Prescott,  within  the  redoubt,  at  once  recognized  the  method 
of  the  Briti-sh  advance.  The  wheel  of  the  British  artillery  to 
the  left  after  it  passed  the  line  of  the  redoubt  secured  to  it  an 
enfilading  fire,  which  insured  the  reduction  of  the  redoubt  and 
cut  off  retreat.  There  was  no  panic  at  that  hour  of  supreme 
peril.  The  order  to  reserve  fire  until  the  enemy  was  within 
twenty  yards  was  obediently  regarded,  and  it  was  not  until  a 
pressure  upon  three  faces  of  the  redoubt  forced  the  last  issue, 
that  the  defenders  poured  forth  one  more  destructive  volley. 
A  single  cannon  cartridge  was  distributed  for  the  final  effort, 
and  then,  with  clubbed  guns  and  the  nerve  of  desperation,  the 
slow  retreat  began,  contesting  man  to  man  and  inch  by  inch. 
Warren  fell,  shot  through  the  head,  in  the  mouth  of  the  fort. 

The  battle  was  not  quite  over,  even  then.  Jackson  rallied 
Gardner's  men  on  Bunker  Hill,  and  with  three  companies  of 
Ward's  regiment  and  P"ebiger's  party,  so  covered  the  retreat  as 
to  save  half  of  the  garrison.  The  New  Hampshire  troops  of 
Stark  and  Reed,  with  Colt's  and  Chester's  companies,  still  held 
the  fence  line  clear  to  the  river,  and  covered  the  escape  of 
Prescott's  command  until  the  last  cartridge  had  been  expended, 
and  then  their  deliberate,  well-ordered  retreat  bore  testimony 
alike  to  their  virtue  and  valor. 


1775]  '^"K    REVOLUTION.  331 

Putnam  made  one  final  effort  at  Runker  Hill,  but  in  vain,  and 
the  army  retired  to  Prospect  Hill,  which  PuliKini  had  already 
fortified  in  advance. 

The  British  did  not  pursue.  Clinton  urged  upon  General 
Howe  an  immediate  attack  upon  Cambridge  ;  but  Howe  de- 
clined the  movement.  The  gallant  Prescott  offered  to  retake 
Bunker  Hill  by  storming  if  he  could  have  three  fresh  regi- 
ments ;  but  it  was  not  deemed  best  to  waste  further  resources 
at  the  time. 

Such,  as  briefly  as  it  can  be  clearly  outlined,  was  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill. 

Nearly  one  third  of  each  army  was  left  on  the  field. 

The  British  loss  was  nineteen  officers  killed  and  seventy 
wounded,  itself  a  striking  evidence  of  the  prompt  response  to 
Prescott's  orders  before  the  action  began.  Of  rank  and  file, 
two  hundred  and  seven  were  killed  and  seven  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight  were  wounded.     Total,  ten  hundred  and  fifty-four. 

The  American  loss  was  one  hundred  and  forty-five  killed  and 
missing,  and  three  hundred  and  four  wounded.  Total,  four 
hundred  and  forty-nine. 

Such  is  the  record  of  a  battle  which,  in  less  than  two  hours, 
destroyed  a  town,  laid  fifteen  hundred  men  upon  the  field, 
equalized  the  relations  of  veterans  and  militia,  aroused  three 
millions  of  people  to  a  definite  struggle  for  National  Indepen- 
dence, and  fairly  opened  the  war  for  its  accomplishment. 

The  hasty  organization  of  the  command  is  marked  by  one 
feature  not  often  regarded,  and  that  is  the  readiness  with  which 
men  of  various  regiments  enlisted  in  the  enterprise.  Washing, 
ton,  in  his  ofBcial  report  of  the  casualties,  thus  specifies  the 
loss  :  — 


Colonel  of  Regiment. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Missing. 

Frye, 

lO 

38 

4 

Little, 

7 

23 

- 

Brewer, 

12 

22 

- 

Gridley, 

— 

4 

- 

Stark, 

»5 

45 

- 

Woodbridge,     . 

— 

5 

Scammon. 

— 

2 

. 

332  IlISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

Missing. 


Colonel  of  Regiment. 

Killed. 

Wounded 

Bridge, 

17 

25 

WhitcQmb,     . 

5 

8 

Ward, 

I 

6 

Gerrish, 

3 

5 

Reed, 

3 

29 

Prescott, 

43 

46 

Doolittle, 

6 

9 

Gardner, 

— 

7 

Patterson, 

— 

1 

Nixon, 

3 

— 

^  At  the  opening  of  hostilities  a  large  number  of  the  citizens 
■of  New  Hampshire  had  assembled  at  Cambridge.  They  were 
without  organization.  Many  were  destitute  of  either  arms  or 
provisions.  The  New  Hampshire  civil  authorities  had  not  yet 
moved.  The  Massachusetts  government  felt  the  necessity  of 
providing  the  means  of  defence,  and  employing  men  for  that 
purpose.  Her  rulers  organized  forthwith  her  own  regiments 
and  companies,  and  issued  commissions  to  her  officers. 

It  appears  they  extended  their  patronage  beyond  their  own 
limits,  as  proved  by  the  following  record.  "The  Committee  of 
Safety  for  Massachusetts,  on  the  26th  of  April,  1775,  issued  the 
commission  of  colonel  to  John  Stark,  with  beating  orders. 
Under  this  commission  he  enlisted  800  men  from  the  tap  of  his 
■drum.  Captain  Jamrs  Reed  of  Fitzwilliam,  Cheshire  county, 
also  Paul  Dudley  Sargent  of  Amherst,  Hillsborough  county,  re- 
ceived commissions  as  colonels,  which  were  accepted  upon  the 
condition  that  they  should  continue  until  New  Hampshire 
should  act." 

Stark  soon  enlisted  fourteen  companies.  Reed  and  Sargent 
only  four  each.  Afterwards,  New  Hampshire  gave  commissions 
to  Stark  and  Reed, —  Stark's  regiment  to  be  No.  i.  The  other 
commission  was  assigned  to  Colonel  Enoch  Poor,  as  belonging 
to  that  part  of  the  State  where  he  resided.  Early  in  May  the 
New  Hampshire  assembly  voted  to  raise  and  equip  two  thous- 
and men,  to  be  divided  into  three  regiments  of  ten  companies 
each.  Poor's  regiment  to  be  second  in  rank.  Reed's  third. 
Colonel  Sargent  retired  to  Massachusetts,  and  during  the  siege 


1775]  THE    REVOLUTION,  333 

of  Boston  had  command  of  a  small  regiment  of  Massachusetts 
troops.  Stark  had  some  collision  with  General  Folsom,  Hobart, 
and  others  about  his  rank  and  supplies.  Yet  he  had  early  in 
June  a  large  regiment  of  men  ready  for  active  service. 

Two  of  his  companies  were  ordered  to  be  detached,  and  to  be 
joined  to  Colonel  Reed's  regiment  to  make  up  his  quota  of  ten 
companies, —  still  leaving  to  Stark  ten  companies,  exceeding 
Reed's  regiment  in  numbers,  as  will  appear  by  the  following 
statement.  Prior  to  the  17th  of  June,  1775,  Stark's  regiment 
was  stationed  at  Medford.  Reed's  regiment  was  located  near 
Charlestown  Neck.  On  the  14th  day  of  June,  the  effective 
men  fit  for  duty,  belonging  to  Reed's  regiment,  according  to 
Adjutant  Stephen  Peabody's  return,  amounted  to  four  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  men.  Several  of  the  men  who  had  enlisted 
had  not  then  joined.  Others  were  furloughed,  some  were  sick, 
some  were  on  guard.  The  regiment  of  Stark,  as  returned, 
amounted  to  six  hundred  and  thirty-two  men,  including  rank 
and  file. 

Colonel  Reed  returned  his  highest  number  of  killed  and 
wounded  in  the  battle  of  the  17th  as  five  killed  and  twenty- 
seven  wounded.  We  have  been  able  to  ascertain  the  names  of 
these  men,  with  much  certainty,  at  the  expense  of  some  labor. 

Rockingham  county  furnished  one  company  of  44  men  to 
James  Reed's  regiment.  It  was  commanded  by  Captain  Heze- 
kiah  Hutchins  of  Hampstead  ;  First  Lieutenant,  Amos  Emer- 
son, Chester  ;  Second  Lieutenant,  John  Marsh.  This  company 
was  enlisted  from  Hanvgs,tead,  Chester,  Raymond,  Atkinson,  San- 
down,  and  Candia.  Candia  suffered  the  greatest  loss.  Parker 
Hills  of  Candia  was  mortally  wounded  and  not  heard  from 
after  the  battle.  John  Varnum  and  Samuel  Morrill,  both  of 
Candia,  were  severely  wounded,  and  received  afterwards 
invalid  pensions  from  the  United  States  Government,  as  did 
Nathaniel  Leavitt  of  Hampstead,  who  was  also  then  and  there 
wounded. 

Second  company,  44  men.  Captain,  Josiah  Crosby  of  Am- 
herst ;  Lieutenant,  Daniel  Wilkins,  Amherst ;  Ensign,  Thomp- 
son Maxwell.     This  company  was  from  Amherst,  which  then 


334  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

embraced  Milford  and  Mont  Vernon.  John  Cole  and  James 
Hutchinson  were  both  mortally  wounded.  Hutchinson  died 
June  24,  1775. 

Third  company,  46  men.  Captain,  Philip  Thomas,  of  Rindge  ; 
Lieutenant,  John  Hooper;  Ensign,  Ezekiel  Rand,  Rindge. 
This  company  was  from  Rindge  and  Jaffrey.  There  were 
returned  three  killed,  viz:  George  Carlton,  S.  Adams, and  Jona- 
than Lovejoy,  of  Rindge;  three  wounded  :  John  Thompson  of 
Rindge  (received  half  pay  from  the  State)  ;  B.  Parker  of  Swan- 
zey,  mortally  wounded  ;  Edward  Waldo  of  Alstead,  severely. 

Fourth  company,  44  men.  Captain  Levi  Spaulding,  who 
represented  Lyndeborough  in  1781-82;  Lieutenant,  Joseph 
Bradford  ;  Ensign,  Thomas  Buffee.  This  company  was  chiefly 
from  Lyndeborough,  Temple,  and  Hudson.  David  Carlton 
and  Jesse  Lund  were  both  mortally  wounded,  Carlton  dying 
June  18.  Lund  was  from  Dunstable.  Jacob  Wellman  of 
Lyndeborough  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder  while  employed  in 
fixing  a  flint  into  his  gun.  He  afterwards  was  an  invalid  pen- 
sioner. 

Fifth  company,  59  men.  Captain,  Jonathan  Whitcomb, 
Swanzey ;  Lieutenant,  Elijah  Cloyes,  Fitzwilliam,  who  was 
killed  in  Sullivan's  expedition  among  the  Indians;  Ensign, 
Stephen  Carter.  This  company  was  from  Keene,  Swanzey, 
and  Fitzwilliam.  Joshua  Ellis  of  Keene  was  wounded  ;  Josiah 
Barton  wounded  in  the  side,  his  cartridge  box  being  shot  into 
pieces. 

Sixth  compan}^  54  men.  Captain,  Jacob  Hinds,  Hinsdale  ; 
Lieutenant,  Isaac  Stone ;  Ensign,  Geo.  Aldrich,  Westmore- 
land. This  company  was  from  Hinsdale,  Chesterfield,  and 
Westmoreland.  John  Davis  of  Chesterfield,  killed,  Lem.  Went- 
worth,  wounded. 

Seventh  company,  52  men.  Captain,  Ezra  Towns  of  New 
Ipswich  ;  Lieutenant,  Josiah  Brown,  New  Ipswich ;  Ensign, 
John  Harkness,  Richmond.  This  company  was  made  up  from 
recruits  from  New  Ipswich.  Also,  Captain  Wm.  Scott  of 
Peterborough  furnished  about  half  of  his  men  and  served  as  a 
volunteer  himself.    Josiah  Walton  of  Chesterfield  was  wounded. 


I  775 J  THE    KKVOLUTION.  335 

as  was,  also,  Captain  William  Scott,  who  fought  bravely  and 
was  severely  wounded,  made  prisoner  and  conveyed  to  lioston, 
from  thence  to  Halifax.  He  escaped  after  a  confinement  of 
some  months,  and  returned  home.  He  in  1776  commanded  a. 
company  in  Colonel  Jackson's  regiment  of  Massachusetts. 
David  Scott  of  Peterborough  was  wounded. 

Eighth  company,  46  men.  Captain,  Wm.  Walker,  Dun- 
stable ;  First  Lieutenant,  James  I^rown,  Dunstable  ;  Second 
Lieutenant,  William  Roby.  Enlisted  from  Dunstable,  Merri- 
mack, Hudson,  and  Amherst,.  Joseph  Greeley,  son  of  Doctor 
Greeley,  wounded  ;  Paul  Clogstone  of  Dunstable  wounded,  died 
July  15,  1775;  Jonathan  Gray  died  of  his  wounds  ;  Asa  Cram, 
wounded. 

Ninth  company,  49  men.  Captain,  Benjamin  Mann  of 
Mason  ;  First  Lieutenant,  James  Brewer  of  Marlborough ; 
Second  Lieutenant,  Samuel  Pettengill.  This  company  com- 
posed largely  from  men  of  Mason,  Wilton,  Marlborough,  and 
Temple.  Joseph  Blood  of  Mason  killed  ;  Ebenezer  Blood,  jun., 
was  mortally  wounded,  not  afterwards  heard  from.  Their  father 
drew  their  back  pay.  Both  sons  marked  killed  on  company 
rolls. 

Tenth  company,  48  men.  Captain,  John  Marcey  of  Wal- 
pole ;  First  Lieutenant,  Isaac  Farewell  of  Charlestown  ; 
Second  Lieutenant,  James  Taggart  of  Peterborough.  This 
company  was  enlisted  from  Walpole,  Charlestown,  Acworth, 
and  Cornishj.  Joseph  Farewell  of  Charlestown  was  killed,  and 
J.  Patten  and  John  Melvin  were  mortally  wounded  and  not 
afterwards  heard  from.  Marked  both  killed  on  rolls  in  Adju- 
tant-General's office. 

The  biographer  of  the  town  of  Charlestown  says  that  N. 
Parker  of  Charlestown  was  killed  at  liimker  Hill,  but  we  have 
not  been  able  to  find  his  name  on  the  company  rolls  of  Marcey. 
Probably  to  be  found  elsewhere.  The  aforesaid  list  oi  the 
killed  and  wounded  is  believed  to  be  nearly  authentic  and  gen- 
erally fortified  by  record  testimony.  The  seventh  volume  of 
Dr.  Bouton's  State  Records  embraces  a  statement  of  the 
property  lost  by  the  men  of  both  Reed's  and  Stark's  regiments, 


33^  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

as  inventoried,  appraised,  and  paid  for  by  the  State.  Reed's 
regiment  suffered  most  severely.  The  statement  is,  as  the  two 
regiments  marched  on  to  the  hill,  Reed's  men  deposited  their 
packs  and  extra  clothing,  etc.,  in  a  building  located  near  Charles- 
town  Neck,  and  the  building  and  contents  were  burned  by  a 
shot  from  the  enemy's  shipping,  while  our  troops  were  engaged 
in  the  battle  on  the  hill. 

We  here  furnish  the  names  of  the  several  company  officers 
attached  to  Colonel  John  Stark's  regiment,  together  with  many 
of  the  killed  and  wounded  in  each  company,  in  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill.  The  list  is  not  perfect,  but  as  accurate  as  we  can 
make  it  from  the  materials  at  our  command.  We  also  furnish 
the  number  of  enlisted  men  according  to  the  rolls  or  returns  in 
June,  1775.  The  whole  number  of  enlisted  men  was  632  ;  the 
number  of  killed,  as  returned  by  Colonel  Stark,  15  men;  also, 
of  the  wounded,  by  Colonel  Stark,  45  men.  Major  Andrew 
McClary  of  Epsom,  was  of  the  staff  killed.  We  give  the  com- 
panies in  order  of  the  numbers  in  each  : — - 

First  company,   "jj  men.      Captain,  George  Reid  of   London- 
derry ;  First  Lieutenant,  Abraham  Reid  of  Londonderry  ;  Sec-j 
ond  Lieutenant,  James  Anderson,  Londonderry.     This  company! 
was    enlisted    from    Londonderry.     We    have  the   authority   of 
Matthew  Dickey  to  sustain  the  statement  that  a  part  of  Captain 
William  Scott's  company  joined  the  Derry  company,  and  that 
Randall  McAllister  of  Peterborough  was  severely  wounded  in 
the  shoulder  while  rashly  standing  upon  the  stone  breastwork] 
located  in  front  of  the  men.     Also,  George  McLeod  and  John 
Graham  of  Peterborough,  and  Martin  Montgomery  of  London- 
derry, were  all  slightly  wounded,     Thomas   Green,  afterwards 
of   Swanzey,  was    also    severely  wounded.     The    Peterborough 
men  were  enrolled  by  Captain  W.  Scott.     The  other  part  of  his 
company  were  in  Captain  Town's  company. 

Second  company,  69  men.  Captain,  Daniel  Moor,  then  of 
Deerfield,  afterwards  of  Pembroke ;  First  Lieutenant,  Ebenezer 
Frye  of  Pembroke ;  Second  Lieutenant,  John  Moore.  This 
company  composed  largely  from  Pembroke,  Deerfield,  Aliens- 
town,  and  Bow.     Nathan  Holt  and  J.   Robinson,  both  of  Pern- 


17751  "r"^-    REVOLUTION.  :,37 

broke,  were  wounded,  as  were  Josiali  Allen  of  Allcnstown,  and 
J.  Broderick. 

Third  company,  6"]  men.  Captain,  Klisha  Woodbury  of  Salem  ; 
First  Lieutenant,  Thomas  Hardy  of  Pelham  ;  Second  Lieuten- 
ant, Jonathan  Corliss  of  Salem.  This  company  was  from  Salem, 
Pelham,  Windham,  and  vicinity.  IMoses  Poor  and  Thomas  Col- 
lins were  both  killed  ;  Abner  Gage  of  Pelham,  afterward  of 
Acworth,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  toot,  and  made  lame 
permanently;  John  Simpson  of  Windham  lost  a  portion  of  one 
of  his  hands  by  a  cannon  ball,  so  certified  by  his  captain,  and 
Isaac  Thorn,  his  surgeon.  Both  Gage  and  Simpson  received 
invalid  pensions.  Ephraim  Kelley  of  Salem,  and  Seth  Cutter 
of  Pelham,  were  also  slightly  wounded. 

Fourth  company,  ^(i  men.  On  the  day  of  the  battle,  thi.s 
company  was  commanded  by  Captain  John  Moore  of  Derryfield  ; 
First  Lieutenant,  Thomas  ^McLaughlin  of  Bedford ;  Second 
Lieutenant,  Nath  uiiel  l^oyd  of  Derryfield  ;  P'irst  Sergeant,  Wil- 
liam Hutchins  of  Weare.  This  company  was  enlisted  from 
Derryfield,  Bedford,  and  Brookline.  Henry  Glover  was  killed  ; 
William  Spalding  of  Raby^  now  Brookline,  severely  wounded  ; 
John  Cypher  and  Samuel  Milliken,also  wounded.  Captain  Moore 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major  of  the  regiment,  upon  the 
death  of  Major  Andrew  McClary. 

Fifth  company,  60  men.  Captain,  Gordon  Hutchins  of  Con- 
cord ;  First  Lieutenant,  Joseph  Sopcr  ;  Second  Lieutenant,  Dan- 
iel Livermore  of  Concord.  This  company  was  composed  largely 
from  Concord,  Henniker,  and  vicinity.  Dr.  Bouton  gives  1$ 
from  Concord;  Colonel  Cogswell  gives  20  from  Henniker. 
George  Shannon  was  killed,  also  James  Reed  of  Henniker; 
Alexander  Patterson  of  Henniker,  wounded. 

Sixth  company,  59  men.  Captain,  Henry  Dearborn  of  Not- 
tingham ;  First  Lieutenant,  Amos  Morrill  of  Epsom  ;  Sixond 
Lieutenant,  IMichael  McClary  of  Epsom.  This  company  was 
from  Nottingham,  Deerfield,  Epsom,  Chichester,  Ivxeter,  and 
Barrington.  William  McCrillis  of  Epsom  was  killed  ;  Sergeant 
Andrew  McGaffey  of  Sandwich,  Sergeant  Jonathan  Gilman  of 


338  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77S 

Deerfield,    and    private    Weymouth    Wallace    of    Epsom,    were 
wounded  and  received  invalid  pensions. 

Seventh  company,  55  men.  Captain,  Isaac  Baldwin  of  Hills- 
borough killed  ;  First  Lieutenant,  John  Hale,  Hopkinton ; 
Second  Lieutenant,  Stephen  Hoit,  Hopkinton.  Composed 
largely  from  the  men  of  Hopkinton,  Hillsborough,  Warner, 
and  Bradford.  Captain  Baldwin  was  a  valuable  man  ;  was  a 
native  of  Sudbury,  Mass.  Had  been  with  Stark  in  the  French 
war  ;  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Hillsborough  ;  was  mor- 
tally wounded  in  the  battle  of  the  17th  by  a  shot  through  the 
body  ;  was  carried  from  the  field  by  John  McNeil  and  Sergeant 
Andrews,  his  neighbors.  Died  about  sunset  of  that  day,  aged 
thirty-nine  years. 

Moses  Trussell  of  Hopkinton  lost  his  left  arm  by  a  cannon 
ball  in  that  engagement.  He  says  he  came  off  the  hill  safely. 
Hearing  that  his  brave  commander  was  left  behind,  and  that  he 
was  wounded,  with  others  he  returned  back  to  help  bring  him  off. 
While  crossing  the  Charlestown  Neck,  he  received  the  shot  which 
disabled  him.  His  narrative  is  embraced  in  a  petition  for  half 
pay  from  the  State,  which  he  received.  He  also  was  an  invalid 
pensioner.      He  resided  many  years  in  New  London. 

Eighth  company,  53  men.  Captain,  Samuel  Aaron  Kinsman 
of  Concord;  First  Lieutenant,  Ebenezer  Eastman  of  Concord; 
Second  Lieutenant,  Samuel  Dearborn.  This  company  was 
made  up  from  recruits  from  all  parts  of  the  State.  John  Man- 
ual of  Boscawen,  formerly  of  Bow,  was  killed  ;  Abraham  Kim- 
ball of  Hopkinton,  or  Henniker,  was  wounded. 

Ninth  company,  52  men.  Captain,  Samuel  Richards  of 
Goffstown  ;  First  Lieutenant,  Moses  Little  ;  Second  Lieuten- 
ant, Jesse  Carr  of  Goffstown.  This  company  was  enlisted  from 
Goffstown,  New  Boston,  and  Weare.  Caleb  Dalton  was  killed ; 
Reuben  Kemp  of  Goffstown  was  wounded  and  made  prisoner, 
dying  in  Boston  ;  Andrew  McMillan  of  New  Boston  was  wounded 
in  his  right  hand,  he  losing  the  use  of  it;  Peter  Robinson  of 
Amherst  was  also  wounded,  losing  !iis  right  hand  by  a  cannon 
ball.  Both  received  inx'alid  [tensions  and  half  pay.  We  give 
Colonel  Stark's  certificate:  — 


1/75]  THE    REVOLUTION.  339 

March  17,  1777. 
This  may  certify  that  A.  IMcMillan  of  New  Boston,  and  Peter 
Robinson  of  Amherst,  were  both  of  my  regiment,  and  were  with 
me  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  were  both  wounded,  and  I  knew  them 
to  behave  very  courageous  in  that  action.  I  beg  the  Hon. 
Court  would  consider  of  their  loss,  and  make  them  some 
consideration. 

John    Stark,  Col. 

Tenth  company,  65  men.  Captain,  Joshua  Abbott,  Concord  ; 
Lieutenant,  Samuel  Atkinson,  Boscawen  ;  Second  Lieutenant, 
Abial  Chandler,  Concord.  This  company  had  23  men  in  it  from 
Concord.  The  balance  were  from  Boscawen,  Salisbury,  and 
vicinity.  William  Mitchell  of  East  Concord  was  killed  ;  Elias 
Rano  of  Salisbury  was  wounded  in  his  leg ;  James  Robin- 
son and  Reuben  Kemp  were  both  prisoners  in  Boston,  and  were 
reported  dead  ;  Daniel  McGrath  was  reported  dead  in  Boston. 
In  the  returns  Charles  Rice  of  Surry  and  James  Winn  of  Rich- 
mond were  reported  as  wounded,  and  attached  to  Stark's  regi- 
ment. The  same  may  be  said  of  Jacob  Elliott,  Andrew  Aiken, 
and  William  Smart  ;  they  all  were  reported  to  have  been  wounded 
at  Bunker  Hill  ;  we  are  not  able  to  assign  them  to  any  particu- 
lar company.  We  thus  have  been  able  to  give  more  than  three- 
fourths  of  the  whole  number  of  the  killed  and  wounded  in 
that  engagement  with  considerable  accuracy.  Stark's  regiment 
was  unquestionably  the  largest  in  numbers  that  was  engaged  on 
the  American  side.  Captain  Dearborn  said  in  his  report  of  1818 
that  our  two  New  Hampshire  regiments  marched  on  to  the  hill 
with  full  numbers.  We  make  the  full  number  of  Stark's  regi- 
ment, including  rank  and  file,  632.  Doubtless  there  were  some 
sick  and  others  left  on  guard  at  Medford,  and  some  on  fur- 
lough, for  which  a  deduction  may  be  made.  We  allow  a  deduc- 
tion of  50  men.  The  numbers  engaged  in  that  battle  on  the 
British  side  must  have  exceeded  3000  men.  The  number  of  the 
Americans  must  have  been  nearly  2500,  according  to  Frothing- 
hnm.  Mrs.  Hannah  Brown  lost  her  husband  in  Bunker  Hill  bat- 
tle ;  we  cannot  give  the  husband's  name.  There  were  eight 
Browns  in  Stark's  reiiimcnt. 


340  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/75 

We  claim  in  behalf  of  New  Hampshire  that  she  furnished 
nearly  half  of  the  men  that  fought  on  the  American  side^ 
though  it  may  be  admitted  that  those  who  fought  in  the  in- 
trenchment  suffered  most. 

Poor's  regiment  was  not  sent  for  until  after  the  battle  of  the 
17th.  It  arrived  at  Cambridge,  June  25.  In  addition  to  the 
numbers  already  stated,  the  men  of  the  town  of  Hollis  were 
found  in  Colonel  Prescott's  regiment.  They  numbered  59,  and 
were  comnjanded  by  Captain  Reuben  Dow,  who  was  wounded 
in  his  leg  or  ankle,  and  permanently  lamed.  Judge  Worcester 
of  Nashua  has  furnished  a  good,  reliable  record  of  his  Revolu- 
tionary fathers  and  their  achievements.  ■  He  gives  the  loss  in 
Captain  Dow's  company  as  follows,  viz.  :  6  killed  —  Nathan 
Blood,  Thomas  Wheat,  Isaac  Hobart,  Peter  Poor,  Jacob  Boynton, 
Phineas  Nevins  ;  5  wounded  —  Captain  Reuben  Dow,  Francis 
Powers,  William  Wood,  Ephraim  Blood,  Thomas  Pratt. 

In  Captain  Joseph  Mann's  company,  private  R.  Ebenezer 
Youngman,  killed  ;  Thomas  Colburn,  killed  ;  4  in  this  company 
from  Hollis.  In  Captain  Sawyer's  company  of  Haverhill,  Colo- 
nel Frye's  regiment,  4  men  from  Plaistow,  N.  H.  Of  these^ 
Simeon  Pike  was  killed  ;  his  brother,  James  Pike,  was  wounded. 

In  this  battle,  Stark's  regiment  was  opposed  to  the  British 
23d  regiment,  well  known  as  the  Royal  Welsh  Fusiliers. 
Prince  Albert,  in  1849,  presented  to  this  regiment  a  new  stand 
of  colors,  and  said  :  — 

"  In  the  American  war,  the  Fusiliers  were  engaged  in  the 
first  unhappy  collision,  which  took  place  at  Lexington.  It  also 
fought  at  Bunker  Hill  and  at  Brandy  wine.  At  Bunker  Hill  its. 
loss  was  so  great,  that  it  was  said  only  one  officer  remained  to 
tell  the  story.  In  1781  they  fought  at  Guilford  Court  House. 
Prince  Albert  added,  this  was  one  of  the  hardest  and  best  con- 
tested fields  in  the  American  war." 

American  historians  support  the  above  facts.  The  British 
troops  landed  on  the  Charlestown  beach,  and  marched  up  the 
hill  in  three  separate  columns.  The  Fusiliers  formed  on  the 
British  right,  in  front  of  Stark's  regiment,  which  was  stationed 
on  the  extreme  left  of  the  American  forces.     The  late  Captain 


1775]  '^"^^^    REVOLUTION.  341 

David  Flanders,  who  was  a  private  in  Captain  Joshua  Abbott's 
company,  stated  that  his  "  company  was  located  down  on  the 
Mystic  Beach,  wholly  uni)rotected  by  any  defence  in  their  front. 
That  the  column  of  the  Fusiliers  did  not  deploy  until  they 
passed  Abbott's  company,  therefore  they  were  outflanked  by  us, 
hence  we  had  a  good  chance  to  pick  off  their  officers.  This- 
chance  we  improved,  as  we  could  distinguish  the  officers  by  ob- 
serving the  swords  in  their  hands,  and  that  they  had  occasion  to- 
use  them  in  urging  their  own  men  into  the  fight."  ^ 

We  recapitulate  the  whole  number  of  the  New  Mampshii-e 
men  engaged  in  Bunker  Hill  battle,  and  their  loss,  as  follows,. 
viz.:  — 

Colonel  John  Stark's  regiment,  rank  and  file,  632  men  ;  deduct 
for  the  sick  and  those  on  guard,  etc.,  50  men  ;  balance  of  men 
engaged,  582.  Colonel  James  Reed's  regiment,  deducting  sick,, 
etc.,  as  returned  June  14,  488  men  ;  Captain  Reuben  Dovv's 
company  of  Hollis  men  in  Colonel  Prescott's  Mass.  regiment^ 
59;  Captain  Mann's  Hollis  men,  Prescott's  regiment,  4;  in 
Captain  Sawyer's  company,  Frye's  regiment,  Plaistow  men,  4  ; 
whole  number  in  battle,  1 137  ;  whole  number  killed  as  returned 
by  Stark,  15  ;  wounded,  45  ;  whole  number  killed  as  returned 
by  Reed,  5  ;  wounded,  27  ;  whole  number  killed  as  returned  by 
Captain  Dow,  8  ;  wounded,  5  ;  whole  number  killed  as  returned 
by  Plaistow  men,  i  ;  wounded,  i.  Whole  number  of  killed  and 
wounded,  107. 

2  The  news  of  the  Battle  of  Lexington  reached  Captani  Stark 
the  next  morning.  He  was  at  work  in  his  saw-mill.  Without 
a  moment's  hesitation  the  mill-gate  was  closed,  and  he  returned 
to  his  house,  a  mile  distant,  changed  his  dress,  mounted  his 
horse,  and  proceeded  towards  Medford,  encouraging  all  that  he 
met  to  join  him  there,  telling  them  that  the  time  had  arrived 
when  a  blow  should  be  struck  for  liberty.  He  was  followed  by 
many  of  his  old  soldiers,  and  hundreds  of  citizens,  who  answered 
his  appeal  to  their  patriotism.  And  when  the  preliminary 
organization  of  the  first  New  Hampshire  regiment  was  made  by 
election,  it  was  so  much  a  matter  of  course  to  choose  Stark  fcjr 

■  Judge  Nesmith.  ^  fjeneral  Oeorge  Stark. 


342  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

their  colonel,  that  the  vote,  a  hand  one,  was  unanimous.  This 
■election  was  afterwards  confirmed  by  a  commission  from  the 
State  authorities. 

At  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  the  steady  and  cool  courage  of 
John  Stark  was  one  of  the  important  factors  in  that  engage- 
ment. His  men  were  brought  into  action  without  fatigue. 
Their  deadly  work  at  the  rail-fence,  on  the  Mystic  river  side  of 
the  hill,  so  nearly  annihilated  the  veteran  British  regiment 
immediately  opposed  to  them,  that,  believing  they  had  won  the 
•day,  they  obeyed  the  orders  to  retire  with  unwillingness  ;  and 
the  deliberate  manner  in  which  they  covered  and  defended  the 
final  retreat  held  the  enemy  in  check,  and  undoubtedly  pre- 
vented a  rout. 

After  the  evacuation  of  Boston,  Colonel  Stark  was  ordered, 
with  two  regiments,  the  5th  and  25th,  under  his  command,  to 
proceed  to  New  York  and  assist  in  arranging  the  defences  of 
that  city. 

^On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  General  James  Reed 
of  Fitzwilliam  was  among  the  first  to  embrace  the  cause  of  his 
country  and  serve  in  its  defence.  Upon  the  tidings  of  the 
battle  of  Lexington  he  raised  a  company  of  volunteers  and 
marched  at  their  head  to  Medford.  His  ardor  in  the  cause  did 
not  permit  him  to  be  idle.  He  continued  to  enlist  volunteers, 
and  soon  had  four  companies  enrolled  under  his  standard.  He 
afterwards  repaired  to  Exeter,  and  was  appointed  colonel  of  a 
regiment  by  the  New  Hampshire  Provincial  Assembly  on  the 
1st  of  June,  1775.  On  the  following  day  he  received  verbal 
orders  from  General  Folsom  at  Exeter  to  repair  to  the  western 
part  of  the  State  and  collect  the  men  whom  he  had  previously 
enlisted  for  the  service,  and  in  pursuance  therewith  he  im- 
mediately set  out  to  collect  and  organize  his  regiment.  He 
was  at  Fitzwilliam  on  the  8th  of  June,  as  appears  by  his  letters 
of  that  date  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  recommending  the 
appointment  of  Andrew  Colburn  of  Marlborough  major  of  the  ! 
next  regiment  which  should  be  raised.  He  soon  after  marched 
,his  command    to    Cambridge.     By   his    communication    to   the    ^ 

I  A.    I.  Blake. 


i775j  thk  KiivoLUTioN.  343 

Committee  of  Safety  at  Exeter  we  learn  that  he  arrived  there  on 
the  1 2th  of  the  month.  He  waited  on  General  Ward,  who 
ordered  his  command  to  Medford  on  account  of  the  throng  of 
soldiers  at  Cambridge  On  reaching  Medford  he  was  informed 
bv  Colonel  Stark  that  no  quarters  could  be  there  obtaioed.  In 
this  dilemma  he  again  applied  to  General  Ward,  who  issued  the 
order  "that  Colonel  Reed  quarter  his  regiment  in  the  houses 
near  Charlestown  Neck,  and  keep  all  necessary  guards  be- 
tween the  barracks  and  ferry,  and  on  Bunker  Hill."  On 
the  13th  he  marched  his  regiment  to  the  Neck,  where  they 
obtained  good  quarters. 

The  next  day  he  wrote  a  communication  to  the  Committee  of 
Safety  at  Exeter,  giving  a  detailed  account  of  his  movements 
since  he  had  left  Exeter,  and  closed  by  stating  the  want  of  a 
chaplain,  surgeon,  and  armorer  for  his  regiment. 

On  the  morning  of  the  memorable  17th  of  June  he  was  the 
first  officer  of  his  rank  on  the  field,  and  his  the  only  regiment 
from  New  Hampshire  ready  for  action  on  the  morning  of  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  He  was  stationed  on  the  left  wing,  by 
the  rail  fence,  where  he  was  joined  at  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon by  Colonel  Stark.  This  was,  by  all  accounts,  the  hottest 
as  well  as  the  best  fought  portion  of  the  field.  The  ready 
genius  of  Colonel  Reed  designed  the  parapet,  .which,  con- 
structed by  the  brave  soldiers  of  New  Hampshire  under  fire  of 
the  enemy's  batteries,  so  wonderfully  preserved  them  from  the 
disasters  of  the  day.  This  parapet  consisted  of  a  breastwork  of 
5tones  hastily  thrown  across  the  beach  to  Mystic  River,  and  a 
rail  fence  extending  up  the  hillside  to  the  redoubt.  It  was  in 
front  of  the  breastwork  that  the  Britisli  lines  were  three  times 
hurled  back  under  the  deadly  fire  of  Reed  and  Stark.  Here 
the  most  efificient  fighting  was  done  ;  and  here  the  gieatest 
number  of  dead  were  lying  when  the  battle  had  ceased. 

He  remained  with  the  army  after  its  command  was  assumed 
by  General  Washington,  being  posted  upon  Winter  Hill,  and 
upon  the  reorganization  of  the  forces  on  the  first  of  January, 
1776,  his  regiment  was  ranked  second  in  the  Continental  Army. 

Colonel   Reed   accompanied   the   army    on    its    movement    to 


344  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^775 

New  York  in  the  following  April.  On  the  24th  of  April  he 
was  put  into  the  third  Brigade  under  General  Sullivan,  and  was 
soon  after  ordered  up  the  Hudson. 

1  Authors  in  Modern  Athens  (of  America)  have  exalted  the 
deeds  of  Massachusetts'  heroes  to  such  a  degree  that  most 
people,  outside  of  New  Hampshire,  do  not  suppose  our  State 
had  much  to  do  at  the  battle  of  f^unker  Hill,  whereas  New 
Hampshire  men  constituted  nearly  two-thirds  of  all  the  men  and 
officers  in  that  battle. 

Old  Nottingham  comprised  a  tract  of  land  supposed  to  be  ten 
miles  square,  and  which  is  now  Nottingham,  Deerfield,  and 
Northwood.  Settlements  commenced  in  it,  soon  after  its  incor- 
poration, at  the  "  Square,"  a  beautiful  ridge  of  land  about  450 
feet  above  the  sea-level.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution, 
Nottingham  had  999  inhabitants,  Deerfield  929,  and  Northwood 
313.  The  records  show  that  the  people  were  making  prepara- 
tions for  the  coming  conflict,  and  had  sent  generous  assistance 
to  the  "  Industrious  Poor  sufferers  of  the  town  of  Boston " 
during  the  siege.  During  the  winter  of  1774-5,  ^^-  Henry 
Dearborn  had  a  company  of  men  which  met  at  the  Square  to 
drill  from  time  to  time.  In  November,  1774,  a  town  meeting 
was  held,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  "  Inspect  into  any 
Person  "  suspected  of  being  a  Tory. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  1775,  news  reached  the  Square  that  a 
battle  had  been  fought  the  day  before,  and  in  the  evening  a 
large  number  of  citizens  assembled  at  the  store  of  Thomas 
Bartlett.  On  the  21st,  at  four  o'clock,  a  company  of  nearly  one 
hundred  men  commenced  their  march  for  Boston,  being  armed 
and  equipped  as  best  they  could  at  such  short  notice. 

Some  say  that  Joseph  Cilley  was  the  leader  of  this  band  of 
heroes,  but  others  say  Dr.  Henry  Dtarborn  was  captain,  and 
I^robably  he  was,  as  he  had  been  drill-master  all  winter,  and  was 
captain  of  the  company  after  they  arrived  in  Cambridge.  They 
marched  on  foot  all  night,  and  arrived  in  Medford  at  eight 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  some  of  the  company  having 
travelled  on  foot   more  than  eighty  miles   since  the  previous 

'  John  Scales. 


1775]  '^'"'■-  KKvoi.uTioN.  345 

noon,   and   over  roads   which   were  far  from  being   in    tlie   best 
condition  for  rapid  travelling. 

Of  this  company  was  Thomas  JKirtlctt,  one  of  the  Committee 
of  Safety  which  managed  the  colonial  affairs  of  New  Hampshire 
during  part  of  the  Revolution,  captain  in  1775  at  Winter  Hill, 
lieutenant-colonel  in  Colonel  Gilman's  regiment  in  1776,  in 
Colonel  Whipple's  regiment  at  Rhode  Island  in  1778,  under 
General  Stark  at  the  capture  of  Burgoyne,  colonel  of  a  regi- 
ment at  West  Point  in  1780,  when  Arnold  betrayed  that  fort. 
After  the  war  he  was  a  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  and  major-general  in  the  militia  . 

Henry  Butler  was  a  captain  before  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
major-general  of  militia  afterwards.  His  uncle,  Zephaniah 
Butler,  was  grandfather  of  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler;  Cut- 
ting Cilley ;  John  Simpson,  who  fired  the  first  gun  at  Bunker 
Hill,  and  was  afterwards  a  major  in  tlie  Continental  army  ;  (his 
brother,  Robert  Simpson,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  was 
General  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant's  great-grandfather)  ;  Daniel 
Moore,  and  Andrew  McClarv. 

Henry  Dearborn  was  born  in  Hampton,  Feb.  23,  1751.  He 
studied  medicine  and  settled  at  Nottingham  Square  as  a  physi- 
cian in  1772.  He  was  always  fond  of  military  affairs,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  a  skillful  drillmaster,  and  w-ell  posted  in  the 
tactics  in  use  previous  to  the  Revolution.  He  fought  with  his 
company  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  In  the  September  fol- 
lowing he  joined  Arnold's  expedition  to  Quebec.  They  marched 
up  the  Kenebec  river,  through  the  wilds  of  Maine  and  Canada. 
In  the  assault  upon  that  city.  Captain  Dearborn  was  taken 
prisoner.  Peter  Livius,  the  Tor}'  councillor  at  Quebec,  influ- 
enced the  authorities  to  parole  and  send  him  home,  on  condition 
that  Dearborn  should  forward  his  wife  and  children  to  him  from 
Portsmouth  to  Quebec,  which  was  done  as  agreed.  In  April,  1777 
Captain  Dearborn  was  appointed  major  in  Scammel's  regiment. 
He  was  in  the  battles  of  Stillwater  and  Saratoga,  and  fought 
with  such  bravery,  having  command  of  a  distinct  corps,  as  to 
win  the  special  commendation  of  General  Gates.  In  1778  he 
was  in  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  with  Colonel  Cilley,  acting  as 


L 


346  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77$ 

lieutenant-colonel,  and  helped  retrieve  Lee's  disgraceful  retreat. 
He  was  with  General  Sullivan  in  his  expedition  against  the 
Indians  in  1779,  and  was  at  Yorktown  at  the  surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis  in  1781.  Upon  the  death  of  Scammcl,  the  gallant  colonel 
of  the  3rd  New  Hampshire  regiment,  at  the  hands  of  a  bar- 
barous foe,  Dearborn  was  made  colonel,  and  held  that  position 
to  the  end  of  the  war.  After  the  war,  he  settled  in  Maine, 
where  he  was  marshal  by  appointment  of  Washington.  He 
was  two  terms  a  member  of  Congress  ;  secretary  of  war  under 
Jefferson,  from  1801  to  1809;  collector  of  the  port  of  Boston 
between  1809-12;  senior  major-general  in  United  States  Army, 
1812-13,  and  captured  York  in  Canada  and  Fort  George  at  the 
mouth  of  Niagara.  He  was  recalled  by  the  President,  July  (;, 
1813,  and  put  in  command  of  the  military  district  of  New  York 
city,  which  recall  was,  no  doubt,  a  great  mistake.  In  1822  he 
was  appointed  minister  plenipotentiary  to  Portugal ;  recalled  in 
1824  at  his  own  request ;  died  at  Roxbury,  Mass.,  June  6,  1829. 
General  Dearborn  was  a  man  of  large  size,  gentlemanly  deport- 
ment, and  one  of  the  bravest  and  most  gallant  men  of  his  time. 
Joseph  Cilley,  son  of  Captain  Joseph  Cilley  of  Nottingham^ 
was  born  in  1734;  died  1799.  He  was  engaged  in  the  attack 
upon  Fort  William  and  Mary  in  1774;  appointed  major  in 
Colonel  Poor's  regiment  by  the  Assembly  of  New  Hampshire  in 
1775  ;  he  was  not  present  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  as  his 
reoiment  was  eniiaged  in  home  defence.  He  was  made  lieuten- 
ant-colonel  in  1776,  and  April  2,  1777,  was  ajDpointed  colonel  of 
the  1st  New  Hampshire  regiment  of  three  years'  men,  in  place 
of  Colonel  Stark,  resigned.  He  fought  his  regiment  bravely  at 
Bemis's  Heights,  near  Saratoga;  and  two  weeks  later  was 
among  the  bravest  of  the  brave  when  Burgoyne  made  his  final 
attack  before  surrendering  his  entire  army  of  six  thousand  men. 
So  fierce  was  the  battle  that  a  single  cannon  was  taken  and 
retaken  five  times  ;  finally.  Colonel  Cilley  leaped  upon  it,  waved 
his  sword,  and  "dedicating  the  gun  to  the  American  cause," 
opened  it  upon  the  enemy  with  their  own  ammunition.  He 
was  with  Washington's  army  at  Valley  Forge,  1777-8;  was  at 
the  storming  of  Stony  Point ;  at  Monmouth  he  was  one  of  the 


1775]  THE    REVOLUTION.  34/ 

heroes  in  retrieving  General  Lee's  retreat  ;  was  at  the  surrender 
of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  and  in  other  hard-fought  battles  of 
the  Revolution.  After  the  war  he  was  major-general  of  the 
1st  Division  New  Hampshire  militia,  and  as  such  headed  the 
troops  which  quelled  the  insurrection  at  Exeter  in  17S6,  and  with 
his  own  hand  arrested  the  leader  in  the  midst  of  his  armed  fol- 
lowers. General  Cillcy  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  industry, 
of  stormy  passions,  yet  generous  and  humane.  He  was  re- 
peatedly elected  representative,  senator,  and  councillor. 

Hn  May,  1775,  a  convention  assembled  at  Exeter,  to  serve  for 
a  period  of  six  months.  Meshech  Weare  was  a  member  of  this 
body,  and  clerk  of  the  same,  the  oath  for  the  faithful  discharge 
of  his  office  being  administered  by  the  speaker,  Hon.  Matthew 
Thornton.  The  most  important  act  of  this  body  was  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  Committee  of  Safety,  wherein  rested  the  chief 
executive  power  of  the  Colony.  Agreeably  to  the  recommen- 
dation of  Congress,  a  new  convention  was  called,  which  met  on 
the  2 1  St  of  December.  There  was  a  more  general  representa- 
tion of  the  people  at  this  time,  and  the  new  body  proceeded  to 
form  a  temporary  government.  Having  assumed  the  name  of 
House  of  Representatives,  they  chose  twelve  persons  to  be  a 
distinct  branch,  called  the  Council,  with  power  to  elect  their 
own  president.  Colonel  Weare  was  the  first  councillor  chosen. 
The  councillors  retired  immediately,  and  chose  Colonel  Weare 
their  president. 

The  Weares  have  a  great  name  in  New  Hampshire  history. 
Back  in  the  early  times  of  the  colony  lived  Nathaniel  Weare, 
who  was  a  man  of  great  influence  and  marked  ability.  He 
acted  as  agent  for  the  colony  in  an  important  crisis,  and  spent 
considerable  time  in  England  to  prosecute  the  complaints  of 
the  colonists  against  the  royal  governor,  Edward  Cranfield,  in 
1684.  ^^'s  son,  the  second  Nathaniel  Weare,  was  much  en- 
gaged in  public  business,  and  was  a  trusty  and  capable  servant, 
alike  of  the  crown  and  the  people.  He  lived  within  the  present 
limits  of  Seabrook,  and  the  old  house  still  stands  a  mile  beyond 
the  Falls,  near  Seabrook  Village,  sheltered  by  a  noble  elm,  the 

'  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


34^  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

largest  in  that  part  of  the  State,  being  somewhat  over  twenty 
ieet  in  circumference.  Nathaniel  was  the  father  of  two  sons, 
Jonathan  and  Meshech.  Jonathan  Weare  was  one  of  the 
grantees  of  Seabrook,  when  it  was  set  apart  from  Hampton,  in 
1768,  and  was  the  ancestor  of  Colonel  John  M.  Weare. 

Meshech  Weare  was  born  in  that  old  house  under  the  elm, 
June  i6th,  1713.  He  received  the  common  school  education  of 
his  time  in  his  native  town.  His  father  being  a  man  of  means, 
the  young  patrician  was  sent  to  Harvard  College,  where  he 
.graduated  in  1735.  Weare  chose  the  practice  of  law  for  his 
profession,  and  marrying  Miss  Elizabeth  Swain,  a  beautiful 
young  lady  of  Hampton  Falls,  settled  in  that  place.  In  1745 
his  excellent  wife  died  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-four.  A  year 
afterwards  he  married  for  his  second  wife  Miss  Mehitable 
Shaw,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Richard  Shaw,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Hampton.  He  now  moved  into  the  Shaw  house, 
his  wife's  home,  where  he  ever  afterwards  continued  to  reside. 

Meshech  Weare  began  about  this  time  to  be  a  man  of  author- 
ity. The  prestige  of  his  high  birth,  his  powerful  connections, 
and  his  own  strong  character  and  great  abilities  made  him  the 
leading  citizen  of  Hampton  Falls.  Many  offices  in  the  gift  of 
the  people  were  thrust  upon  him.  He  was  chosen  speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  1752,  and  in  1754  was  one  of 
the  delegates  to  the  great  congress  at  Albany,  when  a  treaty 
was  made  with  the  Five  Nations,  and  a  campaign  was  deter- 
mined upon  against  the  French  in  America.  He  was  made 
colonel  of  a  New  Hampshire  regiment  in  1759,  part  of  which, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Jeremiah  Marston,  ancestor  of 
Hon.  Oilman  Marston,  participated  in  the  capture  of  Ticon- 
(leroga  and  Montreal.  Colonel  Weare  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  3rd  New  Hampshire  regiment  of  militia  until  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Revolution.  During  those  latter  years  he  was 
one  of  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court. 

When  the  storm  of  the  Revolution  commenced,  Meshech 
Weare  was  an  old  man  of  sixty-two,  but  he  was  not  past  the 
ability  to  labor.  There  was  not  a  more  earnest  patriot  than  he, 
and  his  services  throughout  that  contest  were  unorecedented. 


1775]  I"'"-  Ki'voi.uTiox.  349 

Towering  in  influence  and  political  position  above  all  the  other 
heroes  of  our  State,  as  stern  as  Stark,  as  gifted  as  Livermore, 
as  patriotic  as  Langdon,  eloquent,  of  remarkable  penetration, 
upright  and  prudent,  calm  and  steadfast,  Meshech  Weare  was  a 
tower  of  strength  in  that  long  and  deadly  struggle.  Strong  in  faith ^ 
of  ardent  feelings,  he  was  the  centre  around  whom  all  that  was 
patriotic  in  the  State  was  accustomed  to  assemble.  His  was  the 
eye  ever  watchful,  the  brain  ever  fertile  and  creative,  his  the 
shoulder  that  bore  the  yoke  when  the  load  was  heaviest.  In  the 
darkest  hour  his  hope  was  firm.  From  Morristown  and  from 
Valley  Forge,  Washington's  letters  to  him  show  that  he  relied 
implicitly  on  the  man.  Without  the  pale  of  Congress  and  the 
army,  there  was  no  other  man  to  whom  the  commander-in-chief 
looked  with  such  unswerving  confidence  for  hearty  cooperation 
as  he  did  upon  Meshech  Weare,  unless  it  might  have  been  Jona- 
than Trumbull  of  Connecticut. 

At  the  formation  of  the  Council  it  was  ordained  that  no  Act 
should  be  valid  unless  passed  by  both  branches  :  that  all  money 
bills  should  originate  with  the  House  of  Representatives ; 
that  the  secretary  and  other  public  officers  should  be  elected  by 
the  two  houses,  and  that  the  present  Assembly  should  continue 
one  year,  and  if  the  dispute  with  Great  Britain  should  continue, 
precepts  should  be  issued  annually  to  the  several  towns,  on  or 
before  the  first  day  of  November,  for  the  choice  of  councillors 
and  representatives.  No  provision  was  made  for  an  executive 
branch  ;  but  during  their  session  the  two  houses  performed  the 
duty  of  this  department  of  government.  At  their  adjournment, 
however,  a  Committee  of  Safety  was  appointed  to  sit  in  the 
recess.  The  president  of  the  Council  was  president  also  of  this 
committee.  To  this  responsible  office  Colonel  Weare  was  annu- 
ally elected  during  the  war. 

The  convention  which  met  at  Exeter  in  May,  1775,  was  author- 
ized to  adopt  and  pursue  such  measures  as  were  judged  most  ex- 
pedient to  preserve  and  restore  the  rights  of  the  colonies.  This 
convention  gave  instructions  to  the  representatives  which  were 
regarded  as  the  advice  of  their  constituents. 

The    Assembly    met,    according    to   adjournment,    June    12, 


350  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

1775.  The  representatives  were  elected  by  virtue  of  writs, 
issued  by  the  sheriff  to  such  towns  as  the  governor  directed. 
Three  new  towns  were  called  upon  to  send  representatives, 
in  which  some  of  the  governor's  particular  friends  resided, 
who  would  probably  be  elected,  whilst  other  towns  more  numer- 
ous were  neglected.  The  first  act  of  the  Assembly  was  to  ex- 
pel the  members  from  the  three  new  towns,  agreeable  to  the  ad- 
vice of  the  convention.  Upon  which  the  governor  adjourned 
the  Assembly  to  the  nth  of  July.  One  of  the  new  members 
was  Captain  John  Fenton,  who  was  returned  from  the  town  of 
Plymouth.  He  had  been  a  captain  in  the  British  army,  but  had 
disposed  of  his  commission.  On  the  division  of  the  province 
into  counties,  he  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  Inferior  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  for  the  county  of  Grafton,  and  judge  of  probate 
for  that  county.  He  kept  his  office  and  resided  in  Portsmouth. 
After  his  expulsion  he  gave  vent  to  his  passions,  and  expressed 
himself  very  freely  as  to  the  measures  pursued  by  the  country. 
This  enraged  the  populace,  who  collected  to  assault  him,  and  he 
fled  to  the  governor's  house  for  protection.  They  brought  a 
field-piece,  mounted,  and  placed  it  before  the  door,  and  threat- 
ened to  discharge  it  if  he  were  not  delivered  up.  Fenton  surren- 
dered and  was  sent  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  at  Exeter  for  trial. 
The  governor  conceived  this  to  be  an  insult  offered  to  himself, 
and  immediately  took  refuge  in  the  fort.  Captain  Barclay  con- 
tinued the  practice  of  seizing  all  vessels  entering  the  harbor 
and  sending  them  to  Boston.  He  likewise  stopped  all  boats 
from  going  out  of  the  river  to  take  fish,  under  pretence  that  his 
orders  to  execute  the  Act  restraining  trade  required  it.  In  re- 
taliation, his  boats  were  not  permitted  to  come  up  to  town  for 
provisions,  and  one  of  them  was  fired  upon  by  the  guard  placed 
near  the  shore.  The  boat  returned  the  fire,  and  several  shots 
were  exchanged  without  damage  on  either  side.  Portsmouth 
passed  a  vote  disapproving  of  the  action,  and  sent  a  copy  of  it 
to  Captain  Barclay. 

Governor  Wentworth  sent  a  message  fi^om  the  fort  to  the 
Assembly  on  the  nth  of  July,  and  adjourned  them  to  the  28th 
of  September.  On  the  24th  of  August  he  took  passage  in  the 
Scarborough  for  Boston. 


1/75 J  ''"^'^'-    DEVOLUTION.  351 

After  the  departure  oi  the  ships  of  war  from  the  harbor,  the 
convention  appointed  Major  Ezekiel  Worthen  engineer,  and 
under  his  direction  the  people  formed  themselves  into  volunteer 
companies,  in  which  almost  every  individual  took  a  part.  They 
built  two  forts  on  two  islands  at  the  narrows,  which  commanded 
the  channel,  and  planted  there  the  cannon  which  had  been  taken 
from  the  fort  and  battery. 

Governor  Wcntworth  came  to  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  and  pro- 
rogued the  General  Assembly  to  the  month  of  April.  This  was 
his  last  official  act  within  the  Province,  and  the  royal  govern- 
ment in  New  Hampshire  entirely  ceased.  Governor  Wentworth, 
a  graduate  of  Harvard,  was  distinguished  for  the  brilliancy  of 
his  talents,  a  good  classical  taste  in  literature,  and  for  those 
amiable  qualities  which  gained  him  the  esteem  of  all  who  knew 
him.  He  speiit  some  time  in  his  father's  counting-house  after 
he  left  college,  to  obtain  an  insight  into  mercantile  business,  and 
then  went  to  London,  where  he  resided  several  years,  and  until 
he  was  appointed  governor  of  the  Province.  He  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  the  universities  of  Oxford  in 
England  and  Aberdeen  in  Scotland.  He  was  the  friend  of 
learning  and  of  learned  men.  Dartmouth  College  was  established 
during  his  administration,  and  flourished  under  his  patronage. 
His  constant  endeavor  was  to  promote  the  interest  of  the 
Province,  and  through  his  influence  its  settlements  rapidly  in- 
creased. He  did  all  in  his  power  to  preserve  the  union  between 
this  country  and  Great  Britain,  but  was  obliged  to  yield  to  the 
spirit  of  the  times,  and  submit  to  a  separation.  The  Rev. 
Doctor  Dwight,  in  his  travels,  says :  "  Governor  Wentworth 
was  the  greatest  benefactor  to  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire 
mentioned  in  its  history.  He  was  a  man  of  sound  understand- 
ing, refined  taste,  enlarged  views,  and  a  dignified  spirit.  His 
manners  were  also  elegant,  and  his  disposition  entcrj^rising. 
Agriculture  in  this  Province  owed  more  to  him  than  to  any 
other  man.  He  also  originated  the  formation  of  new  roads,  and 
the  improvement  of  old  ones.  All  these  circumstances  rendered 
him  very  popular,  and  he  would  probably  have  continued  to 
increase  his  reputation,  had  he  not  been  prevented  by  the  con- 


3S~  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^775 

troversy  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies.  As  the  case 
was,  he  retired  from  the  chair  with  an  unimpeachable  character, 
and  with  higher  reputation  than  any  other  man  who  at  that 
time  held  the  same  office  in  this  country."  Soon  after  he  left 
this  Province  he  went  to  England. 

Governor  John  Wentworth,  son  of  Mark  Hunking  Went- 
;  worth,  and  grandson  of  Lieutenant-Governor  John  Wentworth, 
was  born  in  1736,  graduated  with  distinction  at  Harvard  College 
in  1755,  formed  a  connection  with  his  father  in  mercantile 
business,  and  was  chosen  by  the  Province  to  present  their  peti- 
tion to  the  King  praying  for  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act.  He 
performed  this  duty  with  so  much  propriety  as  to  attract  the 
favorable  notice  of  the  King,  and  when  Governor  Benning 
Wentworth  resigned  in  1766  his  nephew  was  appointed  to  fill 
his  place,  and  at  the  same  time  was  appointed  surveyor  of  the 
King's  woods  in  North  America.  He  was  very  popular  as 
governor  for  some  time,  and  exerted  himself  to  develop  the  re- 
sources of  the  Province.  He  cleared  and  cultivated  a  fine  farm 
upon  Smith's  Lake,  in  Wolfeborough,  to  encourage  the  settle- 
ment of  the  country ;  obtained  a  charter  for  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege ;  made  grants  of  land ;  built  bridges  ;  cut  roads ;  and 
fostered  every  enterprise  for  the  benefit  of  the  Province.  He 
gave  way  to  the  storm  of  the  Revolution  with  grace  and  with- 
out dishonor.  After  peace  was  declared  he  removed  to  Nova 
Scotia,  and  resumed  the  duties  of  his  office  as  surveyor  of  the 
King's  woods.  In  1792  he  was  appointed  lieutenant-gover- 
nor of  Nova  Scotia,  and  in  1795  he  was  created  a  baronet. 
Sir  John  Wentworth  continued  in  office  until  1808,  when  he 
retired  on  a  pension  of  five  hundred  pounds,  and  died  at  Hali- 
fax in  April,  1820,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years. 

^In  June,  1775,  John  Sullivan  was  appointed  by  Congress  a 
brigadier-general.  Many  have  wondered  how  it  happened  that  a 
young  lawyer  who  knew  nothing  of  military  affairs  save  what  he 
had  learned  while  holding  a  provincial  commission  as  major, 
should  have  received  such  an  appointment  over  the  heads  of 
veterans  like  Stark  and  Folsom.     It  was  for  this  reason  :  John 

'   Fred  Myron  Colby. 


1775]  '^^^    REVOLUTION.  353 

Stark  and  Nathaniel  Folsom  were  sworn  rivals,  and  each 
pressed  his  claims  so  strenuously  that  Congress  saw  no  better 
way  to  settle  the  difficulty  than  to  appoint  a  new  man.  Sullivan 
was  well  known.  He  had  sat  in  that  body  the  preceding  year, 
and  his  bold  enterprise  at  Fort  William  and  Mary  had  blazed 
his  name  far  and  wide  as  that  of  a  bold  and  able  patriot.  That 
he  had  capabilities  for  the  place  no  one  will  deny.  He  was  not 
a  great  general,  but  he  was  a  brave  and  dashing  officer.  Wash- 
ington and  Lafayette,  who  had  means  of  knowing,  considered 
him  one  of  the  most  useful  men  in  the  service.  Like  Peter  the 
Great  and  Frederick  of  Prussia  he  learned  by  experience,  and 
his  last  military  conduct  was  his  most  brilliant. 

Mrs.  John  Adams,  whose  letters  have  been  read  with  a  great 
deal  of  interest,  has  left  some  admirable  portraits  of  the  distin- 
guished characters  of  the  Revolution.  Of  General  Sullivan  she 
says  :  — 

"  I  drank  coffee  one  day  with  General  Sullivan  upon  Winter 
Hill.  He  appears  to  be  a  man  of  sense  and  spirit.  His  coun- 
tenance denotes  him  of  a  warm  constitution,  not  to  be  very 
suddenly  moved,  but,  when  once  roused,  not  very  easily  lulled  ; 
easy  and  social  ;  well  calculated  for  a  military  station,  as  he 
seemed  to  be  possessed  of  those  popular  qualities  necessary  to 
attach  men  to  him," 

It  is  well  known  how  many  ridiculous  reports  were  circulated 
by  the  British  during  the  war  regarding  our  soldiers  and  officers. 
Here  are  two  of  them  about  Sullivan.  In  1777  a  London  paper 
in  speaking  of  him  said  :  "  General  Sullivan,  taken  prisoner 
by  the  king's  troops  at  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  was  an  attor- 
ney, and  only  laid  down  the  pen  for  the  sword  about  eight 
months  ago,  though  now  a  general."  He  had  been  two  years 
in  the  field. 

One  of  the  Hessian  officers,  Hieringen  by  name,  gave  a  home 
correspondent  the  following  valuable  information:  "John 
Sullivan  is  a  lawyer,  but  before  /las  been  a  footman.  He  is, 
however,  a  man  of  genius,  whom  the  rebels  will  very  much 
miss."  The  same  writer  calls  General  Putnam  a  butcher  by 
trade. 


354  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77S 

It  was  at  this  battle  of  Long  Island  that  the  Hessians  won 
their  terrible  reputation,  which  was  such  a  bugbear  to  the  colo- 
nists. The  battle  was  very  disastrous  to  our  arms.  It  had  been 
badly  planned  by  the  commander-in-chief.  The  defeat  of  the 
Americans  has  been  attributed  in  part  to  their  total  want  of 
cavalry.  It  was  wholly  owing  to  negligence  on  the  part  of 
Washington.  A  single  regiment  at  the  proper  place  on  the 
Jamaica  road  could  have  prevented  Clinton's  advance,  and  the 
consequent  discomfiture  of  our  army.  As  it  was,  heroism 
availed  not.  The  son  of  the  Irish  schoolmaster  behaved  with 
the  quenchless  valor  of  his  race  ;  but  encompassed  by  red-coats, 
his 'men  dead  or  in  retreat,  there  was  nothing  left  for  him  to  do 
but  to  surrender.  He  was  discovered  secreted  in  a  cornfield 
He  afterwards  said  that  he  actually  saw  many  of  the  Americans 
pinned  to  trees  with  bayonets.  Sullivan  was  exchanged  in  a 
short  time,  and  at  the  battle  of  Trenton  both  he  and  Putnam 
had  the  opportunity  to  avenge  the  libel  on  their  names,  and  the 
Hessians  lost  their  lions'  skins. 

He  had  been  created  a  major-general  in  1776,  and  he  now 
became  one  of  the  prominent  leaders  of  the  colonists.  He  did 
good  service  at  Princeton,  and  during  the  lest  of  the  season 
protected  the  lines  at  Morristown.  On  August  22d,  1777,  he 
made  a  descent  on  Staten  Island,  the  entire  success  of  which 
was  prevented  through  the  misconstruction  of  his  orders. 
Though  the  attempt  was  rash,  it  was  afterwards  justified  by  a 
court  of  inquiry,  and  by  a  vote  of  Congress.  At  the  battle  of 
Brandyvvine  he  commanded  the  right  wing,  and  was  fully  exon- 
erated by  Washington  from  the  charge  of  being  responsible  for 
the  defeat  that  ensued.  At  Germantown  he  defeated  the 
British  left,  driving  them  before  him  for  two  miles;  but  through 
mistakes  on  the  American  left,  caused  by  fog,  the  victory  was 
changed  into  a  repulse.  In  1778  Sullivan  commanded  in 
Rhode  Island.  In  August  of  that  year  he  prepared  to  attack 
the  British  lines  at  Newport,  but  was  deprived  of  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  French  fleet  under  D'Estaing,  and  was  obliged  to 
raise  the  siege  ;  but  at  Butt's  Hill,  on  the  29th,  he  repulsed  the 
enemy,  and  withdrew  from  the  Island  with  slight  loss.      In  I779 


1775]  THE    REVOLUTION.  355 

he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  an  expedition  against  the 
Indians  of  the  Six  Nations.  He  laid  waste  their  settlements, 
and  inflicted  upon  them,  and  the  Tories  commanded  by  Brant 
and  Sir  John  Newton,  a  severe  defeat  near  the  present  site  of 
Elmira  in  western  New  York.  This  last  event  concluded  Sulli- 
van's military  operations.  His  health  was  shattered  by  fatigue 
and  exposure,  his  private  fortune  was  much  diminished  by  five 
years'  service  in  the  army,  and  he  felt  obliged  to  resign  his 
commission.  Congress  accepted  it,  and  granted  him  a  vote  of 
thanks. 

But  the  hero  was  not  allowed  to  rest.  A  vexatious  question 
was  then  pending  before  Congress  relative  to  the  claim  of  New 
Hampshire  to  the  territory  of  Vermont.  The  two  ablest  law- 
yers of  the  State,  John  Sullivan  and  Samuel  Livermore,  were 
sent  to  plead  our  side  of  the  case.  Subsequently  the  State 
refused  to  reimburse  him  for  all  the  expenses  he  had  undergone, 
and  there  was  some  bad  feeling  engendered.  But  New  Hamp- 
shire could  not  dispense  with  the  talents  of  her  brilliant  son.  It 
continued  to  bestow  its  most  responsible  offices  upon  him, 
honors  that  would  have  graced  no  other  of  its  citizens  so  well  as 
him.  He  was  member  of  Congress  in  1781,  and  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  that  aided  in  suppressing  the  meeting  of  the 
Pennsylvania  troops.  For  four  years,  from  1782  to  1786,  he 
was  attorney-general  of  the  State.  In  1786,  1787,  and  1789  he 
was  president  of  New  Hampshire.  In  the  disturbances  of  1786 
he  prevented  anarchy  in  the  State  by  his  intrepidity  and  good 
management,  and  in  1788  he  secured  the  adoption  of  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution.  Washington  appointed  him  federal  judge 
of  New  Hampshire,  which  office  he  held  to  his  death,  which 
occurred  January  23,  1795. 

General  Sullivan  in  figure  was  well  made  and  active,  not  tall 
by  any  means,  but  rather  short,  though  his  uppish  pose  some- 
what concealed  that  defect.  Admirable  portraits  of  him  exist. 
Beards  were  not  in  fashion  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  which 
is  a  very  fortunate  matter  for  us,  as  we  are  enabled  to  trace  the 
lineaments  of  leading  characters  of  that  time  with  a  degree  of 
satisfaction  that  in  few  cases  can  be  the  privilege  of  tlie  future 


356  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l775 

biographers  of  the  men  of  the  present  day.  The  general  had  a 
frank,  fearless  face,  with  a  dark  complexion,  a  prominent  nose, 
and  black  and  piercing  eyes.  His  brown  hair  was  slightly 
curling.  His  countenance,  as  a  whole,  was  harmonious  and 
agreeable  ;  and  his  manners  were  courtly.  He  looked  a  soldier 
and  a  gentleman,  every  inch  of  him. 

The  Sullivans  were  descended  from  a  family  that  had  for  cen- 
turies made  itself  conspicuous  in  Ireland  by  its  hostility  to  Eng- 
lish rule.  The  grandfather  of  the  New  Hampshire  Sullivans 
was  Major  Philip  O'Sullivan,  of  Ardra,  an  officer  in  the  Irish 
army  during  the  siege  of  Limerick.  His  son  John,  born  at 
Limerick  in  1692,  was  one  of  the  company  that  in  1723  emi- 
grated from  Ireland  and  settled  the  town  of  Belfast,  in  Maine. 
At  this  place  he  hired  a  saw-mill  and  went  to  work.  Two  or 
three  years  afterwards  another  vessel  of  Irish  emigrants  landed 
at  Belfast.  On  board  was  a  blooming  young  damsel,  who,  after 
the  custom  of  those  days,  had  agreed  with  the  ship-master  to  be 
bound  out  at  service  in  the  colonies  in  payment  of  her  passage 
across  the  Atlantic.  She  was  bright  and  witty,  with  a  mind  of 
a  rough  but  noble  cast.  During  the  voyage  over,  a  fellow  pas- 
senger jocosely  asked  her  what  she  expected  to  do  when  she 
arrived  in  the  colonies.  "  Do.?"  answered  she,  with  true  Celtic 
wit  ;  "why,  raise  governors  for  thim."  Sullivan  saw  the  girl  as 
she  landed,  and  struck  with  her  beauty  made  a  bargain  with  the 
captain,  paying  her  passage  in  shingles.  He  wooed  and  won 
her,  and  the  Irish  girl  entered  upon  the  initiatory  steps  to  make 
good  her  declaration. 

Immediately  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Sullivan  settled  on  a  farm 
in  Berwick,  and  began  clearing  it  for  the  plow.  Cheered  by 
the  love  of  his  enterprising  wife,  and  determined  to  achieve 
success,  if  patient  toil  and  industry  could  accomplish  it,  he 
worked  hard,  and  was  rewarded  for  his  labor  by  seeing  fertile 
fields  rise  around  him  where  but  a  few  years  before  lay  the  un- 
broken wilderness,  l^eing  a  man  of  good  education,  he  taught 
school  in  the  winter  at  Berwick.  He  was  the  father  of  four 
brave  sons, —  John,  James,  Daniel,  and  Eben  Sullivan. 

John,  the  eldest  of  the  brothers,  was  born   in  1740.      At  the 


1775]  'I'HF-  KEvoi.uTiox.  357 

asre  of  twelve  he  assisted  his  fathei'  on  the  farm.  He  was  a 
sturdy  boy,  of  great  independence  of  character,  and  under  his 
father's  guidance  was  weH  trained  when  he  reached  the  age  of 
eighteen,  both  intellectually  and  physically.  His  father  des- 
tined him  for  the  bar,  but  was  too  poor  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a 
collegiate  education,  so  the  boy  was  sent  to  Judge  Samuel 
Livermore,  who  at  that  time  was  residing  in  Portsmouth.  In  a 
coarse  garb  he  knocked  at  Livermore's  house  and  inquired  for 
the  squire. 

"  What  can  you  do  for  me  if  I  take  you  ?"  asked  the  judge^ 
when  the  boy  told  his  errand. 

"  Oh,  I  can  split  the  wood,  take  care  of  the  horses,  do  your 
gardening,  and  perhaps  find  time  to  read  a  little,  if  I  can  have 
the  privilege." 

As  John  Sullivan  appeared  to  be  a  promising  youth,  Mr. 
Livermore  received  him  into  his  household,  where  he  did  duty 
in  various  ways.  Evincing  a  rare  intelligence,  and  a  laudable 
desire  of  increasing  his  knowledge,  he  was  allowed  the  use  of 
the  library.  The  young  student  employed  every  leisure  hour^ 
and  soon  had  the  contents  of  his  master's  library  stored  away  in 
his  capacious  brain. 

His  rapid  advance  was  unsuspected  by  the  judge,  but  the 
knowledge  was  brought  home  to  him  one  day  in  a  surprising' 
manner.  Sullivan  had  let  himself  to  plead  for  a  client  arrested 
for  battery,  and  while  arguing  the  case  with  a  degree  of  native 
talent  and  a  knowledge  of  law  that  was  surprising.  Judge 
Livermore  entered  the  room.  Unobserved  by  the  young  lawyer 
he  listened  to  his  plea.  Sullivan,  much  to  his  surprise,  was 
successful,  cleared  his  client,  and  earned  his  first  court  fee. 
The  next  morning  the  judge  called  him  into  his  library,  and 
thus  addressed  him  :  — 

"  John,  my  kitchen  is  no  place  for  you  ;  follow  on  in  your 
studies,  give  them  your  undivided  attention,  and  you  shall  re- 
ceive that  assistance  from  me  that  you  need,  until  you  are  in 
condition  to  repay  it." 

In  due  time  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  established  him- 
self at    Durham.      His  energy  and   industry  gained  him  a  g(jod 


358  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77S 

practice  and  many  friends.  He  made  an  excellent  matrimonial 
alliance,  marrying,  in  1766,  Miss  Lydia  Wooster  of  Salmon 
Falls.  He  was  the  father  of  two  sons,  George  and  John  Sulli- 
van, a  man  of  substance,  and  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the 
State,  when  the  Revolution  broke  out. 

Sullivan  was  an  ardent  patriot  from  the  instinct  of  race. 
The  prejudices  of  the  Irishman  made  him  a  good  American 
citizen.  The  city  in  which  his  father  was  born  could  tell  a  tale 
of  English  duplicity  and  persecution,  and  the  thousand  ex- 
amples which  the  history  of  Ireland  presented  to  his  view 
warned  him  against  putting  any  faith  in  English  protestations. 
The  arrogant  encroachments  of  Great  Britain  he  felt  were  not 
to  be  endured.  While  others  dreamed  of  peace,  he  dreamed  of 
war.  He  even  determined  to  initiate  bellicose  proceedings,  to 
set  the  ball  a-rolling  himself,  and  actually  force  the  war.  And 
he  did  it  too. 

George  Sullivan  was  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Exeter,  and  for 
several  years  attorney-general  of  the  State,  as  was  also  his  son 
John,  the  last  serving  from  1848  to  1863.  He  succeeded,  as 
attorney-general,  John  Sullivan  Wells,  who  was  also  a  descend- 
dant  of  old  Master  Sullivan.  The  general's  son  John  went  to 
Boston,  where  his  uncle  James  had  died,  after  being  for  two 
terms  governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  where  his  cousins,  Wil- 
liam and  John  Langdon,  were  well-known  men.  Certainly  the 
progeny  of  old  John  Sullivan  and  his  blooming  Irish  wife  were 
something  to  be  proud  of,  nor  has  the  stock  yet  become  ener- 
vated. 

On  the  right  bank  of  Oyster  River,  in  the  town  of  Durham, 
in  Strafford  county,  the  traveller  will  run  across  one  of  those 
old  historic  homes  for  which  New  Hampshire  is  so  celebrated, 
and  of  which  her  citizens  are  so  justly  proud.  The  mansion  is 
an  aristocratic  looking  structure,  having  been  the  residence  of  a 
hero  and  patriot,  who  —  in  our  Revolution  and  the  earlier  his- 
tory of  our  State  —  embalmed  his  name  in  that  noble  galaxy  of 
names  which  no  future  Plutarch  can  ennoble,  that  list  headed 
by  a  Franklin  and  a  Washington  ;  and  it  still  bears  evidence  of 
the  worldly  thrift,  good  taste,  and  high  standing  of  its  former 


1775]  "^"^    REVOLUTION.  359 

occupant.  The  fame  of  its  founder,  together  with  the  interest- 
ing incidents  which  hav2  occurred  within  its  precincts,  and  its 
connection  with  many  names  of  renown,  render  it  memorable 
in  the  annals  alike  of  the  State  and  the  nation. 

General  Sullivan's  law  office  stood  not  far  from  the  house. 
Only  stones  mark  the  place,  and  a  noble  old  elm,  whose 
branches  must  have  bent  patronizingly  over  the  roof  of  the 
building.  The  office  was  removed  half  a  century  ago  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  away,  and  now  forms  the  ell  of  the  dwelling  house 
of  Joseph  Coe.  In  connection  with  this  building  is  entwined 
another  name  besides  John  Sullivan's.  During  the  years  1773 
iind  1774  a  young  man,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  was  studying 
law  there  with  the  general.  He  was  one  of  the  Durham  party 
Mho  went  with  Sullivan  in  that  expedition  to  Fort  William  and 
Mary.  He  followed  his  teacher  and  friend  from  the  law  office 
to  be  a  major  in  the  Continental  service.  He  was  afterwards 
colonel  of  one  of  the  New  Hampshire  regiments,  adjutant- 
general  of  the  army,  and  died  in  the  flush  of  his  manhood,  in 
the  trenches  before  Yorktown,  the  victim  of  the  ignorance  and 
brutality  of  a  British  vidette,  —  Alexander  Scammel. 

A  blaze  of  romance  surrounds  the  memory  of  this  young  hero. 
He  was  the  knight  sans  peur  et  sans  reprochc  of  the  Revolution. 
He  was  brave,  chivalrous,  and  able.  There  was  no  nobler  look- 
ing man  in  the  army.  In  stature  he  was  just  the  height  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  six  feet  and  two  inches,  and  he  was  pro- 
])ortioned  as  symmetrically  as  an  Apollo.  Features  of  the  Roman 
cast  gave  dignity  and  martial  ardor  to  his  countenance.  His  steel- 
blue  eyes  blazed  in  all  the  hardest  fought  contests  of  the  Revo- 
lution. He  successively  succeeded  Colonel  James  Reed  in  the 
colonelcy  of  the  2nd  Nev/  Hampshire  regiment,  that  officer 
having  resigned,  and  Enoch  Poor  in  that  of  the  3rd,  upon  the 
promotion  of  that  officer  to  a  brigade-generalship  in  1776.  In 
all  the  battles  connected  with  Burgoyne's  campaign.  Colonel 
Scammel  exhibited  the  most  determined  valor  and  the  most 
approved  ability.  At  the  battle  of  Monmouth  his  gallantry  and 
that  of  his  troops  were  such  as  to  receive  the  particular  ap- 
probation of    Washington.     In    1780  he  received  the  appoint- 


360  HISTORY    OF    N?:W    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/ZS 

ment  of  adjutant-gei>eral  of  the  American  army,  the  varied  and 
responsible  duties  of  which  office  he  discharged  with  fidelity 
and  honor.  At  Yorktown  he  was  in  command  of  a  picked  corps 
of  infantry.  On  the  30th  of  September,  1781,  while  reconnoit- 
ring the  enemy's  position,  he  was  surprised  by  a  party  of  their 
horse,  taken  prisoner,  and  afterwards  barbarously  wounded  by 
them.  Despite  all  that  surgical  skill  and  attention  could  do,  he 
died  from  the  effects  of  his  wounds,  October  6th,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-three.  He  was  buried  at  Williamsburg  the  next  day, 
amid  all  the  honors  that  could  be  shown  on  the  occasion. 

Before  he  became  Sullivan's  confidential  clerk,  Scammel  had 
been  a  schoolmaster  and  a  surveyor.  He  was  born  in  Milford, 
Massachusetts,  and  graduated  at  Harvard,  in  1769.  In  1770,  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Old  Colony  Club,  the  first  society  in  New 
England  to  commemorate  publicly  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers.  In  August,  1772,  he  was  in  government  employment 
on  board  the  armed  sloop  "  Lord  Chatham,"  bound  for  Boston 
with  dispatches  and  plans  for  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury.  The 
next  winter  he  taught  school  at  Berwick,  when  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  Sullivans.  The  esteem  in  which  he  was  held 
by  his  brother  officers  is  amply  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  when 
Lafayette  was  on  his  last  visit  to  this  country,  at  a  large  gather- 
ing of  Revolutionary  veterans,  the  noble  marquis  proposed  as 
a  toast,  "To  the  memory  of  Yorktown  Scammel." 

Not  far  from  the  mansion  is  the  family  cemetery  of  the  Sulli- 
vans. It  is  a  dreamy,  deserted  old  place,  enclosed  by  a  stone 
wall  and  shadowed  by  rows  of  apple-trees.  There  are  about  a 
dozen  graves  therein,  each  marked  by  a  cheap,  oblong  marble 
tombstone.  Most  of  them  show  signs  of  dilapidation  and  age. 
One  of  the  plain  marble  slabs,  though  moss-grown  and  defaced 
by  time,  still  preserves  its  inscription  intact :  — 

SACRED 

TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 

MAJOR-GENERAL    JOHN    SULLIVAN, 

WHO    WAS    BORN 

FEBRUARY    17th,     1 74O, 

AND    DIED 

JAXU.AKY    23 rd,    1795. 


I 


1775] 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


361 


Underneath  rests  all  that  remains  of  the  great  lawyer,  the 
brave  soldier  of  our  war  for  independence,  the  worthy  chief 
magistrate  of  New  Hampshire.  On  the  foot-stone  is  simply 
engraved  the  initials  of  his  name,  J.  S.  His  wife  Lydia  lies 
buried  beside  him.     She  died  in  1820,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

At  a  little  distance  sleep  the  elder  John  Sullivan  and  Margery 
his  wife.  The  dates  upon  their  tombstones  show  that  they  both 
died  at  a  good  old  age,  after  outliving  their  most  illustrious  son. 
The  old  man  died  in  1796,  at  the  remarkable  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  four  years.  His  wife  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  in 
1 80 1.  They  were  buried  first  at  Berwick,  but  were  removed  to 
Durham.^ 


Ml    "  .  -    •      

rrn-rrvrrri 


POST    RIDER    OF   THE    REVOLUTION. 


In  the  convention  which  met  in  May,  1775,  ^.nd  continued 
sitting  with  but  little  interruption  till  November,  one  hundred, 
and  two  towns  were  represented  by  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  members.  Their  first  care  was  to  establish  post  ofifices ; 
to  appoint  a  committee  of  supplies  for  the  army,  and  a  Com- 
mittee of  Safety.  This  latter  committee  became  the  chief 
executive  power  of  the  colony.  By  order  of  the  convention  the 
former  secretary,  Theodore  Atkinson,  delivered  the  province 
records  to  Ebenezer  Thompson,  and  they  were  removed  to 
Exeter.  George  Jaffrey,  the  former  treasurer,  turned  over  funds 
in  his  hands,  amounting  to  ^£"1516,  to  Nicholas  Gilman.     The 

■  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


\62 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[^77S 


people  became  intensely  hostile  to  all  suspected  of  not  being  in 
full  sympathy  with  the  popular  party.  Many  were  imprisoned  ; 
some  escaped  from  the  Province. 


Old  commissions  were  annulled,  the  courts  were  closed,  and 
the  magistrates  were  powerless.  Good  order  was  maintained  by 
a  cheerful  obedience  to  appointed  committees. 


1775]  THE    REVOLUTION.  ^6$ 

Aside  from  the  forces  about  Boston,  and  the  garrison  along 
the  coast,  a  company  of  Rangers  was  posted  on  the  Connecticut 
river,  and  two  companies  were  held  in  reserve.  Out  of  the 
militia  four  regiments  of  minute-men  were  enlisted,  who  were 
constantly  trained  in  military  duties. 

A  census  taken  during  the  year  gave  the  number  of  inhabi- 
tants in  the  Province  as  82,200,  nearly  half  of  whom  were  in 
Rockingham  county. 

Upon  advice  received  from  the  Continental  Congress,  the 
convention  called  for  the  election  of  a  new  Assembly  of  eighty- 
nine  members,  to  whom  the  care  of  government  should  be  en- 
trusted. The  representatives  to  the  new  convention  met  near 
the  close  of  December,  1775,  and  assumed  the  name  and 
authority  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  They  immediately 
chose  twelve  persons  as  a  distinct  branch  of  the  legislature,  to 
whom  was  given  the  name  of  Council,  and  who  elected  their 
own  president.^ 

2  The  camps,  redoubts,  and  trenches  which  engirdled  Boston 
during  its  siege  were  so  many  appliances  in  the  practical  train- 
ing school  of  war,  which  Washington  promptly  seized,  appropri- 
ated, and  developed.  The  capture  of  Boston  was  not  the  chief 
aim  of  Washington  when  he  established  his  headquarters  at 
Cambridge.  Boston  was,  indeed,  the  immediate  objective  point 
of  active  operations,  and  the  issue  at  arms  had  been  boldly  made 
at  Lexington  and  Concord.  Bunker  Hill  had  practically  eman- 
cipated the  American  yeomanry  from  the  dread  of  British  arms. 

Without  waiting  for  reports  from  distant  colonies  as  to  the 
effect  of  the  skirmish  at  Lexington  and  the  more  instructive 
and  stimulating  experience  at  Breed's  Hill,  the  Americans 
penned  the  British  in  Boston,  and  determined  to  drive  them  from 
the  land. 

The  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  equalized  the  opposing 
FORCES.  The  issue  changed  from  that  of  a  struggle  of  legiti- 
mate authority  to  suppress  rebellion,  and  became  a  contest 
between  Englishmen  for  the  suppression  or  the  perpetuation 
of  the  rights  of  Magna  Charta. 

'Belknap.  *Gen.  H.  B.  Carrington,  LL.  D. 


364  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77^ 

The  siege  of  Boston  assumed  a  new  character  as  soon  as  it 
became  a  part  of  the  national  undertaking  to  emancipate  the 
colonies,  one  and  all,  and  thereby  establish  one  great  Republic. 

From  the  3rd  of  July,  1775,  until  the  17th  of  March,  1776, 
there  was  gradually  developed  a  military  policy,  with  an  army 
system,  which  shaped  the  whole  war. 

During  the  siege  Washington  sent  forth  privateers  to  scour 
the  coast  and  search  for  vessels  conveying  powder  to  the  garri- 
son ;  and  soon  no  British  transport  or  supply-vessel  was  secure, 
unless  under  convoy  of  a  ship-of-war. 

Titus  Salter,  of  Portsmouth,  was  specially  prominent  in  the 
maritime  affairs  of  New  Hampshire. 

Three  nights  of  tnock  bombardment  kept  the  garrison  on  the 
alert,  awaiting  an  assault.  "  On  the  night  of  the  4th  of 
March,  1776,  and  through  all  its  hours,  from  candle-lighting 
time  to  the  clear  light  of  another  day,  the  same  incessant  thun- 
der rolled  along  over  camps  and  city ;  the  same  quick  flashes 
showed  that  fire  was  all  along  the  line,  and  still  both  camps  and 
city  dragged  through  the  night,  waiting  for  the  daylight  to  test 
the  work  of  the  night,  as  dayhght  had  done  before." 

When  daylight  came, — 

"Two  strong  redoubts  capped  Dorchester  Heights." 

By  the  the  loth  of  March  the  Americans  had  fortified 
Nook's  Hill,  and  this  drove  the  British  from  Boston  Neck. 
Eight  hundred  shot  and  shell  were  thrown  into  the  city  during 
that  night.  On  the  morning  of  March  17  the  British  embarked 
for  Halifax. 

On  the  1 8th  of  March,  and  before  the  main  army  had  entered 
Boston,  General  Heath  was  ordered  to  New  York  with  five 
regiments  of  infantry  and  a  part  of  the  field  artillery. 

On  the  27th,  the  whole  army,  excepting  a  garrison  of  five 
reo"iments,  was  ordered  forward.  General  Sullivan  leading  the 
column. 

^Colonel  John  Stark  remained  at  New  York  until  May,  1776, 
when  his  regiment,  with   five  others,  was  ordered  to  march  by 

'  Gen.  George  Stark. 


1776]  THK    KKVOI.L'TION.  365 

way  of  Albany  to  Canada.  He  joined  the  army  at  St.  Johns, 
and  advanced  to  the  mouth  of  the  Sorel.  Various  unsuccessful 
movements  were  made  by  this  army  in  Canada,  under  the  suc- 
cessive commands  of  Generals  Thomas,  Arnold,  Thompson, 
and  Sullivan,  culminating  in  a  retreat  to  Crown  Point  and 
Ticonderoga.  General  Gates  soon  after  this  assumed  the  chief 
command,  and  assigned  a  brigade  to  Colonel  Stark,  with  orders 
to  clear  and  fortify  Mount  Independence. 

When  the  British  army  under  Carleton  had  retired  to  winter 
quarters  in  Canada,  Colonel  Stark's  regiment,  with  several 
others,  was  detached  from  the  Northern  army  to  reinforce 
General  Washington  at  Newtown,  Penn.  He  arrived  a  few 
days  before  the  battle  of  Trenton,  where,  leading  the  van  of 
Sullivan's  division,  he  contributed  his  share  in  that  fortunate 
victory.  In  giving  his  opinion  at  the  council  of  war  pre- 
ceding the  battle  of  Trenton,  Colonel  Stark  observed  to  Wash- 
ington :  "  Your  men  have  too  long  been  accustomed  to  place 
their  dependence  for  safety  upon  spades  and  pickaxes.  If  you 
hope  to  establish  the  independence  of  these  States,  you  must 
teach  them  to  place  dependence  upon  their  fire-arms  and  cour- 
age." Colonel  Stark  remained  with  the  commander-in-chief 
until  his  winter  quarters  were  established  on  the  heights  of 
Morristown,  when,  the  term  of  his  men's  enlistment  havine:  ex- 
pired,  he  returned  to  New  Hampshire  to  recruit  another  regi- 
ment. 

^  Colonel  James  Reed,  a  brigadier-general  of  the  Continental 
army,  was  appointed  by  Congress,  August  9,  1776,  on  the  re- 
commendation of  General  Washington.  On  the  2nd  of  Sep- 
tember General  Gates  speaks  of  him  as  so  ill  at  Fort  George 
that  he  would  probably  not  be  fit  for  service  in  that  campaign. 
He  received  orders  from  General  Washington  to  join  him  at 
headquarters,  but  on  account  of  sickness  was  unable  to  comply. 
He  eventually  retired  from  the  army  on  half  pay  until  the  close 
of  the  war. 

General  Reed  returned  to  Fitzwilliam,  where  he  resided  until  the  year  17S3, 
when  he  moved  to  Keene. 

»  A.  J.  Blake. 


366  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/?^ 

Hale,  in  his  "  Annals  of  Keene,"  sajs  that  General  Reed,  whose  ordinary 
residence  was  Fitzwilliam,  is  remembered  there  as  an  old  blind  man,  and  as 
almost  daily  seen,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  walking  up  and  down  Main 
Street. 

About  the  year  iSoo  he  removed  to  Fitchburg,  where  he  spent  the  remain- 
der of  his  days.  He  died  at  Fitchburg,  February  13,  1S07,  aged  eighty-three 
years,  and  was  buried  with  military  honors.  In  the  old  burying  ground  at 
Fitchburg  stands  his  monument,  quite  elaborate  for  the  times. 

In  all  the  relations  of  a  long  and  useful  life.  General  Reed  sustained  the 
highest  character  for  honesty  and  integrity.  In  the  numerous  records  re- 
lating to  him  there  is  nought  found  but  words  of  praise.  Wherever  his 
name  is  mentioned  by  his  comrades  in  arms,  from  Washington  down,  it  is  in 
terms  of  commendation  and  eulogy.  He  was  emphatically  a  Christian 
warrior. 

^Exeter,  in  1776,  had  but  just  assumed  the  position  in  the 
Province  to  which  its  size  and  importance  entitled  it.  Forty 
years  before,  the  town  had  become  an  object  of  jealousy  and 
dislike  to  some  of  the  dignitaries  under  the  crown  at  Ports- 
mouth, and  in  consequence  thereof  had  been  "left  out  in  the 
cold,"  so  far  as  it  was  in  their  power  to  accomplish  it.  The  last 
royal  governor,  John  Wentworth,  however,  was  too  sensible  and 
politic  to  allow  his  conduct  to  be  influenced  by  an  old  grudge. 
He  took  particular  pains  to  conciliate  the  inhabitants  of  Exeter  ; 
visited  the  town  repeatedly  in  much  state ;  formed  and  com- 
missioned a  company  of  cadets  there,  embracing  many  leading 
men,  as  a  kind  of  body-guard  to  the  occupant  of  the  guber- 
natorial office ;  and  established  relations  of  intimacy  with  several 
of  the  prominent  citizens. 

He  hoped,  no  doubt,  that  his  special  friends  in  Exeter  might 
adhere  to  the  cause  of  the  crown,  as  so  many  of  his  connec- 
tions and  dependents  in  Portsmouth  did.  But  he  reckoned 
without  his  host.  When  the  tocsin  of  war  was  sounded,  Exeter 
might  be  said  to  be  a  unit  on  the  side  of  liberty ;  and  the  men 
whom  Governor  Wentworth  had  delighted  to  honor  were  the 
first  to  declare  in  favor  of  their  oppressed  country. 

Exeter  then  became,  and  remained  for  many  years,  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Province  and  State.  The  legislature  held  its  sessions 
there,  and  during  its  adjournments  the  Committee  of  Safety  took 

I  Ex-Governor  C.  H.  Bell. 


1776]  TlIK    KKVOLUTIOX,  36/ 

its  place,  and  exercised  its  functions.  The  courts  were  again 
establislicd  there,  and  the  town  became  practically  the  head- 
quarters of  all  military  undertakings  in  which  New  Hampshire 
was  concerned.  And  there,  on  the  5th  day  of  January,  1776, 
was  adopted  and  put  in  operation  the  first  written  constitu- 
tion for  poi)ular  government,  of  the  Revolutionary  period.  The 
honor  of  taking  the  lead  of  her  sister  colonies  in  this  momentous 
"new  departure"  belongs  to  New  Hampshire,  and  E.xeter  may 
well  be  proud  to  have  been  the  scene  of  an  occurrence  so  inter- 
esting and  so  memorable. 

The  structure  in  Exeter  which  has  perhaps  retained  its  old- 
time  appearance  most  perfectly  for  the  past  century  is  the  pow- 
der-house situated  on  the  point  near  the  river  on  the  east  side. 
It  was  built  about  1760,  and  has  apparently  undergone  little 
repair  since  that  time.  It  probably  first  held  military  stores 
destined  for  the  French  and  Indian  war,  which,  however,  ter- 
minated before  they  could  have  been  much  needed.  A  few 
years  later  it  was  opened,  no  doubt,  to  receive  a  part  of  the 
powder  captured  by  the  provincials  in  the  raid,  under  Sullivan, 
upon  Fort  William  and  Mary.  But  as  powder  without  ball 
hardly  met  the  requirements  of  the  times,  the  selectmen  of  Kxe- 
ter  purchased  lead  for  the  "  town  stock  "  from  John  Emery,  and 
sent  for  a  further  supply  to  Portsmouth  by  Theodore  Carlton  ; 
employed  Thomas  Gilman  to  "  run  it  into  bullets,"  and  finally 
stored  the  leaden  missiles  in  a  chest,  which  Peter  Folsom  made 
for  tl>e  purpose  at  the  cost  of  three  and  sixpence.  The  ammu- 
nition was  dealt  out  from  time  to  time  to  other  places  which 
stood  in  greater  need, —  very  sparingly  though  ;  for  notwithstand- 
ing Exeter  had  a  powder-mill  in  1776,  the  explosive  dust  was 
too  precious  to  be  wasted,  through  a  large  part  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary war. 

The  court-house,  known  also  as  the  town-house  and  state- 
house,  stood  at  what  is  now  the  easterly  corner  of  Front  and 
Court  streets,  on  the  site  of  the  dwelling  of  the  late  Mr. 
Joseph  Boardman.  The  building  had  formerly  been  the  meet- 
ing-house of  the  first  parish.  When  it  was  moved  across  the 
street  and  devoted  to  judicial   purposes,  it  was  flanked  by  the 


368  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77^ 

stocks  and  the  whipping-post.  Possibly  the  former  instrument 
of  discipline  may  have  disappeared  before  1776,  but  the  latter 
undoubtedly  lasted  till  then. 

One  of  the  town  schools  (for  the  excellence  of  which  Exeter 
was  early  noted)  was  long  kept  in  this  town-house.  A  "  gram- 
mar school  "  was  likewise  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the 
town,  in  1775-6,  under  the  charge  of  Clement  Weeks,  a  room 
being  hired  of  Samuel  Davis  for  the  purpose. 

The  town  and  court  house  was  the  place  of  assembly  for  the 
legislature  of  New  Hampshire,  whence  it  received  the  additional 
name  of  state-house.  Its  halls,  in  the  "  time  that  tried  men's 
souls,"  continually  echoed  to  the  tread  of  the  wisest  and  bravest 
of  the  dwellers  among  our  granite  hills.  Sullivan  and  Folsom, 
Stark  and  Poor,  Cilley  and  Scammell,  Dearborn  and  Reed,  in 
their  military  attire  of  blue  and  buff,  often  trailed  their  swords 
along  its  corridors  ;  while  Weare  and  Langdon,  Oilman  and 
Bartlett,  Thornton  and  Whipple,  and  a  host  of  other  patriots  in 
"civil  life,  assembled  periodically  within  its  walls  to  devise  the 
^vays  and  means  for  keeping  an  army  in  the  field,  until  the 
power  of  Britain  was  at  length  broken,  and  peace  crowned  the 
independence  of  America. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  remind  readers  of  the  present  day 
that  houses  of  worship  a  hundred  years  ago  contained  neither 
fire-places,  stoves,  nor  other  heating  apparatus.  The  congregation, 
so  far  as  temperature  was  concerned,  were  not  much  more  com- 
fortable, in  the  winter  season,  indoors  than  out.  But  the  gene- 
ration of  that  day  was  brought  up  to  bear  hardships  without 
complaint.  The  good  mother,  within  the  remembrance  of  peo- 
ple not  aged,  used  to  rely  upon  a  few  coals  in  a  foot  stove  to 
keep  up  the  vital  heat,  and  perhaps  the  youngest  child  was  bun- 
dled up  so  as  to  be  kept  comfortable  ;  but  the  big  boys  had  to 
take  the  severity  of  the  weather,  seated  on  the  bare  boards, 
with  little  protection  in  the  way  of  extra  clothing.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion how  large  the  attendance  in  our  churches  would  be  if  the 
old  fashion  of  cold  rooms  were  to  be  resumed.  Luckily  for  the 
enjoyment  as  well  as  for  the  size  of  the  congregations,  in  the 
matter  of  conveniences  and  comforts  there  is  no  retrogression. 


1776] 


THE    KEVOI.UTION. 


369 


Improvements  once  introduced  become  necessities;  and  New 
l-LnL;iand  will  never  go  back  to  cold  churches. 

The  meeting-house  of  the  first  parish  had  long  been  provided 
with  a  bell,  and  the  town  books  inform  us  that  in  1776  it  was  daily- 
rung  by  Pompcy  Peters  at  one  and  nine  o'clock  f.  m.,  according 
to  ancient  custom,  which  has  also  been  continued  down  to  our 
own  day. 

The  present  church  was  not  built  till  more  than  twenty  years 
after  that  date.  It  has  been  much  admired  for  its  architectural 
proportions,  and  is  undoubtedly  a  fine  specimen  of  the  eccle- 
siastical edifices  of  the  last  century. 


•m:. 


GOVERNOR    OILMAN'S    HOUSE,    EXETER. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  the  inhabitants  of  Exeter  were, 
almost  to  a  man,  in  favor  of  resistance  to  the  oppressive  meas- 
ures of  the  British  parliament.  Conspicuous  among  the  patriots 
was  Colonel  Nicholas  Gilman,  the  father  of  Governor  Oilman. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution  he  was  forty-four  years 
of  age,  in  the  very  prime  of  his  powers,  a  man  of  resolution, 
firmness,  and  sound  judgment.  He  was  largely  engaged  in 
business,  and  was  commanding  officer  of  a  regiment  of  militia. 
He  was  a  great  favorite  with  Governor  Wentworth,  who  un- 
doubtedly used  all  his  influence  to  keep  him  on  the  side  of  his 


370  •  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l?/^ 

royal  master,  and  it  is  said  never  ceased  to  retain  his  attachment 
for  him.  But  Colonel  Oilman  occupied  no  doubtful  ground. 
Early  declaring  himself  on  the  side  of  his  country,  his  counsel 
and  services  were  eagerly  sought  for  in  her  behalf,  and  cheer- 
fully rendered.  Money,  the  sinews  of  war,  was  the  thing  most 
needful ;  and  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  fiscal  department 
of  the  State,  where  he  accomplished  almost  as  much  for  New 
Hampshire  as  Robert  Morris  did  for  the  country.  But  his 
efforts  were  not  limited  to  any  narrow  sphere.  No  plan  for  the 
public  security  or  advantage  was  adopted  until  it  received  the 
sanction  of  his  approval.  President  Weare  held  the  chief  exe- 
cutive office,  and  Nicholas  Gilman  was  his  premier. 

Colonel  Folsom  (for  that  was  his  title  in  the  beginning  of 
1775)  was  evidently  held  in  the  highest  estimation  as  a  military 
commander,  for  on  the  24th  day  of  May  in  that  year,  a  month 
after  Lexington,  and  a  month  before  Bunker  Hill,  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  major-general  of  "  all  the  forces 
raised  (by  New  Hampshire)  for  this  and  the  other  American 
colonies."  This  Province  had  then  three  regiments  in  the  field, 
—  Stark's,  Poor's,  and  Reed's.  General  Folsom  at  once  repaired 
to  Cambridge  to  take  the  command  of  the  brigade.  Stark  com- 
plained (without  reason)  at  Folsom  being  put  over  him,  and  was 
inclined  to  despise  the  authority  of  this  colony,  till  his  native 
good  sense  taught  him  to  act  more  wisely.  The  misunderstand- 
ing and  rivalry  between  Folsom  and  Stark,  however,  prevented 
the  nomination  of  either  as  a  general  officer  on  the  Continental 
establishment,  and  Sullivan  was  selected  as  brigadier  from  New 
Hampshire.  General  Folsom  remained  in  command  of  the  New 
Hampshire  troops  at  Cambridge  until  the  adoption  of  the  army, 
and  the  appointment  of  its  commanders,  by  Congress.  He  then 
returned  home,  but  though  not  again  called  actively  to  the  field, 
he  was  allowed  no  respite  from  military  or  civil  employment. 
He  was  retained  in  command  of  the  militia,  who  were  continually 
kept  in  readiness  for  active  service  in  emergencies,  and  fre- 
quently called  forth.  In  the  course  of  the  war  he  was  four  years 
a  member  of  the  Connnittee  of  Safety  ;  was  repeatedly  chosen 
to  the  legislature  ;  and  in   1777  and  again  in  1779  elected  a  dele- 


1776]  THE    KKVOr.UTFON.  371 

gate  to  the  Continental  Congress  ;  and  in  addition  to  all  the 
rest  was  made  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

There  was  evidently  an  incompatibility,  or  at  least  an  impro- 
priety, in  a  single  person  exercising  such  diverse  functions  at 
the  same  time,  and  some  exception  was  taken  to  it  in  the  legis- 
lature ;  but  a  majority  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  occasion 
justified  a  departure  from  ordinary  rules,  and  the  perfect  confi- 
tlcncc  reposed  in  General  Folsom's  honesty  and  patriotism 
silenced  all  criticism. 

Samuel  Adams  passed  a  night  at  Mr.  Joseph  Oilman's  house 
in  the  latter  part  of  1776,  just  before  the  victories  at  Princeton 
and  Trenton  had  relieved  the  feeling  of  despondency  caused  by 
the  prior  disasters  to  our  arms  ;  and  all  Mrs.  Gilman's  powers 
of  pleasing  were  said  to  have  been  exerted  to  cheer  the  droop- 
ing spirits  of  the  patriot,  without  effect.  A  military  success 
was  then  the  only  cure  for  the  gloom  of  the  stern  king-hater. 

The  dwelling-place  of  Major  Jonathan  Cass,  one  of  the  vet- 
cians  of  the  Revolution,  was  where  the  house  of  Mrs.  J.  L. 
Robinson  now  is.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  and,  according  to  description,  was  an  erect, 
handsome  man,  with  keen  black  eyes.  He  enlisted  in  the  army 
as  a  private  soldier,  and  served  until  peace  was  established,  hav- 
ing taken  part  in  most  of  the  principal  battles.  As  early  as  1777 
his  merits  procured  him  promotion  to  an  ensigncy,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  war  he  was  r.  captain.  He  then  resumed  his  resi- 
dence in  PIxeter  for  a  few  years,  and  his  distinguished  son,  Lewis 
Cass,  was  born  there  in  1782.  About  1790  the  father  re-entered 
the  army,  in  command  of  a  campany  raised  for  the  defence  of 
the  western  frontier,  and  subsequently  received  the  commission 
of  major.  He  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the 
Western  country,  that  he  established  his  home  in  Ohio,  where 
he  died  in  1830. 

Lewis  Cass  remained  in  Exeter  till  he  finished  his  studies  at 
the  academy,  and  received  a  diploma,  signed  by  the  principal 
and  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  certifying  his  proficiency 
and  good  conduct  ;  a  copy  of  which,  in  his  own  youthful  hand- 
writing, is  still  preserved. 


372  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1776 

Colonel  Samuel  Folsom,  a  brother  of  General  Nathaniel  F"ol- 
som,  was  a  well-known  and  respected  citizen  in  1776.  His  house 
was  at  the  easterly  corner  of  Court  square  and  Water  street, 
and  is  now  occupied  by  Mr.  George  W.  Dearborn.  It  is  believed 
to  have  been  built  a  year  or  two  before  the  date  mentioned, 
probably  to  replace  a  former  edifice  removed  or  destroyed. 
Colonel  Folsom  kept  a  public-house,  as  his  widow  continued  to 
do  many  years  after  his  death.  He  was  lieutenant-colonel  of 
the  Exeter  corps  of  Independent  Cadets,  commanded  by  Colonel 
John  Phillips.  He  was  entrusted  with  much  important  busi- 
ness, during  the  Revolution,  requiring  sound  and  tried  capacity 
and  devotion  to  his  country's  interests. 

After  John  Langdon,  in  the  midst  of  the  apprehensions  excited 
by  the  triumphant  incursion  of  Burgoyne,  inspirited  the  people 
of  New  Hampshire  by  the  offer  of  his  private  property  to  or- 
ganize an  expedition  under  General  Stark,  with  the  purpose  of 
turning  back  the  invader,  Colonel  Folsom  was  designated  by 
President  Weare,  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  to 
visit  General  Stark,  to  convey  him  money  for  contingent  ex- 
penses, to  learn  how  his  expedition  was  progressing,  what  art- 
icles it  stood  in  need  of,  and  to  "  advise  with  all  persons  in  the 
service  of  this  State  on  such  things  as  he  thought  needful  to 
forward  the  business  they  are  engaged  in."  His  confidential 
and  discretionary  mission  appears  to  have  been  executed  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  parties  ;  and  we  know  how  thoroughly  Stark 
was  enabled  to  perform  the  part  required  of  him  when  he  met 
the  enemy  at  Bennington. 

A  couple  of  years  afterwards  Colonel  Folsom  was  selected  by 
the  General  Court  to  discharge  the  agreeable  duty  of  present- 
ing, in  behalf  of  the  State,  to  Colonel  Joseph  Cilley,  a  pair  of 
pistols  which  had  been  the  property  of  Colonel  Stephen  Hol- 
land, the  Tory  absentee ;  and  the  receipt  of  Colonel  Cilley  re- 
mains to  testify  that  the  commission  was  duly  accomplished. 

It  was  at  the  house  of  Colonel  Folsom  that  President  George 
Washington  stopped  and  partook  of  a  collation  when  he  visited 
I^xeter  in  his  t<nir  through  the  Eastern  States  in  the  autumn  of 
1789. 


1776]  TIIK    KKVOI.r  IION.  373 

Colonel  James  Ilackctt,  in  1776,  had  l)ccn  for  some  time  on- 
L;agccl  in  shi]:)l)uil(lin^-  at  Ivvcter,  and  was  a  man  of  enterprise  and 
determination,  lie  was  no  laL;\i;ard  in  evincin_i;-  liis  willingness 
to  enlist  in  his  conntry's  eausc,  for  he  was  one  of  the  first  to 
march  to  the  scene  of  hostilities  on  the  mornin<;'  after  the  Con- 
cord fight. 

Colonel  Hackett  appears  to  have  passed  much  of  his  time,  at 
a  later  period,  in  Portsmouth,  where  he  pursued  tlie  business  of 
shipbuilding ;  ami  on  the  occasion  of  Washington's  visit  to 
New  Hampshire,  in  1789,  commanded  a  battalion  of  artilleiy 
which  received  his  Kxcellenc)',  on  his  arrival  in  Poitsmouth, 
with  a  grand  salute. 

The  Hackett  house  was  afterwards  tenanted  by  anotlier 
person  who  filled  during  the  Revolution  a  still  more  conspicuous 
public  position.  This  was  General  Nathaniel  Peabody,  who 
was,  in  1774,  a  physician  in  Atkinson,  practising  his  profession 
with  great  success.  He  was  popular,  and  aspiring.  He  de- 
nounced the  usurpation  of  Britain  at  the  outset,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first  man  in  the  Province  to  resign  the  king's 
commission  from  political  motives.  He  was  repeatedly  chosen 
to  the  legislature  and  upon  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  was 
in  1779  and  1780  a  delegate  to  Congress.  Besides  these,  lie 
held  numerous  other  ofifices,  civil  and  military,  of  dignity  and 
importance.  As  adjutant-general  of  the  State  his  only  active 
service,  by  a  singular  coincidence,  was  in  the  same  Rhode  Island 
campaign  in  which  his  j^redecessor  in  the  habitation.  Colonel 
Hackett,  first  heard  the  sounds  of  actual  conflict.  After  the 
war.  General  Peabody's  i)opularity  was  undiminished,  and  he 
received  frequent  testimony  of  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citi- 
zens, in  the  shape  of  elections  to  office.  He  afterwards  re- 
moved his  residence  to  I-Cxeter,  where  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  Toward  the  close  of  his  career  he  was  annoyed  by 
pecuniary  troubles,  and  is  said  to  have  become  petulant  and 
rough  in  his  manners.  Many  stories  are  yet  current  of  his 
sharp  speeches  and  harsh  conduct. 

General  Peabody  was  undoubtedly  possessed  of  abilities  far 
above  the  average,  and  ivndered  valuable  service  as  a  legislator 


374 


niSTOKV    OF    Ni:\V     IIAMPSHIKE. 


L1776 


to  his  State  and  country,  and  in  his  professional  ca[)acity  to  the 
sick  and  suffering.  We  can  make  allowance  for  faults  of  tem- 
per, and  even  for  more  serious  defects,  in  one  who  so  staunchly 
defended  the   rights  of  his   country  in   the  hour  of  her  sorest 


trial,  and  bore  so  important  a  part  in   laying  the  foundations  of 
the  nation's  prosperit)'  and  greatness. 

Where  the  town-house  now  is,  Joseph  Oilman  lived  in  i"]"]^,  in 
the  gambrel-roofed  house  which,  having  been  reduced  one  story 
in  height,  now  occupies  a  place  on  the  north  side  of  Franklin 


17/6]  THE    RKVOI.LTIOX.  375 

Street.  Mr.  Oilman  was  bred  to  mercantile  pursuits,  and  for 
several  years  before  the  Revolution  was  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Folsom,  Oilman  &  Oilman,  which  did  a  large  business  in 
Kxeter,  in  trade,  in  shipbuilding,  and  in  ventures  at  sea.  A 
printed  shop-bill  of  the  concern  has  been  preserved,  which 
shov.s  that  almost  as  great  a  variety  of  merchandise  found  a 
^,lK•  among  the  good  i)eople  of  E.xeter  ihiee  or  foiu"  generations 
ago  ;is  now. 

Xoah  Emery,  a  name  handed  down  for  generations  there, 
was  a  paymaster  in  Colonel  Isaac  Wyman's  regiment,  and  com- 
missary. In  the  latter  capacity  he  had  the  charge  of  a  large 
iiniount  of  stores,  which  tradition  says  were  housed  in  a  build- 
ing in  Spring  street,  familiarly  termed  "the  State's  barn."  It  is 
of  Paymaster  Emery  that  a  story  is  told,  that  being  ordered  to 
carry  some  dispatches  by  night  on  horseback  in  a  strange  part  of 
the  country,  he  crossed  a  bridge  on  his  way,  which  he  did  not 
discover  till  the  next  day  had  been  previously  stripped  of  its 
planking.  His  horse  had  cautiously  felt  his  way  over  it,  upon 
llie  timbers,  while  the  rider  was  all  unconscious  of  the  fearful 
risk  he  was  running.  The  statement  would  hardly  be  credited, 
if  there  were  not  authentic  accounts  of  other  similar  occurrences. 
The  duties  performed  b)-  Mr.  I-^,mery  under  the  direction  of 
tiie  State  authorities  must  have  kept  him  very  busy.  He  was 
<.'mployed  frequently  in  the  purchase,  forwarding,  and  distribu- 
tion among  the  troops  of  the  various  needed  supplies,  and  was 
relied  on  to  transact  much  incidental  business.  Indeed,  toward 
the  close  of  the  war,  he  and  John  Ta)lor  Oilman,  atterwards 
governor  of  the  State,  appear  to  have  attended  to  most  of  the 
wants  of  the  New  Hampshire  troops.  Perhaps  Colonel  Eii|)ha- 
let  Giddings,  the  collector  of  the  "beef  tax,"  should  be  included 
with  them.  ^ 

Dr.  Samuel  Tenney  was  a  surgeon  in  one  of  the  Rhode  Island 
regiments.  He  had  previously  settled  in  Exeter,  and  returned 
and  married  a  wife  there  at  the  expiration  of  his  service. 
He  was  a  person  of  uncommon  literary  and  scientific  attain- 
ments, and  contributed  articles  to  the  publications  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  a  toiK)gTaphical  account 


376  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77^ 

of  Exeter  to  the  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society.  He  felt  a  warm  interest  in  political  matters,  also,  and 
was  for  seven  years  a  representative  in  Congress.  He  likewise 
held  the  office  of  judge  of  Probate,  and  was  highly  respected. 

Another  citizen  of  Exeter  who  served  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  army  was  Dr.  William  Parker,  jr.  He  was  a  grandson 
of  Judge  William  Parker  of  Portsmouth,  whose  father  is  alleged, 
against  all  probability,  to  have  married  a  daughter  of  the  Eng- 
lish patrician  house  of  Derby.  Dr.  Parker  died  in  Exeter  of 
yellow  fever,  which  he  contracted  from  a  patient. 

^The  provincials  professed  perfect  loyalty,  and  assumed  self- 
government  only  during  "  the  present  unhappy  and  unnatural 
contest  with  Great  Britain."  But  as  the  struggle  went  on, 
the  popular  ideas  became  modified,  and  the  public  came  at 
length  to  comprehend  that  it  was  idle  to  expect  to  reunite  ties 
which  the  sword  had  sundered. 

A  few  sagacious  minds  had  foreseen  this  from  the  outset.  It 
is  due  to  the  able  leaders  of  the  popular  movement  in  New 
Hampshire  that  it  should  be  generally  known  that  they  contem- 
plated the  assumption  of  independence,  and  suggested  it  in  an 
eloquent  official  letter  from  their  convention  of  delegates  to 
the  Continental  Congress  as  early  as  the  23rd  of  May,  1775. 
This  is  the  first  allusion  to  the  subject  in  any  known  communi- 
cation from  an  organized  body  in  the  country. 

As  the  sentiment  of  the  whole  people  became  gradually  ripe 
for  the  final  step  of  separation  from  Britain,  movements  were 
made  in  the  colonial  legislatures  looking  to  that  result.  In 
New  Hampshire  a  committee  of  both  Houses  reported,  on  the 
fifteenth  of  June,  1776,  instructions  to  "our  delegates  in  the 
Continental  Congress  to  join  with  the  other  colonies  in  declar- 
ing the  Thirteen  United  Colonies  a  Free  and  Independent 
State  ;  solemnly  pledging  our  faith  and  honor  that  we  will  on 
oLir  parts  support  the  measure  with  our  Lives  and  Fortunes." 

I'^om  this  time  forward  there  was  impatience  in  the  breast 
of  every  true  friend  of  liberty  to  blot  out  the  very  memory  of 
subjection,  to  make  way  for  the  new  and  glorious  career  that  was 

>  C.overncir  C.   U.    Iltll. 


i 


177^]  1'"'-    KKVDI.LTION.  377 

opening  for  the  infant  nation.     The  action    of    Congress    was 
waited  for,  anxiously,  longingly,  eagerly. 

At  length  the  wished-for  moment  arrived.  An  express 
dashed  into  the  village  of  Exeter,  bearing  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  Convention  of  New  Hampshire,  and  authenticated  by  the 
manly  signature  of  John  Hancock.  The  legislature  had  ad- 
journed, but  the  president  was  there,  perhaps  waiting  for  the  im- 
portant missive.  It  was  determined  that  the  contents  of  the 
letter,  containing  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, should  be  forthwith  publicl}'  read. 

The  honor  of  pronouncing  for  the  first  time  in  New  Hamp- 
shire the  impressive  periods  of  that  unequalled  production, 
was  appropriately  devolved  upon  John  Taylor  Oilman.  No 
firing  of  cannon  or  ringing  of  bells  was  needed  to  give  eclat  to 
the  occasion  ;  the  general  joy  was  too  sincere  and  heartfelt  to 
find  expression  in  noisy  demonstrations.  jMeshech  Weare,  the 
president  of  the  State,  Mathew  Thornton,  who  was  himself  soon 
to  set  his  hand  to  the  instrument.  General  Folsom  and  Colonel 
Pierce  Long  and  Ebenezer  Thompson,  all  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety,  and  tried  and  true  patriots,  were  present.  The 
nev.-s  had  spread  with  the  speed  of  lightning  through  the  town. 
The  farmer  dropped  his  scythe  in  the  swath,  the  mechanic  left 
his  saw  in  the  kerf,  and  even  the  goodwife  forsook  her  spin- 
ning wheel,  while  all  gathered  to  hear  the  words  which  they  felt 
were  to  give  them  freedom  and  a  country.  But  perhaps  there 
was  no  one  of  the  audience  whose  heart  was  thrilled  more  deeply 
by  the  immortal  declaration  than  Colonel  Nicholas  Gilman, 
the  father  of  him  who  read  it.  He  had  put  his  whole  life  and 
energy  into  the  cause  of  his  country  ;  he  foresaw  that  nothing 
but  formal  separation  from  the  parent  state  would  prevent  his 
dearest  hopes  from  going  down  in  darkness  ;  he  welcomed  the 
words  which  rent  the  brightest  jewel  from  Britain's  crown  with 
joy  and  thankfulness  unutterable.  The  reader,  from  filial  as 
well  as  patriotic  sensibility,  shared  his  emotion,  and  there  were 
pauses  when  the  rush  of  feeling  o'ermastered  speech. 

Exeter  has  witnessed  many  returns  of  the  anniversary  of  our 
National  Birthday,  and  has  listened  to  the  utterances  of  lips 


^/S  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77^ 

touched  with  the  Hving  coal  of  eloquence  ;  but  the  first  reading 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  on  the  i8th  of  July,  1776^ 
enchained  the  attention  with  a  significance  and  power  which 
have  never  since  been  paralleled.  ^ 

The  executive  power  was,  by  the  form  of  government  adopted 
by  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1776,  retained  by  the  legisla- 
ture during  their  sessions,  and  during  recesses  was  entrusted  to 
a  Committee  of  Safety. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  issued  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  July  4,  1776;  and  the  colonies  took  an 
irrevocable  step  toward  establishing  a  distinct  government. 
Within  a  few  days  it  was  published  in  all  the  shire  towns  of  New 
Hampshire  by  beat  of  drum.  The  single  question  was  whether 
the  colonies  should  become  conquered  provinces  or  independent 
States. 

The  very  name  of  royalty  became  hateful  to  the  people.  Pic- 
tures, escutcheons,  even  signboards  which  reminded  of  royalty, 
were  defaced  or  taken  down.  The  coin,  with  effigy  of  the  King, 
was  in  disrepute. 

The  new  Assembly  established  courts  of  justice,  and  en- 
couraged the  fitting  out  of  privateers.  Paper  money  was  made 
legal  tender  ;  and  the  name  State  of  New  Hampshire  was  adopted. 
The  whole  system  of  English  law,  except  so  far  as  it  conflicted 
with  the  new  order  of  things,  was  adopted. 

The  frigate  Raleigh,  thirty-two  guns,  was  launched  at  Ports- 
mouth in  May,  1776,  sixty  days  after  the  keel  was  laid.  Powder 
mills  were  also  established. 

Two  thousand  men  were  enlisted,   under  the  same  officers  as 
the  preceding  year;  a  garrison  of  three  hundred  men  was  posted 
at  Portsmouth  ;  and  a  regiment,  under  Colonel  Timothy  Bedel,  J 
was  raised  in    the  western   part  of  the  State  for  the  invasion  ^| 
of  Canada. 

The  three  New  Hampshire  regiments  under  General  John 
Sullivan  served  at  New  York,  and  later  as  part  of  the  force  sent 
to   relieve  the    American     army,    which   was    retreating    from    m 

'  C.overnor  C.  H.  Bell. 


1777]  '^'"'■-  KKvoLUTiox.  379 

Canada.     During  the  campaign  the  troops  suffered  greatly  from 
small-pox,  nearly  one  third  of  their  number  dying. ^ 

^In  1777  Colonel  Weare  \v;is  appointed  chief  justice  of  the 
State.  He  was  thus  invested  with  the  highest  legislative,  exe- 
cutive, and  judicial  authority  at  the  same  time,  a  fact  that  proves 
the  entire  confidence  of  the  people  in  his  capacity  and  honor. 
When  the  new  constitution  was  adopted  in  1783,  and  a  presi- 
dent was  wanted  under  the  same,  the  eyes  of  all  the  people  of 
the  State  turned  to  Meshech  Weare.  He  accordingly  was  elected 
the  first  president  of  New  Hampshire.  On  account  of  ill  health 
President  Weare  resigned  the  ofifice  before  the  close  of  the  polit- 
ical year  and  was  succeeded  by  John  Langdon.  After  his  re- 
tirement from  the  chief  magistracy,  Meshech  Weare  lived  for  the 
most  part  in  seclusion  and  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  those 
rights  and  privileges  which  he,  in  common  with  his  countrymen, 
had  labored  so  long,  so  arduously,  and  so  successfully  to  obtain 
and  secure.  At  length,  in  his  seventy-third  year,  it  became  evi- 
dent that  the  patriot's  days  were  numbered.  He  died  on  the 
14th  of  January,  1786.  His  remains  were  interred  at  Hampton 
Falls,  with  all  the  honors  due  to  a  hero  whose  patriotism  had 
been  pure,  and  whose  acts  had  added  so  eminently  to  the  glory 
of  his  native  State. 

There  is  no  known  portrait  existing  of  Governor  Weare.  His 
is  the  only  face  missing  in  the  collection  of  portraits  of  the  chief 
magistrates  of  New  Hampshire  which  hang  on  the  walls  of  the 
council  chamber  at  the  State  Capitol.  There  is,  however,  definite 
and  authentic  information  as  to  what  manner  of  man  he  was. 
Colonel  J.  I\I.  Weare  gives  this  description  of  Governor  Weare, 
derived  from  his  father,  who  remembered  how  his  famous  rela- 
tive looked :  "  Meshech  Weare  was  six  feet  and  an  inch  in 
height,  slimmish,  and  very  straight.  The  Weare  family  for  genera- 
tions have  been  tall  and  slender.  The  governor's  hair  was  black 
before  it  turned  silvery,  his  eyes  a  dark  gray  or  hazel,  surmount- 
ed by  overhanging  brows.  His  features  were  large  but  noble,  and 
indomitable  will  and  lordly  majesty  was  stamped  on  every  line 
and  lineament  of  his  countenance."    Such  is  the  jjortrait  of  New 

'  Belknap.  -  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


380  HISTOKV    ()!■■    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l777 

Hampshire's  great  Revolutionary  governor,  as  given  by  one  of 
his  name.  We  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  a  true  one  ;  at  any  rate 
it  entirely  agrees  with  our  conception  of  him. 

The  house  in  which  he  lived  is  one  of  those  fine  old  home- 
steads with  which  the  mind  readily  associates  all  manner  of  in- 
teresting and  romantic  tales.  It  is  in  the  best  of  old-fashioned 
styles,  large,  substantial,  the  square  post  being  forty-four  by  forty 
feet,  and  the  ell  nearly  as  large,  with  a  huge  chimney  at  either 
end,  the  general  aspect  impressing  one  with  a  sense  that  it  is  a 
contented  old  house,  eminently  respectable,  and  possessing  a 
weight  of  dignity  which  is  the  growth  of  many  years.  The  four 
large  elms  that  toss  their  branches  in  the  breeze  in  front  of  the 
house,  and  whose  leaves  shimmer  with  their  bright  green  in  the 
sunlight,  have  heavy  trunks,  rough  and  moss  covered.  One  of 
them  was  transplanted  by  the  governor  more  than  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years  ago.  The  house  itself  was  built  in  1735,  by 
Mr.  Shaw,  the  father  of  the  governor's  second  wife. 

Here  Washington  was  seen  once,  coming  in  from  Cambridge 
in  his  carriage  drawn  by  four  horses,  looking  wonderfully  like  an 
English  nobleman,  with  his  courtly  manners  and  rich  suit,  but 
with  his  face  grave  and  solemn  with  the  cares  and  responsibili- 
ties of  his  exalted  position.  Perhaps  with  him  came  his  step- 
son and  aide-de-camp,  John  Parker  Custis,  on  his  fair,  aristocratic 
Virginian  face  the  shadow  of  that  destiny  that  had  marked  him 
for  an  early  grave. 

Hither  also  came  the  Wentvvorths,  uncle  and  nephew,  who 
held  viceregal  sway  at  Portsmouth,  the  one  portly,  florid,  some- 
what pompous,  dressed  in  diamonds  and  lace  and  broadcloth, 
like  an  P^nglish  earl,  the  other  handsome,  chivalric,  enterprising, 
his  eyes  keen,  his  manners  democratic,  wearing  his  pride  and 
his  dignities  graciously,  as  became  one  of  his  race.  And  the 
ladies  of  their  heart  have  stepped  daintily  across  the  oaken 
floor  on  .their  high-heeled  shoes,  and  rustled  their  brocades  and 
tossed  their  stately  head-dresses  as  they  received  the  addresses 
of  the  lady  of  the  house. 

Now  and  then,  coming  down  from  Raymond,  suddenly  entered 
the  room   the  stiffly  attired  form   of  John   Dudley,   judge,  and 


1777]  "^"^    REVOLUTION.  38I 

member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  middle  sized,  rugged  faced, 
gravely  spoken.  Somewhat  sober  was  his  face,  but  his  smile 
was  hearty,  and  his  eyes  had  the  calm,  steady,  enduring  gaze 
that  looks  out  from  the  portraits  of  those  leaders  of  his  race,  the 
provincial  governors  and  the  belted  earls  that  bore  the  Dudley 
name.  Here  he  was  met  by  another  man,  alert  and  slender  and 
long,  a  man  with  a  wise,  superior  look,  free  from  severity  and 
condescension,  who  mingled  curiously  Athenian  philosophy, 
fine  and  xsthctic,  and  Yankee  "cuteness,"  cool  and  practical  — 
Josiah  Bartlett,  member  of  Congress,  signer  of  the  Declaration, 
and  subsequently  the  first  governor  by  that  name  of  New 
Hampshire. 

Sometimes  came  Langdon,  the  genial,  courtly,  wealtiiy  mer- 
chant and  ardent  patriot;  more  often  came  Nathaniel  Folsom, 
of  Exeter,  with  buoyancy  of  step,  and  active,  abrupt  manner ; 
Nicholas  Oilman  with  watchful  eyes,  big  brained  and  trusty; 
and  John  Sullivan,  impulsive,  brilliant,  his  head  full  of  law,  and 
his  face  showing  the  soldier's  dash  and  bravery. 

More  than  once  was  seen  here  Theodore  Atkinson,  the  son  of 
Theodore  Atkinson  of  Newcastle,  and  the  father  of  Theodore 
Atkinson,  councillor  and  secretary  of  the  Province,  and  himself 
for  forty  years  the  wealthiest  and  most  prominent  citizen  of 
New  Hampshire,  sheriff,  naval  officer,  councillor  and  secretary, 
colonel  for  many  years  of  the-  first  state  regiment  of  militia, 
and  the  first  major-general  of  troops  that  the  Province  ever  had. 
He  was  Colonel  Weare's  coadjutor  at  the  Albany  congress,  a 
man  lively,  social,  fond  of  merriment  and  good  living,  whose 
last  days  were  afflicted  by  that  patrician  disease,  the  gout. 

Governor  Weare  owned  a  considerable  estate,  and  was  a 
farmer  as  well  as  a  lawyer,  legislator,  and  patriot.  The  land  lay 
north  and  west  of  the  mansion  and  was  very  fertile.  Corn  and 
wheat  and  fruit  were  grown  on  the  farm.  When  the  American 
army  lay  before  Boston  in  the  winter  of  1775  and  '']6,  President 
Weare  sent  a  cart  load  of  provision  from  his  farm  to  help  feed 
the  New  Hampshire  troops.  He  prided  himself  on  his  neat 
stock,  and  improved  breeds  of  cattle,  traces  of  which  are  yet  to 
be  seen  in  that  vicinity.  He  left  a  valuable  estate,  which  has 
come  down  nearly  intact  to  the  present  day. 


382  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l777 

On  an  eminence  near  the  old  house  in  Hampton  Falls  is  a 
monument.  Upon  a  broad  pedestal  rises  an  obelisk  of  pure 
white  marble  to  the  height  of  twenty  feet.  On  one  side  is  in- 
scribed the  name  "Meshech  Weare,"  on  the  other  one  reads  the 
dedication,  "Erected  a.  d.  1853  by  the  State  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  her  illustrious  son,  whose 
early  efforts,  sage  counsel,  and  persevering  labors  contributed 
largely  toward  establishing  his  country's  independence  and 
shaping  the  future  destiny  of  his  native  State."  It  is  a  deserved 
tribute  to  a  noble  patriot.  ^ 

2  In  March,  1777,  a  new  regiment  was  completed  ;  but  Stark 
did  not  take  command  of  it.  Certain  prominent  members  of 
Congress,  and  officers  of  high  rank  and  aristocratic  associations,, 
more  familiar  with  the  polite  usages  of  town  society  than  with 
the  simple  manners  of  the  frontier  settlers,  were  displeased  with 
the  rugged  and  unbending  character  and  blunt  speech  of  this, 
backwoods  colonel,  and  used  their  influence  against  him  with 
such  effect,  that  in  the  new  list  of  promotions  made  that  winter 
by'Gongress  his  name  was  omitted,  and  several  officers  of  lower 
rank  were  promoted  over  him.  This  slight  was  so  keenly  felt 
that  he  immediately  tendered  his  resignation  to  the  New  Hamp- 
shire authorities,  and  retired,  temporarily,  to  his  home.  He  was 
not  however  destined  to  remain  long  inactive.  Within  three 
months  from  his  retirement,  the  menacing  state  of  affairs  fol- 
lowing the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  by  the  British,  and  the  ad- 
vance of  Burgoyne's  army,  threatening  to  overrun  the  New  Eng- 
land States,  called  him  again  to  the  field.  New  Hampshire  rose 
to  the  emergency,  and  raised  a  brigade  for  independent  action 
against  the  flank  of  the  invading  army.  At  the  request  of  the 
State  Council,  Stark  accepted  their  commission  as  brigadier,  and 
took  command ;  and  within  two  weeks  from  the  capture  of  Ti- 
conderoga he  was  organizing  and  drilling  his  force  for  the  com- 
ing fray. 

The  battle  of  Bennington,  fought  and  won  on  the  17th  of 
August,  1777,  by  the  little  army  of  1750  men  under  his  com- 
mand, has  been  made  familiar  to  all  readers  of  history.     Of  this 

^  General  George  Stark.  J  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


1777]  THE    REVOLUTION.  3S3 

force,  New  Hampshire  furnished  1000,  Vermont  500,  and  Mas- 
sachusetts 250.  Staric's  plan  of  the  battle  was  sagacious  ;  some- 
what irregular  in  its  details,  as  looked  upon  from  the  usual  mili- 
tary standpoint,  but  perfectly  adapted  to  the  frontier  habits  of 
his  brave  men  ;  and  it  proved  eminently  successful.  The  enemy 
lost,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  about  1200  men  — prob- 
ably two-thirds  of  his  entire  force  in  action.  The  loss  on  the 
American  side  was  less  than  100.  The  disciplined  European 
troops,  fighting  for  the  king's  shilling,  moving  at  the  word  of 
command  like  machines,  and  firing  their  muskets  from  the  hip 
without  aim,  were  no  match,  even  when  partially  protected  by 
cannon  and  breastworks,  for  the  skilled  marksmen  of  the  fron- 
tier, fighting  for  their  homes. 

The  Bennington  battle,  in  point  of  numbers  engaged,  was  not 
a  great  one  ;  but  it  turned  the  tide  of  war  at  a  critical  period, 
and  led  to  immediate  results  of  momentous  consequence  to  the 
country.  Washington  wrote  of  it  immediately  as  "  the  great 
stroke  struck  by  General  Stark  near  Bennington."  Bancroft's 
history  pronounces  this  "  victory  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and 
eventful  of  the  war."  Baroness  Reidsell,  then  in  the  British 
camp,  wrote,  "  This  unfortunate  event  paralysed  at  once  our 
operations." 

General  Stark  did  not  report  to  Congress  the  result  of  the 
battle  of  Bennington,  because  his  command  was  an  independent 
one,  and  his  commission  was  from  the  State  of  New  Hampshire. 
His  little  army  consisted  wholly  of  State  militia  from  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Massachusetts.  ^ 

The  same  parties  who  had  a  few  months  previously  withheld  his 
promotion  were  now  busy  in  denouncing  his  independent  action. 

Philadelphia  being  in  possession  of  the  British,  Congress  held 
its  sessions  at  the  more  remote  point  of  York,  in  Pennsylvania. 
Communication  was  slow,  letters  being  carried  by  couriers  on 
horseback,  who  were  obliged  to  make  long  detours  because  of 
hostile  intervening  country. 

'  Colonel  Thomas  Stickney,  who  served  with  distinction  at  the  battle  of  Bennington,  was  a  useful 
and  distinguished  citizen  of  Concord,  and  lived  where  Dr.  Hiland  now  lives,  on  Main  Street.  The 
magnificent  elms  which  shaded  the  house  are  remembered  by  the  older  inhabitants.  In  early  days, 
when  Indian  alarms  were  common,  the  house  was  fortified.  It  is  still  the  property  of  a  descendant 
of  the  Continental  soldier. 


384  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  \M77 

Upon  receipt  of  the  news  that  General  Stark  was  acting  in- 
dependently of  the  regular  Northern  army,  and  being  yet  un- 
aware of  the  victory  that  had  been  won  by  him  five  days  before, 
a  resolution  was  introduced  in  Congress  censuring  him  for  not 
submitting  to  army  regulations. 

But  on  the  next  day  an  express  courier  arrived  from  General 
Schuyler  communicating  the  result  of  the  Bennington  battle  ; 
and  Congress,  magnanimously  forgetting  the  previous  irritation, 
passed  a  resolve  of  thanks  to  General  Stark,  and  appointed  him 
a  brigadier  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. 

Soon  after  the  Bennington  battle.  General  Stark,  with  his 
-volunteers,  joined  the  main  American  army  of  Gates  ;  but  the 
three  months'  enlistment  of  the  men  having  expired,  they  said 
they  had  performed  their  part,  and  must  return  to  their  farmf 
where  their  harvests  now  waited  for  them. 

The  general  being  then  without  a  command,  proceeded  to 
New  Hampshire  to  make  his  report  to  the  Council.  His  return 
was  a  triumphal  march.  He  was  waited  upon  by  committees  of 
congratulation  wherever  he  came,  and  was  received  with  the 
warmest  demonstration  of  the  people's  gratitude. 

By  order  of  the  Council  of  New  Hampshire,  he  immediately 
proceeded  to  enlist  a  new  army  of  volunteers  ;  and  such  was 
the  confidence  in  him  as  a  commander,  and  so  enthusiastic  were 
the  people,  in  view  of  the  possible  capture  of  Burgoyne,  that  in  a 
few  days  nearly  3000  men  enrolled  themselves  under  his  standard. 

With  this  fresh  array  of  New  Hampshire  volunteers  he  im- 
mediately advanced,  by  order  of  the  Council  of  the  State,  to 
Fort  Edward,  in  Burgoyne's  rear.  This  fort  he  captured ;  and 
after  securing  the  garrison,  and  leaving  a  strong  detachment  of 
his  own  troops  to  maintain  the  post,  proceeded,  on  the  7th  of 
October,  with  2500  men,  to  occupy  the  sole  remaining  line  of 
retreat  for  the  British  army. 

By  this  movement  Burgoyne  became  completely  surrounded, 
and  General  Stark  earnestly  advised  General  Gates  to  attack  the 
British  camp  and  compel  an  unconditional  surrender.  But  a 
capitulation  was  deemed  most  prudent,  and  Burgoyne  soon  after 
delivered  up  his  entire  army  at  Saratoga. 


1777]  THE    REVOLUTION.  385 

The  capture  of  Burgoyne  put  an  end,  for  the  time  being,  to 
military  movements  at  the  north,  and  General  Stark  returned  to 
New  Hampshire  to  obtain  recruits  and  supplies  for  operations 
elsewhere. 

It  becomes  our  duty,  says  Judge  (icorge  W.  Nesmith,  to  put  in  our  claim  in 
behalf  of  the  brave  men  of  New  Hampshire  who  participated  in  the  two 
memorable  struggles  under  General  Gates  of  September  19th  and  October  7th, 
preliminary  to  the  important  surrender  of  General  Burgoyne  and  his  anviy 
on  the  17th  of  the  same  October,  1777.  The  truth  of  liistory  will  allow  us 
to  claim  for  our  men,  who  then  fought,  a  more  prominent  place  than  has 
generally  been  assigned  to  them.  A  brief  statement  of  the  recorded  facts  as 
they  occurred  on  those  eventful  days,  we  think  will  justify  our  position, 
without  reflecting  any  injustice  upon  those  distinguished  men  from  other 
States  who  so  bravely  and  successfully  co-operated  with  us.  As  safe  author- 
ity, we  rely  much  upon  the  historical  record  of  General  James  Wilkinson,  as 
published  in  the  second  volume  of  his  "Memoirs  of  his  own  Times."  lie 
acted  under  General  Gates  as  deputy  adjutant-general  of  the  Northern  army, 
and  was  an  eye-witness  to  many  of  the  events  described  by  him,  had  good 
means  of  knowing  the  truth,  communicated  the  orders  of  the  commanding 
general,  and  has  left  for  our  guidance  a  faithful  official  record  of  the  troops 
ordered  into  each  battle,  and  especially  a  full  return  under  his  hand  of  the 
killed,  wounded,  and  missing  of  each  corps  engaged  in  the  battle  of  September 
19th.  From  the  evidence  furnished  from  such  sources,  confirmed  by  other 
original  documents,  we  are  enabled  to  gather  a  correct  comparative  estimate 
of  the  achievements  and  sacrifices  of  the  New  Hampshire  men  who  partici- 
pated in  this  engagement. 

This  battle  of  September  was  fought  almost  entirely  by  the  left  wing  of  the 
American  army.  Wilkinson  says  that  only  about  3000  of  our  troops  were  en- 
gaged, and  they  were  opposed  by  3500  of  the  best  men  of  Burgoyne's  army. 
The  battle  was  obstinately  fought,  and  without  immediate  decisive  advantages 
or  results  to  either  side.  The  ground  on  which  they  contended  was  broken 
or  uneven,  and  much  of  it  covered  with  trees.  The  Americans  used  no  can- 
non. The  British  employed  a  battery  of  about  six  pieces,  which  were  taken 
and  retaken  several  times,  but  were  finally  left  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy- 
Each  party  took  and  lost  some  prisoners.  The  British  loss  was  reported  to 
exceed  600,  while  the  American  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  as  re- 
turned by  Wilkinson,  amounted  to  321.  Of  this  number,  So  were  killed,  21S 
wounded,  and  23  missing.  Of  the  Americans  engaged,  we  first  mention  Col. 
Morgan's  regiment  of  riflemen,  not  exceeding  in  number  400  men  ;  second. 
Major  Dearborn's  battalion  of  infantry,  partly  made  up  from  Whitcomb's 
Rangers,  Col.  Long's  regiment  and  some  new  volunteers,  supposed  to  not 
exceed  300;  third.  Gen.  Poor's  brigade  of  infantry,  which  was  reported  on 
the  4th  of  October,  subsequent  to  the  battle,  then  to  embrace  1466  men,  and 
probably  must  have  numbered  at  least  1600  in  its  ranks  at  the  time  of  the 
battle.      It  lost  217  ir.en  in  killed,  wounded,  etc.,  on  that  day.     The  balance 


386 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


{.^777 


of  the  troops  who  took  a  part  in  the  contest  was  made  up  from  Gen.  Larn- 
ard's  brigade  of  Massachusetts  troops  and  a  detachment  commanded  bj  Col. 
Marshall,  of  Patterson's  brigade.  The  analysis  of  Gen.  Poor's  brigade  would 
show  about  the  following  result:  first,  the  three  New  Hampshire  Continen- 
tal regiments.  These  regiments  had  been  enlisted  for  three  years,  or  during 
the  war,  and  organized  under  their  several  commanders  early  in  the  jear  1777. 
Most  of  them  had  seen  service  in  some  previous  campaign.  The  first  regi- 
ment was  commanded  at  this  time  by  Col.  Cilley  of  Nottingham ;  the  second 
by  Col.  Geo.  Reid  of  Londonderry ;  the  third  by  Col.  Alexander  Scammell 
of  Durham.  The  number  in  all  these  regiments  would  not  exceed  1000. 
Their  whole  number  on  the  sSth  of  the  preceding  June  was  only  1119,  and 
the  unfortunate  battle  had  since  occurred  at  llubbarton,  in  which  Hale's  regi- 
ment (now  Reid's)  had  suff'ered  a  severe  loss  of  nearh^  75  men  (mostly  pris- 
oners). The  balance  of  Gen.  Poor's  brigade  was  made  up  from  militia  Irom 
Connecticut,  one  regiment  of  which  was  commanded  by  Col.  Cook,  also  by 
two  small  detachments  of  New  York  militia.  Wilkinson  says  :  "The  stress 
of  the  action  on  oin-  part  was  borne  by  Morgan's  regiment  and  Poor's  bri- 
gade." The  battle  commenced  about  three  o'clock  p.  m. ,  and  continued 
until  dark.  Each  part^'  then  retired  to  their  respective  camps.  Wilkinson 
says  also  that  Larnard's  brigade  went  into  the  battle  late  in  the  day.  The 
impetuous  Gen.  Arnold  complained  because  Gen.  Gates  declined  to  order 
more  troops  into  action.  Hence  severe  language  passed  between  them,  and 
harsh  feeling  was  exhibited  by  both  generals. 

In  order  to  ascertain  with  some  degree  of  accuracy  those  who  actually 
fought  the  battle  of  September  19th,  we  refer  to  Wilkinson's  return  of  the 
whole  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  as  assigned  by  him  to  each,  and 
all  the  troops  engaged  on  that  day.  According  to  his  summary  of  the  loss,  and 
we  believe  he  has  reported  accurately',  the  New  Hampshire  troops  suffered  as 
much,  or  more,  in  officers  and  men,  than  all  the  others  combined.  The  fig- 
ures will  show  the  comparative  sacrifice,  and  to  whom  the  honor  and  glory 
of  this  contest  justly  belong. 

Morgan's  regiment  lost  in  killed  and  wounded 

The  New  York  militia  ....... 

The  Connecticut  militia       ....... 

General  Larnard's  brigade  ...... 

Colonel  Marshall's  regiment        ...... 


16 

66 
ZS 


Major  Dearborn's  battalion  of  infantry 

Colonel  Cilley's  Continental  regiment,  first  N.  H. 

Colonel  Reid's  second  N.  H.  regiment 

Colonel  Scammell's  third  N.  H.  regiment 


160 
43 
5S 
3- 


161 


It  will  thus  be  seen  that  New  Hampshire  lost,  in  officers  and  privates,  161 
out  of  321  men,  or  iiS  from  Poor's  brigade,  which  lost,  as  before  stated,  J17 
—  leaving  99   for    the    other  corps  belonging    to   this    brigade.     Honorable 


{ 


J 


I777J  THE    REVOLUTION.  38/ 

mention  should  be  made  of  Colonel  Cook's  regiment  of  Connecticut  militia, 
which  encountered  the  loss  of  ^^;  Colonel  Latimer's  Connecticut  loss,  13  — 
66  total  loss. 

In  this  struggle  New  Hampshire  lost    many  valuable  officers.     In   Scam- 
mell's    regiment,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Andrew  Coburn  of  Marlborough  was 
killed ;  also  Lieutenant  Joseph  M.  Thomas  and  Ensign  Joseph  Faj  of  Wal- 
pole  were  mortally  wounded.     In  Reid's  regiment,   Lieutenant-Colonel  Win- 
born  Adams  of  Durham  was  killed.     Captain  Frederick  M.  Bell  of  Dover  was 
also  mortally  wounded,  and   died  in  hospital   soon  after   the   battle.     Lieu- 
tenant Noah  Robinson  of  Exeter  and  Ensign  Bell  of  New  Castle  were  both 
wounded,  but  survived.    In  Colonel  Cilley's  regiment,  Captain  William  Scott 
of  Peterborough,  Lieutenant  James  Gould  of  Groton,  Lieutenant  Jonathan 
Emerson  of  Dunstable,  and  Lieutenant  Barzillai  Howe  of  Hillsborough  were 
all  wounded,  and  Captain  Jason  Waitt  of  Alstead  and  Lieutenant  John  Moore 
of  Pembroke  were  made  prisoners.  In  Major  Dearborn's  battalion,  Lieutenant 
William  Read  and  Ensign  Foster  were  killed,  and  Captain  Ball  was  wounded. 
In  the  next  battle,  of  October  7th,  we  find  the  same  brave  men,  who  had  so 
well  and  so  obstinately  fought  the  first,  again  commanded  to  take  the  field. 
General  Gates' order  to  Wilkinson  was :  "Tell  Morgan  to  begin  the  ^a me." 
He  did  begin  it,  attacking  theenemy  on  the  right  flank.     The  New  Hampshire 
troops  receive  and  obey  the  next  order,  and  are  soon  found  both  in  front  and 
on  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy.     Wilkinson  says:  "After  I  had  delivered  the 
order  to  General  Poor,  directing  him  to  the  point  of  attack,  I  was  commanded 
to  bring  up  Ten  Broeck's  brigade  of  New  York  troops,  3000  strong.     I  per. 
formed    this  service,  and    regained    the    field    of  battle   at    the  moment   the 
enemy  had  turned  their  back,  only  fifty-two  minutes  after  the  first  shot  was 
fired.     I  found  the  courageous  Colonel  Cilley  astraddle  of  a  brass  12-pounder, 
and  exulting  in  the  capture."     The  whole  of  the  British  line  was  broken.     It 
was  commanded  by  General  Burgoyne  in  person.     It  gave  w'ay,  and  made  a 
disorderly  retreat  to  their  camp,  leaving  two  brass  12-pounders  and  six  brass 
6-pounders  on  the  field,  with  the  loss  of  more  than  400  officers  and  privates 
killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners.   Gen.  Frazar  was  killed,  while  Majors  Ackland, 
Williams,  Clarke,  and  many  other  officers  were  wounded  and  prisoners.  The 
battle  thus  far  had  been  between  the  two  camps,  which  were  located  about 
two  miles  apart  and  at  right  angles  with  the  Hudson  river.     After  the  retreat 
of  the  British  to  their  entrenchments,  then  came  the  furious  attack  upon  their 
defences.     In  this  general  charge  upon  the  British  works  Generals  Larnard, 
Patterson,  Nixon,  Ten  Broeck,  Colonels  Brooks  and  Marshall,  urged  on  by 
Arnold,  all  participated.     Many  of  the  militia  from  New  England  and  New 
York  also  lent  essential  aid.   Colonel  Breyman,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  was 
killed,  and  a  decisive  victory  was  gained.     Subsequently  Burgoyne  undertook 
to  extricate  himself  from  his  perilous  position,  but  was  baffled  in  his  efforts, 
and    finally  surrendered  his  army  on  the  17th  of  October.     The  American 
army,  or  the  returning  officers   thereof,  failed  to   furnish  a  correct  statement 
of  the  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  in  this  last  battle.     The  New  Hampshire 
troops  suffered  severely.   Many  of  the  new  levies,  or  militia,  belonging  to  Gen. 


I 


388  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  {MIJ 

Whipple's  brigade,  shared  in  the  dangers  of  the  conflict  in  common  with  the 
regular  soldiers.  One  ol  their  most  worthy  officers,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sam- 
uel Connor  of  Pembroke,  was  killed.  Also  Captain  John  McClarj  and  En- 
sign Tuck  were  mortally  wounded,  and  Captain  Nathan  Sanborn  of  Deerfield 
was  severely  wounded.  In  Poor's  brigade,  Scammell's  regiment,  Scammell 
himself  was  wounded.  Also  Lieutenant  Thomas  Simpson  of  Orford,  Lieu- 
tenant Joseph  Huntoon  of  Kingston,  Lieutenant  Joseph  Hilton  of  Deerfield, 
and  Ensign  Nathaniel  Leavitt  of  Hampton  were  wounded  ;  while  Lieutenant 
Amos  Webster,  of  Captain Livermore's  company,  and  a  resident  in  Plymouth, 
and  Ensign  Lieman  of  HoUiswere  killed.  In  Col.  Reid's  Regiment,  Lieuten- 
ant James  Crombie  of  Rindge  and  Ensign  William  Taggart  of  Hillsborough 
were  wounded. 

Our  inspection  of  the  rolls  of  the  New  Hampshire  Continental  regiments 
engaged  in  both  battlesenables  us  to  confirm  Wilkinson's  list  of  the  killed  and 
wounded  and  missing  of  the  battle  of  September  19th,  and  to  render  the  other 
/rtc/ quite  certain,  that  our  loss  in  the  battle  of  October  7th  was  quite  equal  to 
that  of  September  19th.  We  give  a  comparative  statement  of  the  killed  in 
both  battles,  embracing  the  names  of  subalterns  and  privates,  with  their 
places  of  residence,  so  far  as  we  could  ascertain  them,  commencing  with 
Colonel  Cilley's  regiment. 
September  19th,  12  killed. 

October  7th,  1777,  in  the  same  regiment,  :  16  killed. 

We  give  next  the  killed,  subalterns  and  privates,  in  Colonel  Geo.  Reid's  regi- 
ment, September  19th  :   13  killed. 

October  7th,  killed  :  11 ;  24  in  all. 
Private  Daniel  Grant,  Exeter. 

"         Edmund  Smith,  Kensington. 
'  '        Ebinezer  Gove,  Seabrook. 
"         Wm.  Moreland,  Salem. 
Corporal  Moses  Rollins,  wounded,  died  October  13,  i777' 
Private  Stephen  Batchelder,  Newmarket,  wounded,  died  November  2,  1777. 
"         Jacob  Flanders,  South  Hampton. 
"         Samuel  Magoon,  Brentwood. 
"         Richard  Goss,  Rye. 
"         Paul  Pearl,  Rochester. 

"         Nath.  Briggs,  Keene,  died  of  his  wounds  October  18. 
The  subalterns  and  privates  of  Colonel  A.    Scammell's    regiment,   killed 
September  19,  1777,  at  Bemis's  Heights,  or  Saratoga:  — 
Sergeant  Iddo  Church,  Gilsum. 
Private  Jonathan  Fuller,  Claremont. 
"         Daniel  Snow,  Keene. 
"         Jonah  Stone,  Temple. 
"         Benjamin  Warren,  Winchester. 
"         Azariah  Comstock,  Richmond. 
"         John  Magoon,  Sanbornton. 
"         Stephen  Fifield,  Brentwood. 


1777]  'l'"E    REVOLUTION.  389 

Private  Abraham  Potter,  Deerfield. 
"         John  Crawford,  Chester. 
"        Abram  Cummings,  Greenland. 

"        James  Flagg,  Moultonborough,  wounded,  died  September  24,  1777. 
♦'         Edward  Peavey,  New  Durham,  wounded,  died  September  23,  1777- 
"         James  Hastings,  Canterbury,  wounded,  died  September  2S,  1777- 
October  7,  1777  :  — 

Sergeant  Samuel  Baker,  Newmarket. 
Private  Seth  Sliackford,  Newington. 

"         Frederick  Freeman,  Marlborough. 
"         Obadiah  Kimball,  Concord. 

"         Abial  Sievens,  Concord,  wounded,  died  October  20. 
"         John  Mason,  Loudon,  mortally  wounded,  died  October  25. 
"         John  McCarty,  Ilawke. 
"         Collins  Eaton,  Goffstown. 
"         John  Rollins,  Chichester. 

"         Dudley  Marsh,  Pelham,  mortally  wounded  — died  November,  1777, 
"         John  Crossfield,  Keene,  died  of  his  wounds  October  12,  1777. 
Total  killed  October  7.   i  r. 
Recapitulation  of  number  killed  :  — 

Colonel  Cilley's  Regiment,  killed  September  19         ...         12 
"      Reid's  "  .i  ..  ...         13 

"      Scaxnmell's    "  ^  »i  ...         14 

39 

Battle  October  7,  Cilley's  Regiment, i6 

"  Reid's  "  ......         II 

"         "  Scammell's    "  ......         11 

3S 
In  both  battles  —  officers  killed,  S;  subalterns  and  privates,  77;   rank  and 
file,  S5. 

We  have  on  hand  a  list  of  over  90  men  who  were  wounded  or  died  in  the 
Northern  army  of  1777,  belonging  to  the  aforesaid  regiments,  without  in- 
cluding their  loss  at  Hubbarton,  July  7.  The  enumeration  of  the  names  of 
these  men  would  only  fatigue  your  readers. 

As  the  New  Hampshire  troops,  including  Poor's  brigade,  Dearborn's  bat. 
talion,  and  General  Whipple's  brigade  of  militia,  were  all  activelv  en<^a"ed  in 
the  battle  of  October  7,  we  may  infer  from  the  list  of  the  killed  here  furnished 
that  their  loss  on  that  day  equalled  or  exceeded  that  of  September  19th. 
Scammell's  regiment  had  previously  experienced  the  loss  of  Captain  Rich- 
ard Weare,  who  was  mortally  wounded  at  Fort  Ann,  on  the  4th  of  August, 
1777,  and  had  died  at  Albany  soon  after.  He  was  a  valuable  officer,  and  the 
favorite  son  of  Chief  Justice  Weare.  The  same  regiment  suffered  the  loss  of 
Captain  Hezekiah  Beal  of  Portsmouth,  on  the  6th  of  November,  1777,  having, 
been  wounded  in  one  of  the  previous  battles  with  the  enemv. 


390  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^77^ 

We  would  not  omit  to  state  the  fact  that  two  full  companies  of  New 
Hampshire  men,  commanded  bj  New  Hampshire  officers,  were  enrolled  in 
Colonel  Michael  Jackson's  Massachusetts  regiment  and  General  Larnard's 
brigade.  This  regiment  participated  in  both  of  the  battles  that  led  to  Bur- 
^ojne's  surrender.  The  amount  of  the  loss  of  these  companies  we  have  not 
.ascertained,  nor  have  we  had  access  to  the  rolls  of  Whipple's  brigade  or  Dear- 
born's battalion  to  ascertain  the  extent  of  their  loss. 

In  conclusion,  history  tells  us  that  the  campaign  of  the  Northern  armj,  in 
the  beginning  of  1777,  commenced  in  defeat  and  gloom  to  our  good  cause 
and  terminated  in  success  and  glory.  From  the  facts  and  figures  before- 
stated  the  candid  reader  can  easily  determine  or  apportion  the  just  amount 
of  praise  and  gratitude  due  to  the  New  Hampshire  troops  for  their  achieve- 
ments in  that  eventful  year.  We  have  stated  our  claim  with  no  intent  to 
do  injustice,  or  to  disparage  the  distinguished  services  rendered  by  the  men 
from  the  other  New  England  States,  as  well  as  New  York  and  Virginia,  in 
contributing  their  aid  and  well-concerted  measures,  which  resulted  in  the 
final  surrender  of  Burgoyne  and  his  army. 

General  Jacob  Bailey  of  Vermont,  who  participated  in  that  campaign  as  one 
of  the  commanders  of  the  forces  there  employed,  on  the  20th  of  November, 
1777,  wrote  to  Honorable  Meshech  Weare,  in  his  plain  characteristic  style, 
viz.  :  — 

"Dear  Sir, — -I  congratulate  you  on  the  happy  reduction  of  General  Bur- 
goyne's  army  by  General  Gates,  in  which  New  Hampshire  State,  first  and 
last,  was  very  iHstrumental.  The  turning  out  of  your  volunteers  was  extra- 
ordinarily advantageous  in  that  affair,"  etc. 

Such  was  the  judgment  of  an  honest  and  impartial  eye-witness. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  active,  bold,  and  fearless  conduct  of  Arnold  in 
both  battles  infused  life  and  energy  into  the  American  troops.  He  had  the 
credit,  as  commander  in  the  first  battle.  It  is  said  that  Captain  Samuel  Ball 
of  the  New  Hampshire  volunteers  was  wounded  on  the  head  by  a  blow  from 
Arnold's  sword.  That  in  return  Ball  raised  his  gun  and  would  have  shot  Ar- 
nold had  not  his  lieutenant  interfered  and  seized  Ball's  arm.  The  cause  of 
the  difficulty  was  not  stated.  Arnold  made  a  subsequent  apology  to  Ball. 
The  killing  of  Arnold  may  have  been  pronounced  wrong  or  rash  in  the  case 
of  Ball,  if  his  purpose  had  been  carried  out,  but  it  might  have  saved  to  the 
name  of  Arnold  the  terrific  word  "  traitor"!  Captain  Ball  lived  to  a  good  old 
age,  and  died  in  Acworth. 

In  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  in  1778,  New  Hampshire  troops 
inider  Colonel  Cilley  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dearborn  behaved 
with  such  bravery  as  to  win  the  approbation  of  General  Wash- 
ington. 

Early  in  1778  General  Stark  was  ordered  to  assume  the  com- 
r.iand  of  the  Northern  department  at  Albany,  where  he 
remained  during  the  season. 


1779]  1'IIE    REVOLUTION.  39I 

In  November  he  was  ordered  by  General  Washington  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  assistance  of  General  Gates  in  Rhode  Island,  and, 
joining  Gates  soon  after  at  Providence,  was  stationed  for  the 
remainder  of  the  season  at  Kast  Greenwich.  As  winter  ad- 
vanced he  returned  to  New  Hampshire,  by  way  of  Boston,  to 
urge  the  necessity  for  recruits  and  supplies. 

^  The  Keene  Raid,  an  episode  of  the  Revolution,  ought  not  to 
be  forgotten,  as  it  serves,  in  some  measure,  to  illustrate  the  spirit 
of  those  times.  The  hero  of  the  affair  was  Captain  Elisha  Mack 
of  Gilsum,  who  with  his  brothers  were  at  that  time  building  what 
was  long  known  as  the  "  Great  Bridge  "  over  the  Ashuelot.  He 
was  well  known  as  a  bold  and  honored  veteran,  having  served  first 
as  private,  then  as  lieutenant,  and  afterwards  as  captain  in  two 
regiments.  At  the  battle  of  Bennington  he  commanded  the 
ninth  company  of  Colonel  Nichols'  regiment  in  Stark's  brigade. 
Gilsum,  which  then  included  most  of  Sullivan,  had  no  Tories, 
while  Keene  had  many,  thirteen  having  refused  to  sign  the 
association  test.  Some  of  the  leaders  were  obliged  to  flee  from 
the  fury  of  their  exasperated  townsmen.  Those  who  remained 
were  suspected  of  secreting  stores  of  ammunition  and  provisions 
to  give  "  aid  and  comfort  "  to  the  British  at  the  first  opportunitw 
Some  zealous  patriots  of  Keene  were  indignant  at  this  state  of 
affairs,  but  hesitated  to  proceed  to  extremities  with  their  neigh- 
bors. Knowing  Captain  Mack's  ardent  temperament  and  patri- 
otic energy,  they  took  him  into  their  counsels,  and  concocted  a 
plan  to  discover  the  hidden  stores,  and  oust  the  obnoxious  Tories. 
On  the  evening  of  May  30,  1779,  a  guard  was  set  over  every  sus- 
pected house.  Captain  Mack  had  easily  collected  a  company  of 
willing  men,  and,  placing  himself  at  their  head,  rode  into  Keene 
in  the  early  morning.  Proceeding  from  house  to  house,  he  col- 
lected the  prisoners,  and  confined  them  in  a  chamber  of  Hall's 
Tavern,  on  the  east  side  of  Main  street,  just  below  the  present 
railroad  tracks.  The  search  for  contraband  stores,  however, 
proved  fruitless.  The  Keene  militia  was  under  command  of 
Captain  Davis  Howlet,  who  summoned  his  company  to  resist  the 
lawless  invasion   of  their  town,  and   sent  a  messenger  with  all 

'  Sylvanus  Haywood. 


392  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/SO 

dispatch  to  Winchester  for  Colonel  Alexander,  who  then  com- 
manded the  regiment.  When  he  arrived  "  he  asked  Captain  Mack 
if  he  intended  to  pursue  his  object.  '  I  do,'  replied  he,  'at  the 
hazard  of  my  life.'  'Then,'  said  the  colonel,  emphatically,  'you 
must  prepare  for  eternity,  for  you  shall  not  be  permitted  to  take 
vengeance,  in  this  irregular  mode,  on  any  man,  even  if  they  are 
Tories.'"! 

Captain  Mack,  though  a  brave  man,  recognized  the  folly  of  diso- 
beying his  superior  officer,  and  doubtless  began  to  realize  the 
unlawfulness  of  his  expedition.  He  therefore  soon  withdrew 
his  company  towards  home,  amid  the  derisive  shouts  of  the 
excited   Keenites. 

In  the  spring  of  1779  General  Stark  joined  the  army  at  Prov- 
idence, and  was  employed  all  that  season  in  watching  the  Brit- 
ish army  and  preventing  inroads.  About  the  lothof  November 
the  English  sailed  away  from  Newport,  and  General  Stark  took 
possession  of  the  town  the  next  morning,  placing  guards  to  pre- 
serve order. 

At  this  time  General  Washington  ordered  Generals  Gates  and 
Stark,  with  the  troops  who  had  blockaded  Newport,  to  join  him 
in  New  Jersey ;  and  soon  after  sent  General  Stark  to  New 
Hampshire  to  make  requisitions  for  troops  and  supplies.  He 
performed  this  service,  and  returned  to  the  army  at  Morristown, 
in  May,  1780,  and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Springfield,  in  June 
following.  Immediately  after  this  battle  General  Stark  was  sent 
to  New  England,  with  orders  to  collect  a  body  of  militia  and 
volunteers,  and  conduct  them  to  West  Point.  He  arrived  at 
that  post  with  the  troops  a  short  time  before  Arnold's  desertion  ; 
and,  after  delivering  up  the  reinforcement,  joined  his  division  at 
Liberty  Pole,  New  Jersey. 

In  September  he  was  ordered  to  West  Point,  to  relieve  Gen- 
eral St.  Clair  and  the  Pennsylvania  line.  While  at  West  Point, 
he  was  called  upon  to  participate  in  the  trial  of  Major  Andre, 
being  one  of  the  thirteen  generals  composing  the  military 
tribunal.  About  this  time,  Washington  had  formed  the  design 
of  surprising  Staten  Island  ;  and  to  mask  his  intentions.  General 

'  Kecne  A:  nals. 


1780]  THE    REVOLUTION.  393 

Stark  was  detached  with  2500  troops,  and  trains  of  cavahy 
and  artillery,  and  forage  teams,  to  overrun  the  country  north  of 
New  York,  and,  if  possible,  to  draw  out  and  engage  the  enemy. 
But  the  British  were  suspicious  of  concealed  designs,  and  suffered 
the  detachment  to  pillage  this  Tory  country,  as  far  down  as 
King's  Bridge  and  Morrisania,  for  several  days,  and  then  to 
retire  unmolested.  The  Staten  Island  project  was  not  carried 
out.  The  army  soon  after  went  to  winter  quarters  at  West 
Point,  New  Windsor,  and  Fishkill,  and  General  Stark,  being 
severely  ill,  was  sent  home  on  furlough,  with  the  standing  order 
for  men  and  supplies. 

The  early  history  of  the  Free  Will  Baptist  denomination  in  the 
State  is  the  early  history  of  the  denomination  itself,  as  it  orig- 
inated here,  and  is  the  only  religious  sect  that  took  its  rise  in  the 
State.  Its  origin  was  in  the  country  township  of  New  Durham, 
in  the  year  1780.  The  founder  of  this  sect  of  Christians  was 
Benjamin  Randall.  He  was  a  native  of  Newcastle  and  was  born 
in  1749. 

From  New  Durham  the  new  denomination  spread,  first  into 
Maine,  next  into  Vermont  and  Massachusetts,  and  later  into 
various  sections  of  the  West.  Its  missionaries  are  now  scattered 
through  the  South,  India,  and  other  parts  of  the  world. 

^  In  1780  Samuel  Livermore  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the 
Provincial  Congress  to  succeed  Josiah  Bartlett.  Congress  then 
met  at  Philadelphia,  and  the  journey  thither  was  a  horseback 
ride  from  Holderness  of  eighteen  days,  with  food  and  shelter  of 
the  most  miserable  kind  for  man  and  beast.  . 

During  the  dispute  relative  to  the  New  Hampshire  grants  — 
the  territory  now  constituting  the  State  of  Vermont  —  Mr. 
Livermore  was  selected  by  the  legislature  to  act  in  behalf  of 
New  Hampshire.  His  well-known  legal  abilities  prompted  this 
appointment  and  excellently  well  fitted  him  for  that  duty. 
While  acting  in  this  position  he  was  appointed  to  the  high  and 
responsible  office  of  chief  justice  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Judi- 
cature. The  duties  of  the  chief  justice  at  that  time  were  very 
onerous.    He  was  expected  to  attend  every  session  of  the  court, 

'  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


394  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/SO 

and  as  a  usual  thing,  being  the  only  lawyer  upon  the  bench,  was 
of  course  called  upon  to  decide  all  questions  of  law.  He  retained 
this  office  from  1782  to  1790. 

In  1785  Judge  Livermore  was  again  appointed  a  delegate  to 
Congress,  and  served,  though  he  still  retained  his  seat  upon  the 
bench.  He  was  also  one  of  the  committee  with  Josiah  Bartlett 
and  John  Sullivan  to  revise  the  statutes  then  in  force,  and  report 
what  bills  they  deemed  necessary  to  be  enacted  at  the  session  of 
the  General  Court.  At  the  convention  which  formed  our  State 
constitution  he  was  a  prominent  member.  Under  the  constitu- 
tion he  was  elected  representative  to  Congress,  and  being  re- 
elected served  in  that  body  till  1793.  In  the  convention  of  1791 
for  revising  the  State  constitution  he  was  the  presiding  officer. 
His  influence  at  this  time  was  almost  absolute.  The  constitu- 
tion is  subscribed  with  his  name.  But  he  had  not  yet  filled  the 
measure  of  his  honors. 

In  1793  he  was  chosen  United  States  senator  to  succeed  Paine 
Wingate,  and  so  well  and  ably  did  he  perform  the  duties  of  that 
exalted  station,  and  so  well  did  he  please  his  constituents,  that 
he  was  re-elected.  His  commanding  position  irj  the  Senate  is 
indicated  by  the  fact  that  he  was  president,  pro  teni.,  of  that 
body  in  1797  and  again  in  1799.  He  resigned  his  seat  in  1801, 
and  retired  to  his  seat  at  Holderness,  where  he  died  in  May, 
1803. 

Samuel  Livermore  was  intrinsically  a  great  man.  Upon  his 
own  age  he  made  a  profound  impression.  Men  like  Jeremiah 
Smith  of  Exeter,  William  Plumer  of  Epping,  James  Sheafe  of 
Portsmouth,  and  Charles  H.  Atherton  knew  of  his  greatness. 
The  latter  declared  that  he  was  tlie  great  man  of  New  Hamp- 
shire in  his  time,  and  he  not  only  knew  him  well  but  was  capable 
of  estimating  his  character.  His  home  at  Holderness  was 
characterized  by  the  tastes  of  a  cultured  statesman  ;  and  by  the 
superiority  of  his  elevated  private  as  well  as  public  character, 
no  less  than  by  his  commanding  personal  dignity  and  the  extent 
of  his  possessions,  he  ruled  the  town  with  the  absolute  power  of 
a  dictator. 


I780]  THE    REVOLUTION.  395 

1  It  is  well  known  to  all  that  slavery  existed  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, to  a  limited  extent,  in  the  last  century  ;  the  number  of  per- 
sons held  in  bondage,  however,  was  small,  and  nearly  two-thirds 
in  Reckingham  county.  There  is  no  record  of  its  having  been 
abolished  by  State  law,  and  it  must  have  died  out  gradually 
in  obedience  to  public  sentiment.  By  the  census  returns  of  1767^ 
the  number  of  "negros  and  slaves  for  life  "  was  633  ;  in  1773, 
681.  The  number  then  gradually  decreased  to  479  in  1775,  and 
to  158  in  1790  ;  of  the  latter,  98  were  in  Rockingham  county. 

In  1779  an  attempt  was  made  to  abolish  the  institution;  a 
petition  was  drawn  up  in  Portsmouth,  dated  November  12,  1779, 
to  which  was  appended  the  names  of  twenty  slaves  asking  for 
the  enactment  of  a  law  giving  them  their  freedom. 

The  petition  was  before  the  House  of  Representatives  April 
25,  1780,  and  a  hearing  appointed  to  come  off  at  their  next 
session,  of  which  the  petitioners  were  to  give  notice  by  publi- 
cation in  the  New  Hampshire  Gazette.  John  Langdon  was  at 
that  time  speaker  of  the  House.  The  council  concurred.  The 
matter  came  up  in  the  House  again  on  Friday,  June  9th,  fol- 
lowing, and  was  disposed  of  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following 
extract  from  the  Journal :  — 

"  Agreeable  to  order  of  the  day  the  petition  of  Nero  Brewster 
and  others,  negro  slaves,  praying  to  be  set  free  from  slavery, 
being  read,  considered,  and  argued  by  counsel  for  petitioners 
before  this  House,  it  appears  to  this  House  that  at  this  time  the 
House  is  not  ripe  for  a  determination  in  this  matter  :  There- 
fore, ordered  that  the  further  consideration  and  determination 
of  the  matter  be  postponed  to  a  more  convenient  opportunity."' 

And  that,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  was  the  end  of  it. 

In  June,  1780,  Northfield  was  cut  off  from  Canterbury. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1780  the  three  New  Hampshire  regi- 
ments were  reduced  to  two,  and  placed  under  command  of 
Colonel  Scammel  and  George  Reid. 

The  following  year  a  part  remained  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  another  part  followed  Colonel  Scammel  to  Virginia,  and 
were  present  at  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis. 

»  I .  W.  Hammond. 


39^  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1782 

In  the  spring  of  1781  General  Stark  was  ordered  once  more 
to  assume  the  command  of  the  Northern  department,  with  head- 
quarters at  Saratoga.  There  was  an  extensive  frontier  to  be 
watched,  and  the  country  was  overrun  by  traitors  and  spies,  some 
•of  whom  he  was  obhged  to  hang.  With  only  a  few  feeble 
detachments  of  militia  from  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  New 
Hampshire  under  his  command,  the  duties  of  the  general  were 
both  onerous  and  unpleasant.  After  the  surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis,  all  apprehensions  of  inroads  from  Canada  having  ceased, 
General  Stark  was  ordered  to  dismiss  his  militia,  and  to  himself 
retire  to  New  England  to  recruit,  and  collect  supplies  for  the 
next  campaign.  Being  at  this  time  afflicted  with  rheumatism,  he 
remained  at  home  during  the  year  1782,  and  did  not  return  to 
the  army  until  ordered  to  headquarters  by  General  Washington 
in  April,  1783.  He  arrived  at  the  appointed  time,  and  was 
thanked  by  the   commander-in-chief  for  his  punctuality. 

The  legislature  met  for  the  first  time  in  Concord  in  1782,  and  held  its 
sessions  in  the  hall  over  Judge  Walker's  store,  a  building  still  standing  on 
the  west  side  of  Main  street,  not  far  from  Horse  Shoe  Pond.  During  the 
session,  the  president  of  the  State,  with  his  council,  occupied  the  north  parlor 
of  the  Walker  house,  while  the  south  parlor  served  as  a  general  committee 
room,  and  the  room  above  it  as  the  office  of  the  treasurer  of  the  State.  The 
house  was  built  by  Rev.  Timothy  Walker  in  the  year  1733-4,  and  is  said  to 
be  the  oldest  two-story  dwelling-house  between  Haverhill,  Massachusetts, 
and  Canada.  In  1739  it  was  fortified  by  the  town  by  garrison  walls,  and 
<3uring  the  French  and  Indian  war  it  protected  nine  families.  It  was  the  re- 
sidence until  his  death  ('17S2)  of  Rev.  Timothy  Walker,  who  planted  the 
■noble  elms  (1764}  which  overshadow  it;  and  later  it  was  occupied  by  Judge 
Walker,  whose  grandson,  the  present  owner,  Joseph  B.  Walker,  now  lives  in 
it.  Through  the  several  generations  its  doors  have  been  hospitably  open.  In 
those  ancient  rooms,  which,  however,  have  been  somewhat  modernized,  were 
■entertained  the  neighboring  clergy,  as  well  as  strangers  of  note,  including 
Rogers,  Stark,  and  Thompson,  afterwards  Count  Rumford.  Thompson's 
wife  was  born  in  the  mansion,  and  the  portraits  and  paintings,  collected  and 
prized  both  by  the  count  and  his  daughter  the  countess  Rumford,  are  care- 
fully preserved  by  the  present  owner,    Mr.  Joseph  B.  Walker. 

On  the  25th  of  November,  1783,  the  British  army  evacuated 
New  York. 

The  independence  of  the  United  States  had  been  acknow- 
ledged by  the  British  Government  and  the  war  was  ended.     Dur- 


1/83] 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


397 


ing  the  following-  month,  most  of  the  Continental  troops  returned 
to  their  homes  ;  and  General  Stark,  bidding  adieu  to  his  friends 


in  the  army,  and  leaving  behind  the  cares  of  public  life,  retired 
to  his  New  Hampshire  estates  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his 
days  in  peace. 


398  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1783 

The  name  and  fame  of  John  Stark,  the  sturdy  soldier  and  Indian  fighter 
of  the  "  Seven  Years'  French  War"  of  1754  to  1760,  and  the  successful  patriot 
commander  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  is  no  new  theme  to  the  people  of 
his  native  State  of  New  Hampshire. 

The  Stark  family  of  New  Hampshire  descended  from  Archibald  Stark,  a 
Scotchman,  born  at  Glasgow  in  1697.  He  was  educated  at  the  university  of 
his  native  city,  and  when  twenty-three  years  of  age  came  to  America  with  the 
Scotch-Irish  emigrants  who  settled  Londonderry.  He  afterwards  removed 
to  Derryfield,  now  Manchester,  Avhere  he  died  in  1758. 

Archibald  Stark  had  four  sons, —  William,  John,  Samuel  and  Archibald, — 
all  of  whom  held  commissions  in  the  British  service  during  the  "  Seven 
Years"  or  "French  War,"  and  were  distinguished  for  good  conduct,  cool- 
ness, and  bravery. 

John  Stark,  one  of  the  brothers,  was  born  in  Londonderry,  in  August, 
1728.  He  resided  with  his  father  in  Londonderry  and  Derryfield  until  past 
his  minority,  their  home  occupation  being  that  of  farmers  and  millers.  The 
father  owned  extensive  tracts  of  land  about  Amoskeag  Falls,  and  was  also 
one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Dunbarton,  then  called  Starkstown.  Saw- 
mills and  grist-mills  were  built  and  run  by  John  Stark  at  both  these  places. 

The  settlements  being  at  this  time  sparse,  and  surrounded  by  interminable 
forests,  abounding  in  game  and  ferocious  animals,  every  young  man  of  the 
settlers  was  naturally  a  hunter,  and  quite  as  familiar  with  woodcraft  and  the 
chase  as  he  was  with  the  implements  of  agriculture,  or  the  saws  and  stones 
of  the  mill.  It  was  also  a  time  of  semi-war.  .The  fierce  remnants  of  the 
native  Indian  tribes,  although  nominally  conquered  at  Lovewell's  fight  in 
1721;,  still  continued  to  haunt  their  ancient  hunting-grounds  for  at  least  forty 
years  later.  The  settler  was  obliged  to  be  in  readiness  at  all  times  to  de- 
fend the  lives  of  his  family  from  the- predatory  savage,  and  his  herds  and 
flocks  from  the  bears  and  wolves  and  catamounts  of  the  forest.  Winter  hunt- 
ing expeditions  to  more  remote  parts  of  the  wilderness  were  often  organized 
for  hunting  and  trapping. 

It  was  on  one  of  these  hunting  expeditions,  in  March,  1752,  that  a  party  of 
four  of  which  John  Stark  was  a  member,  was  attacked  by  the  Indians  on 
Baker's  river  in  the  town  of  Rumney.  David  Stinson  was  shot  and  killed ; 
William  Stark  escaped ;  John  Stark  and  Amos  Eastman  were  captured,  and 
taken  through  the  wilderness  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Connecticut  river,  and 
subsequently  to  St.  Francis,  in  Canada,  where  they  arrived  in  June,  three 
months  after  their  capture.  The  bold  and  defiant  bearing  of  Stark  during 
this  captivity  excited  the  admiration  of  his  savage  captors  to  such  an  extent 
that  he  was  adopted  by  the  chief  sachem  and  treated  with  great  kindness, 
after  the  first  initiatory  ceremony  of  running  the  gauntlet,  in  which  ceremony 
he  took  an  unexpected  part  by  using  his  club  on  the  Indians,  instead  of 
waiting  for  them  to  use  their  clubs  on  him.  On  being  set  to  the  task  of  hoe- 
in*'  corn,  he  carefully  hoed  the  weeds  and  cut  up  the  corn,  and  then  threw 
the  hoe  into  the  river,  declaring  that  it  was  the  business  of  squaws,  and  not 

'  George  Stark. 


I 


I 


1783]  THE    REVOLUTION.  399 

of  warriors,  to  hoe  corn.  His  boldness  secured  liis  release  from  the  drudgery 
usually  imposed  on  their  captives,  and  they  called  him  the  "young  chief." 

During  this  enforced  residence  with  the  Indians  he  obtained  a  knowledge 
of  their  language  and  methods  of  warfare  which  proved  of  great  service  to 
him  in  his  subsequent  military  career. 

Bancroft's  History,  in  referring  to  the  company  of  Rangers,  says  :  Among 
them  was  John  Stark,  then  a  lieutenant;  of  a  rugged  nature,  but  of  the  cool- 
est judgment;  skilled  at  discovering  the  paths  of  the  wilderness,  and  knosv- 
ing  the  way  to  the  hearts  of  the  backwoodsmen." 

In  175S  Captain  Stark  obtained  a  short  furlough  for  the  purpose  of  visiting 
his  home,  and  while  there  was  united  in  marriage  (August  21,  1758)  to 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Captain  Caleb  Page,  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of 
Dimbarton. 

When  the  country  became  seriously  agitated  in  1774  upon  the  abridgment 
of  its  liberties  by  the  crown,  he  uniformly  espoused  the  cause  of  his  coun- 
trymen, and  from  his  military  experience  and  respectable  standing  was 
looked  up  to  as  the  natural  leader  of  the  patriots  of  his  vicinity. 

On  his  retirement  from  the  army,  General  Stark  was  fifty-five  years  of  age. 
Somewhat  past  the  prime  of  life  of  the  average  man,  but  with  a  frame  made 
strong  by  early  vigorous  labors,  and  preserved  by  constant  exercise  and  tem- 
perate habits,  a  long  lease  of  life  still  remained  to  him.  He  survived  the 
Revolutionary  war  nearly  forty  years,  and  to  the  last  was  held  by  his  neigh- 
bors and  fellow-countrymen  in  the  highest  esteem. 

Washington  had  great  confidence  in  Stark,  fully  appreciating  his  firm 
patriotism,  his  ability,  and  his  influence  with  the  people  of  New  Hampshire 
and  the  adjoining  States.  When  men  or  supplies  were  wanted  from  these 
States,  he  generally  sent  him  to  obtain  them ;  and  was  particular  to  request 
that  the  i;ew  levies  should  come  out  under  Stark's  command.  In  appointing 
him  commander  of  the  Northern  Department  in  1781,  Washington  wrote: 
"  I  am  induced  to  appoint  you  to  this  command  on  account  of  your  knowl- 
edge and  influence  among  the  inhabitants  of  that  country.  ...  I  rely 
upon  it,  you  will  use  ^-our  utmost  exertions  to  draw  forth  the  force  of  the 
country  from  the  Green  Mountains  and  all  the  contiguous  territory.  And  I 
doubt  not  your  requisitions  will  be  attended  with  success,  as  your  personal 
influence  must  be  unlimited  among  these  people,  at  whose  head  you  have 
formerly  fought  and  conquered,  with  so  much  reputation  and  glory." 

In  1786  General  Stark  received  from  Congress  the  following  complimentary 
brevet  commission  :  — 

In  pursuance  of  an  Act  of  Congress  of  the  13th  day  of  September,  1783, 
John  Stark,  Esquire,  is  to  rank  as  major-general  by  brevet  in  the  army  of  the 
United  States  of  America. 

Given  under  my  hand,  at  New  York,  the  9th  day  of  June,  17S6. 

(l.  s.)  Nathaniel  Gorham,  President. 

Entered  in  the  War  Office.       Henry  Knox,  Secretary  of  War. 

After  the  war,  he  again  took  up  his  extensive  agricultural  and  lumbering 
operations,  managing  his  business  aff"airs  with  the  same  energy,  industry, 
and  foresight  that  characterized  his  military  life. 


400  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/Sj 

In  person,  General  Stark  was  of  middle  stature  (5  feet  10),  and  well  pro- 
portioned for  strength  and  activity.  Constant  exercise  prevented  his  ever 
becoming  corpulent.  He  always  travelled  on  horseback,  even  if  accompanied 
by  his  family  in  a  carriage;  and  at  an  advanced  age  mounted  his  horse  with 
ease,  without  other  aid  than  the  stirrup.  His  features  were  bold  and  prom- 
inent: the  nose  was  well  formed;  the  eves  .light  blue,  keen  and  piercing,  deep- 
ly sunk  under  projecting  brows.  His  lips  were  generally  closely  compressed. 
He  was  not  bald ;  but  his  hair  became  white,  and  covered  his  head.  His 
whole  appearance  indicated  coolness,  courage,  activity,  and  confidence  in 
himself,  whether  called  upon  to  perform  the  duties  of  an  enterprising  partisan 
or  a  calculating  and  considerate  general. 

His  character  was  unexceptional  in  his  private  as  in  his  public  life. 
His  manners  were  frank  and  open.  He  spake  his  thoughts  boldly  on  all 
■occasions,  without  concealment  of  his  meaning.  He  was  a  man  of  kindness 
and  hospitality,  which,  through  life;  he  extended  to  all  his  comrades  in  arms 
.and  to  others  who  sought  his  assistance.  He  ever  sustained  a  reputation  for 
honor  and  integrity,  —  friendly  to  the  industrious  and  enterprising,  but  severe 
to  the  idle  and  unworthy. 

General  Stark  survived  his  wife  eight  years.  They  had  eleven  children, — 
five  sons  and  six  daughters,  —  and  all  except  one  reached  the  age  of  maturity. 
His  third  son,  John  Stark,  jr.,  remained  at  home,  married,  and  raised  a  family 
of  twelve  children  at  the  old  homestead.  The  veteran  general  was  thus  sur- 
rounded in  his  home  by  a  numerous  progeny,  w'ho  in  his  last  years  kindly 
alleviated  the  infirinities  of  extreme  age. 

He  died  on  the  Sth  of  May,  1822,  aged  93  years  8  months  and  24  daj's.  He 
was  buried  with  military  honors  at  the  spot  where  his  remains  now  lie,  and 
where  it  is  now  proposed  to  erect  to  his  memory  an  elegant  equestrian  bronze 
statue. 

Note.  —  The  material  for  this  biographical  sketch  has  been  drawn  from  numerous  papers  and 
books,  and  more  especially  from  the  "  Memoir  and  Official  Correspondence  of  General  John  Stark," 
by  his  grandson,  the  late  Caleb  Stark,  of  Dunbarton,  N.  H.,  edition  of  i860.  —  G.  S. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

STATE  UNDER  FIRST  CONSTITUTION,   1784-1792. 

CONSTITITIOX  OF  I7S4  FiRST  LEGISLATURE FiRST  PRESIDENT COUN- 
CIL —  Senate  —  House  of  Representatives  —  Lawlessness  —  Trouble 
AT  Keene  —  Mock  Convention  at  Concord — John  Langdon — John 
Sullivan  —  Mob  at  Exeter  —  Federal  Constitution  —  Littleton  — 
United  States  Constitutional  Convention  —  Election  under  Con- 
stitution—  Members  of  the  Continental  Congress  —  Officials  at 
Portsmouth  — Josiah  Bartlett  —  Town  of  Bartlett  — Orange  — 
Revision  of  Statutes  —  Constitutional  Convention  —  Ancient 
Singing. 

nPHE  Revolution  1  had  not  only  involved  the  colonies  in  war  but 
had  thrust  upon  them  the  perils  of  self-government.  Next 
to  the  demands  of  the  war,  and,  indeed,  essential  to  its  success, 
was  the  call  on  the  civil  wisdom  of  the  country  for  local  insti- 
tutions and  new  forms  of  government.  The  epoch  of  the 
Revolution  was  the  epoch  also  of  written  constitutions.  The 
old  governments  were  dissolved  ;  society  was  thrown  into  its 
first  elements.  Utopian  and  fantastic  ideas  of  government  were 
advanced,  and  the  adoption  of  a  firm  and  acceptable  form  of 
government  which  would  protect  the  people  in  their  newly 
acquired  liberty  was  a  matter  of  serious  consideration.  The 
people  of  New  Hampshire  had  been  the  first,  after  the  opening 
of  hostilities,  to  adopt  a  written  constitution.  It  had  gone  into 
effect  early  in  January,  1776,  before  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence ;  and  its  title,  "A  form  of  government  to  continue  during 
the  present  unhappy  and  unnatural  contest  with  Great  Britain," 
was  a  proof  of  the  unsettled  state  of  public  feeling  at  the  time. 
It  imposed  no  restriction  on  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  left  the 
highest  offices  open  to  all.     In  1779  a  convention  had  formed 

'  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


402  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1784 

a  new  constitution,  which  proposed  that  the  government  should 
be  entrusted  to  a  Council  and  House  of  Representatives  ;  and 
provided  that  all  the  male  inhabitants  of  the  State,  of  lawful 
age,  paying  taxes,  and  professing  the  Protestant  religion,  should 
be  deemed  lawful  voters  in  choosing  councillors  and  represen- 
tati\'es  ;  and  that  these  officers,  aside  from  the  same  qualifica- 
tions, should  have  an  estate  of  ^300.  This  constitution  was 
rejected  by  the  people.  It  had  been  framed  about  the  time  of 
the  alliance  with  France,  when  the  soldiery  and  not  the  religion 
of  that  country  was  wanted.  Another  convention  was  called 
in  1781  ;  and  the  constitution  which  it  framed,  after  alterations 
and  amendments  had  been  made,  went  into  operation  in  1784. 
One  of  its  clauses  declared  that  "  every  individual  has  a  natural 
and  unalienable  right  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates 
of  his  own  conscience  and  reason,"^  while  another  article,  a 
sort  of  "compromise  between  the  new  spirit  of  religious  free- 
dom and  the  old  intolerance,"  confined  to  "Christians"  the  pro- 
tection of  the  law  for  this  "unalienable  right."  Other  clauses 
provided  that  no  person  should  hold  the  office  of  governor, 
councillor,  senator,  delegate,  or  member  of  Congress,  unless  he 
were  of  the  "Protestant  religion."  The  new  constitution  met 
with  considerable  opposition,  although  parties  were  not  divided 
upon  it.  Men  who  were  afterwards  Federalists  and  Democrats 
opposed  the  religious  test,  notably  William  Plumer,  a  law-stu- 
dent, an  able  writer,  and  an  earnest  and  eloquent  public  speaker. 

The  treaty  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  of  America  was  signed  in  Paris,  in  September,  1783. 
The  constitution,  containing  bill  of  rights  and  form  of  govern- 
ment agreed  upon  by  the  delegates  of  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire,  in  a  convention  held  at  Concord  on  the  first  Tues- 
day of  June,  1783,  had  been  submitted  to  and  approved  by  the 
people  and  had  been  established  by  their  delegates  in  conven- 
tion, in  October,  1783.     It  was  to  go  into  effect  in  June,  1784. 

Accordingly  in  June,  1784,  the  newly  elected  legislature, 
perhaps  as  distinguished  a  body  of  men  as  ever  gathered  to- 
gether within  the  limits  of  the  State,  assembled  at  Concord,  and 

'  William   Plumer,  J.\ 


1784]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  4O3 

proceeded  to  organize.  According  to  the  constitution,  the  new 
Senate  was  to  be  composed  of  twelve  members. 

George  Atkinson  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  House  ;  Woodbury 
Langdon  was  chosen  as  senior  senator. 

John  McClary  and  Francis  Blood,  of  the  Senate,  and  Joseph 
Badger,  Nathaniel  Peabody,  and  ]\Ioses  Chase,  of  the  House, 
were  elected  councillors. 

Abiel  Foster,  Jonathan  Blanchard,  John  Langdon,  and  Moses 
Dow  were  appointed  delegates  to  represent  New  Hampshire  in 
Congress  for  a  year,  commencing  the  following  November,  but 
all  except  Mr.  Foster  refused  the  honor,  and  subsequently  Samuel 
Livermore,  Pierce  Long,  and  Elisha  Paine  were  associated  with 
My.  Foster,  but  two  serving  at  once. 

Samuel  Livermore,  Josiah  Bartlett,  and  John  Sullivan  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  revise  the  laws  of  the  State,  and  to 
draw  such  new  laws  as  they  might  deem  necessary. 

Ebenezer  Thompson  was  elected  secretary  for  the  State  ;  John 
Taylor  Oilman  was  elected  treasurer. 

The  pay  of  the  members  was  six  shillings  a  day  ;  the  secretary 
of  the  State  and  the  clerk  of  the  House  received  nine  shillings. 

The  first  session  at  Concord  lasted  about  two  weeks,  when  the 
legislature  adjourned  to  meet  in  October  in  Portsmouth.  It  was 
not  until  the  second  meeting  that  a  yea  and  nay  vote  was 
recorded. 

A  town  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  ratable  male  polls  was 
•entitled  to  one  representative  ;  with  four  hundred  and  fifty  polls, 
to  two  ;  with  seven  hundred  and  fifty  polls,  to  three.  Every 
member  of  the  House  was  seized  of  a  freehold  estate  in  his  ow.n 
right  of  at  least  ^loo;  a  senator  had  to  own  ;^200  in  a  free- 
hold estate  to  be  eligible  for  the  office. 

His  Excellency,  Meshech  Weare,  who  had  served  the  State 
throughout  the  struggle  for  independence  as  its  chief  executive 
officer,  was  found  to  have  received  a  large  majority  of  the  votes 
cast,  and  was  duly  declared  elected  the  first  president  of  the  new 
Commonwealth.  He  was  not,  however,  sworn  into  office  for 
several  days  after  the  legislature  met. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  session  the  members  of  both  branches 


404  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1784 

of  "The  General  Court"  attended  services  at  the  Old  North 
Church,  and  listened  to  a  sermon  by  Rev.  Samuel  McClintock, 
of  Greenland.  So  well  pleased  were  they  that  they  voted  him 
;;^I5  in  the  afternoon  to  recompense  him.  The  sermon  is  on 
file  among  the  archives  of  the  State  library,  and  is  worthy  of 
perusal  after  a  century  has  passed  by.  A  few  extracts  may  be 
of  interest  to  the  present  generation:  — 

'•  How  bicoming  is  it  that  we  should  render  unto  Him  in  a  public  manner 
the  most  devout  ascriptions  of  praise  lor  the  great  things  He  has  done  for  us 
in  delivering  us  from  the  cruel  hand  of  oppression  and  the  impending  miseries 
of  abject  servitude,  crowning  our  arduous  struggle  in  defence  of  the  rights  ot' 
human  nature  with  triumphant  success,  in  acknowledgment  of  our  inde- 
pendence and  sovereignty,  and  in  giving  us  the  singular  advantage  of  forming 
a  constitution  of  government  for  ourselves  and  our  posterity.  If  we  should 
neglect  to  render  due  praise  to  Him  on  such  a  great  occasion,  the  heathen 
would  rise  up  in  judgment  and  condemn  us  for  our  impiety  and  ingratitude." 

He  speaks  of  "  the  present  glorious  revolution  in  this  land,"  and  continues  : 
"  Hardly  any  people  were  ever  less  prepared  to  enter  the  list  with  such  a  great 
and  powerful  nation.  War  was  not  our  object  or  wish ;  on  the  contrary  we 
deprecated  it  as  a  dreadful  calamity,  and  continued  to  hope,  even  against  hope, 
that  the  gentle  methods  of  petitioning  and  remonstrating  might  obtain  a  re- 
dress of  grievances. 

"  The  war  on  our  part  was  not  a  war  of  ambition,  but  a  justifiable  self-defence 
against  the  claims  of  an  arbitrary  power,  which  was  attempting  to  wrest  from 
us  the  privileges  we  had  all  along  enjoyed,  and  to  subject  us  to  a  state  of  ab- 
ject servitude.     . 

"They  were  men  of  war  from  their  youth.  They  had  regular  troops,  used 
to  service,  who  had  signalized  their  valor  on  the  Plains  of  Minden  and  on  the- 
Heights  of  Abraham,  commanded  by  able  and  experienced  generals,  amply 
furnished  with  all  the  terrible  apparatus  of  death  and  destruction,  and  aided 
by  mercenary  troops  who  had  been  bred  to  arms  and  were  versed  in  all  the 
stratagems  of  war;  add  to  this  they  had  a  navy  that  ruled  the  ocean,  and 
regular  resources  to  sipply  their  demands.  On  the  other  hand,  we  were  inex- 
perienced in  the  art  of  war,  and  had  neither  disciplined  troops,  nor  magazines 
of  provision  and  ammunition,  nor  so  much  as  one  ship  of  war  to  oppose  to 
their  formidable  fleets,  nor  any  regular  resources,  not  even  so  much  as  the 
certain  prospect  of  any  foreign  aid;  besides,  all  the  civil  governments  were 
dissolved  and  the  people  reduced  back  to  a  state  of  nature,  and  in  danger  of 
falling  into  anarchy  and  confusion.      .     . 

"That  people  so  widely  separated  from  one  another  by  their  situation,  man- 
ners, customs,  and  forms  of  government,  should  all  at  once  be  willing  to 
sacrifice  their  present  interests  to  the  public  good  and  unite  like  a  band  of 
brothers  to  make  the  cause  of  one  State,  and  even  of  one  town,  a  common 
cause;  and  that  they  should  continue  firm  and  united  under  the  greatest  dis- 


1784]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    COXSTITUTIOX.  405 

couragements  and  the  most  trving  reverses  of  fortune  ;  that  an  army  of  freemen, 
voluntarily  assembled  at  the  alarm  of  danger  —  men  who  had  been  nurtured 
in  the  bosom  of  liberty  and  unused  to  slavish  restraints,  should  be  willing 
to  submit  to  the  severity  of  military  go\ernment  for  the  safety  of  their  coun- 
trv,  and  patiently  endure  hardships  that  would  have  tried  the  fortitude  of  vet- 
erans, following  their  illustrious  leader  in  the  depths  of  winter,  through  cold 
and  snow,  in  nakedness  and  perils,  when  every  step  they  took  was  marked 
with  the  blood  that  issued  from  their  swollen  feet,  and  when  they  could  not  be 
animated  to  such  patience  and  perseverance  by  any  mercenary  motives,  was 
a  rare  spectacle,  and  for  its  solution  must  be  traced  to  a  higher  source." 

The  whole  sermon  shows  that  the  speaker,  if  not  the  hearers, 
appreciated  the  magnitude  of  the  struggle  through  which  the 
colonies  had  successfully  passed,  and  realized  the  responsibility 
which  devolved  upon  them  in  establishing  the  new  state  on  a 
sure  foundation. 

Money  at  this  time  was  very  scarce,  that  is,  gold  and  silver. 
The  Continental  cvirrency  had  depreciated  so  that  forty  pounds 
represented  one,  and  was  very  difficult  to  dispose  of  at  any 
figure,  being  thought  nearly  worthless.  The  new  legislature 
voted  to  raise  ^25,000,  but  were  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  rais- 
ing any.  They  provided  for  the  pensions  of  disabled  soldiers 
for  a  lighthouse  at  Newcastle,  and  for  the  pay  of  the  offxers  of 
the  State,  but  made  the  collection  possible  by  allowing  evi- 
dences of  State  indebtedness  to  be  received  as  State  taxes. 

At  this  time  the  State  contained  a  population  of  about  140,000 
souls,  mostly  employed  in  agricultural  pursuits.  Portsmouth  was 
the  only  place  of  much  importance,  sending  three  representatives 
to  the  General  Court,  but  its  leading  men  were  the  unpopular  Mas- 
onian  proprietors,  and  thus  its  influence  was  curtailed.  Next  in 
importance  was  the  town  of  Londonderry,  where  already  had 
sprung  up  a  few  manufacturing  industries.  Derryfield  sent  no 
representative.  This  was  before  the  days  of  turnpikes  and  can- 
als, and  the  roads  were  carried  over  the  hilliest  and  most  rocky 
routes,  to  save  expense  in  maintaining,  and  were  consequently 
as  bad  as  they  well  could  be  ;  but  as  they  were  not  much  used 
except  by  foot  travellers  and  horsemen,  it  did  not  much  matter. 
Bridges  were  of  such  a  character  that  they  were  generally  carried 
away  by  the  freshet  every  spring,  while  the  main  dependence 


406  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1/84 

was  placed  on  ferries.  The  crops  on  the  new  land  on  the  hill- 
side farms  were  abundant.  Large  families  of  children  were 
raised,  and  were  educated  in  the  rudiments  at  the  little  school- 
house  in  every  district.  On  every  farm  was  a  self-sustaining 
■community  :  they  raised  their  own  wheat,  corn,  vegetables,  maple 
sugar,  and  all  the  food  required  ;  they  raised  their  own  wool  and 
flax  ;  they  tanned  their  own  leather  ;  they  made  their  own  cloth, 
and  made  their  own  garments.  Every  town  had  its  minister. 
Then  came  the  miller  with  grist-mill  and  saw-mill  ;  then  the 
blacksmith  ;  and,  lastly,  when  the  town  had  gained  a  certain 
standing,  a  justice  of  the  peace. 

Dartmouth  College  was  granted  the  right  by  the  first  legis- 
lature of  the  State  to  hold  a  lottery  in  order  to  raise  ;^3,ooo. 

Meshech  Weare,  the  new  president  of  the  State,  was  at  this 
time  well  advanced  in  years,  being  over  seventy. 

Of  the  councillors,  John  McClary,  of  Epsom,  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Provincial  Congress  which  met  in  May,  I775-  He  died  in  June  iSoi,  aged 
«ighty-two. 

Gen.  Francis  Blood,  of  Temple,  was  representative  all  through  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  a  justice  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  afterwards  chief  justice. 
He  was  a  man  of  superior  mind,  sagacity,  and  information,  for  manj'  years 
the  leading  man  of  the  town,  acquired  a  handsome  property,  and  died  in  1790. 

Dr.  Nathaniel  Peabody,  of  Atkinson,  was  one  of  the  distinguished  men  of 
his  times.  He  was  adjutant-general  of  the  State,  member  of  Congress, 
.and  major-general  of  the  State  militia,  1793.     He  died  in  Exeter  in  June,  1S23. 

General  Joseph  Badger,  son  of  Captain  Joseph  Badger,  was  a  man  of  great 
military  ardor,  and  held  offices  in  the  militia  for  thirty  years.  He  was  present 
at  the  capture  of  Burgoyne  in  1779. 

Moses  Chase,  of  Cornish,  came  of  that  family  which  has  given  so  many 
distinguished  names  to  American  history,  including  that  of  Chief  Justice 
Salmon  P.  Chase. 

Of  the  senators,  Joseph  Oilman,  of  Exeter,  was  treasurer  of  Rockingham 
<:ounty.     He  died  in  May,  1806. 

Woodbury  Langdon,  of  Portsmouth,  was  a  merchant;  a  member  of  the  old 
Congress,  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  a  firm  patriot,  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  his  countr\-. 

Timothy  Walker,  of  Concord,  only  son  of  Rev.  Timothy  Walker  of  Con- 
cord, was  justice  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  chief  justice  five  years  ;  candidate 
for  governor  in  1798.  He  died  in  May,  1822.  He  filled  all  the  town  and  State 
offices  to  which  he  was  elected  with  fidelity  and  honor. 

John  Langdon.  of  Portsmouth,  was  afterwards  president  of  New  Hampshire. 

Honorable  John  Wentworth.   of  Dover,  representative  through   the  war; 


1784]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  407 

one  of  the  executive  council  of  tiie  State;  on  the  ConKv.i;'n.e  of  Safety;  and 
a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress.  He  was  an  able  la\v\er;  as  a  man, 
benevolent,  and  of  a  good-natured  address,  and  a  statesman  of  superior  abili- 
ties.     He  died  in  January,  1787. 

Ebenezer  Smith,  was  a  proprietor  of  Gilmanton,  hut  settled  in  Meredith  in 
176S,  and  was  a  "father  of  the  town  "  for  many  years.  He  was  judge  of 
I'robate;  lieutenant-colonel  of  loth  regiment  militia;  and  president  of  the 
Senate  two  years.     He  died  in  August,  1807. 

^h\tthew  Thornton  vas  a  member  of  Congress  and  a  signer  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

Simeon  Olcott,  of  Charlestown,  was  judge  of  Probate  ;  chief  justice  of  Court 
of  Common  Pleas;  associate  justice  of  Superior  Court  in  1790;  chief  justice 
from    1795  to   iSoi ;  and  United  States  senator.     He  died  in  February,  1815. 

Enoch  Hale,  of  Rindge,  was  a  leading  citizen  of  the  town,  till  he  removed 
to  Walpole  in  17S+.      He  died  in  Grafton,  Vt.,  in  April,  1813,  aged  seventy-nine. 

Moses  Dow,  of  Haverhill,  was  the  first  lawyer  of  Grafton  county,  and  for 
some  time  v/as  register  of  Probate. 

Of  the  House  of  Representati\es,  George  Atkinson,  who  was  born,  lived, 
and  died  in  Portsmouth,  was  a  man  of  considerable  ability,  strict  integrit\-, 
and  of  an  irreproachable  character.  He  was  four  times  appointed  a  delegate 
to  the  Continental  Congress,  but  each  time  declined  the  office.  He  was  also 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Comn^ittee  of  Safety,  and  declined.  He  was  ap- 
pointed a  special  justice  of  the  Superior  Court.  In  1785  he  was  one  of  four 
candidates  for  president  of  the  State,  and  received  the  largest  popular  vole, 
but  failed  of  an  election  before  the  legislature.     He  died  in  February,  1788. 

George  Gains  was  one  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  for  the  State  in  1777. 

John  Pickering,  a  native  of  Newington,  was  attorney-general  in  1786;  re- 
peatedly a  member  of  the  legislature  ;  president  of  the  United  States  Senate  in 
17S9;  and  governor  of  the  State,  ex  officio,  when  Governor  John  Langdon  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  In  1790  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of 
the  Superior  Court,  and  held  the  office  five  years.  He  was  afterwards  district 
judge  of  the  United  States  and  served  till  1804.     He  died  in  April,  1805. 

Colonel  Daniel  Runnels,  of  Londonderry,  served  as  captain  in  Colonel 
Nichols's  regiment  at  Bennington,  and  as  captain  in  Colonel  Peabody's 
regiment  in  Rhode  Island  in  1778.     He  was  an  able  and  distinguished  citizen. 

Thomas  Bartlett,  of  Nottingham,  was  among  the  leading  patriots  (jt 
Rockingham  county.  He  was  captain  of  a  company  in  1775  at  Winter  Hill; 
lieutenant-colonel  in  Colonel  Gilman's  regiment  in  Rhode  Island  in  1778;  a 
member  of  Committee  of  Safety  in  177S;  colonel  of  a  regiment  at  West  Point 
in  1780;  brigadier-general  of  New  Hampshire  militia  in  1792;  representative 
in  1775;  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives;  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas.     He  died  in  June,  1807,  aged  fifty-nine. 

Moses  Leavitt,  of  North  Hampton,  actively  participated  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  He  was  appointed  captain  in  the  Continental  service  in  1776, 
and  was  employed  on  coast  defence  during  the  war.  He  was  representative 
in  1782  and  1783. 

Hon.    Christopher  Toppan,  of  Hampton,  was  a  useful   and   distinguished 


408  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^4 

citizen,  son  of  Dr.  Edmund  Toppan,  and  grandson  of  Rev.  Christopher 
Toppan,  of  Newbury,  Mass.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Joshua 
Wingate.  He  was  often  a  representative  and  councillor.  He  died  in  Febru- 
ary, 1S19,  aged  eighty-four. 

Daniel  Emerson,  of  HoUis,  was  coroner  for  Hillsborough  county;  captain 
in  Rhode  Island  expedition;  representative  and  councillor.  He  died  in 
October,  1821. 

Lieutenant  Robert  Wallace,  of  Henniker,  was  a  native  of  Londonderry; 
judge  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Hillsborough  county,  and  councillor 
from  17S8  to  1S03.      He  died  in  January,  1S15. 

John  Duncan,  of  Antrim,  a  native  of  Londonderry,  was  a  prominent 
citizen,  serving  as  town-clerk,  representative,  selectman,  and  senator.  He 
died  in  March,  1823. 

John  Underbill,  of  Chester. 

John  Cram,  one  of  the  chief  men  in  the  town  of  Pittsfield. 

Captain  Jeremiah  Clough,  of  Canterbury,  was  a  veteran  of  Bunker  Hill, 
and  an  active  and  influential  citizen. 

Major  Nathan  Bachelder,  of  Loudon,  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  influ- 
ential citizens  of  that  town  from  its  organization  until  the  close  of  the 
century. 

Samuel  Daniell,  of  Pembroke,  was  a  leading  citizen  of  that  town. 

Colonel  Nathaniel  Emerson,  ot"  Candia,  was  "  called  to  public  stations 
perhaps  more  than  any  other  individual  who  ever  lived  in  Candia." 

Jeremiah  Eastman,  of  Deerfield,  was  born  in  December,  1732,  in  Kensing- 
ton, and  settled  in  Deerfield. 

James  Betton,  of  Windham,  was  a  farmer,  surveyor,  and  auctioneer. 

Major  Jonathan  Wentworth,  of  Somersworth,  was  captain  in  siege  of 
Boston. 

John  Sanborn,  from  Sanbornton,  a  veteran  of  the  old  French  war,  and  a 
sold.er  of  the  Revolution,  Avas  a  benevolent,  generous-hearted  man,  of  dig- 
nity and  presence,  i'lill  of  dry  humor. 

Robert  Means,  of  Amherst,  born  in  Ireland,  was  noted  for  his  hon- 
esty, fair  dealing,  close  attention  to  business,  and  in  time  became  one  of  the 
most  widely  known  and  distinguished  merchants  in  the  town  or  State. 

Benjamin  Mann,  of  Mason,  commanded  a  company  at  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill.     He  moved  to  Keene  in  1800,  and  died  in  iSoi. 

Mr.  Ephraim  Adams,  of  New  Ipswich,  was  one  of  the  leading  men  of  that 
town  for  many  years. 

Matthew  Wallace,  of  Peterborough,  was  seventeen  times  moderator;  eleven 
years  town-clerk;  six  >'ears  selectman;  six  years  representative. 

Captain  Francis  Davis,  of  Warner,  was  the  first  representative  from  War- 
ner, both  to  the  Provincial  Congress  at  Exeter  as  well  as  under  the  constitution. 

Elijah  Grout,  of  Charlestown,  was  very  active  and  widely  known  through- 
out the  Revolution.  He  was  a  brave  and  good  man.  He  was  intelligent  and 
far-seeing,  and  had  all  the  qualities  of  a  sterling  man. 

William  Smiley,  of  Jaflrc^-,  an  early  settler,  was  a  prominent  and  influen- 
tial nirin. 


1784]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  4O9 

Samuel  King,  of  Chesterfield,  was  a  physician. 

Stephen  Powers,  of  Croydon,  was  an  early  settler  of  tiiat  place,  and  was 
distinguished  for  his  giant  frame,  great  physical  strength,  and  vigorous  in- 
tellect. 

Colonel  Timothy  Bedel,  of  Bath,  was  prominent  all  through  the  Revolu- 
tion, holding  important  commands  on  the  northern  frontier. 

Moses  Baker,  of  Campton,  was  the  great-grandfather  of  Hon.  Henry  W. 
Blair. 

Such,  with  their  associates  of  Hke  character,  were  the  men 
chosen  by  the  yeomanry  of  New  Hampshire  to  organize  the  new 
State  government.     To  them  was  intrusted  the  welfare  of  the 
Commonwealth  at  the  most  important  and  trying  time  of  its  his- 
tory,—  a  period  of  depression  and  distress  such  as  had   hardly 
been  felt  in  the  sharpest  crisis  of  the  war  itself.     The  close  of 
hostilities  with  England    brought   with  it  no  relief  to  the    suf- 
ferings   of  the  people,  but  seemed  for  a   time  rather  to  aug- 
ment them.     A    feeling    of  very  general    discontent    pervaded 
the    public    mind,    no   longer    held  in    check    by  a  foreign  foe. 
The  government  was  weak  and  inefficient,  the  people  poor  and  in 
debt,  credit  both  public  and  private  impaired,  or  rather  well-nigh 
destroyed.    A  depreciated  paper  currency  took  the  place  of  specie  ; 
tender  laws  and  the  further  issues  of  paper  were  loudly  called  for 
by  the  discontented  and  debtor  party,  as  the  only  remedy  for  the 
great  and  acknowledged  evils  of  the  times  ;  and  the  courts  of  law 
were  more  than  ever  surrounded  by  mobs,  whose  avowed  purpose 
was  to  prevent  the  judges  from  proceeding  in  the  trial  of  cases. 
In  Keene,  nearly  two  years  before,  the  judges  of  the  Superior 
Court,  accompanied    by  the    attorney-general,    John    Sullivan, 
were  warned  in  the  outskirts  of  the  village  that  a  mob  had  col- 
lected about  the  court-house,  who  would  resist  with  violence  any 
attempt  to  enforce  the  laws.     Sullivan    undertook    to    get  the 
court,  with  as  little  loss  of  dignity  as  possible,  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  mob.      He  accordingly  halted  the  party  while  he  put  on  his 
uniform  of  a  general  in  the  Continental  army  —  blue  coat,  bright 
buttons,  sword,  and  cocked  hat  with  plume,  that  had   been  seen 
on  nearly  every  battlefield  of  the  Revolution,  —  mounted  his  pow- 
erful gray  horse,  and,  preceding  the  court,  conducted  them  into 
the  town.     An  armed  assembly  had  gathered  about   the  court- 


410  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^4- 

hoiise,  sullen  in  their  aspect  and  resolute  in  their  purpose  to  pre- 
vent the  transaction  of  business,  who  gave  way,  however,  and 
allowed  the  court  to  enter.  The  judges  having  taken  their  seats, 
the  court  was  opened  in  due  form  by  the  crier,  while  the  crowd 
rushed  tumultuously  in  and  filled  the  house.  Sullivan,  who  was 
a  man  of  fine  personal  appearance,  dignified  aspect,  and  com- 
manding deportment,  stood  in  the  clerk's  desk  and  calmly  and 
resolutely  surveyed  the  multitude,  recognizing  among  them  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  who  had  served  with  him.  He  seemed  once 
more  their  trusted  commander,  and  the  instinct  of  obedience  was 
working  strongly  in  the  mass,  who  felt  his  presence  and  involun- 
tarily obeyed  the  motions  of  their  old  chief.  With  dignity  he 
took  off  his  cocked  hat,  disclosing  a  profusion  of  white  powdered 
hair,  unbelted  his  long  sword  and  deliberately  laid  them  on  the 
table.  Having  gained  their  attention,  and  silence  ensuing 
after  considerable  disturbance,  he  demanded  of  them  why 
they  had  come  before  the  court  in  such  a  turbulent  manner. 
He  was  answered  by  many  voices:  "The  petition!  the  peti- 
tion!" and  a  committee  stepped  forward  with  a  huge  roll  of 
paper  which  Sullivan  received  and  presented  to  the  court.  The 
clerk  having  read  it,  Sullivan  addressed  the  people,  courteously 
but  firmly,  on  the  impropriety  of  any  attempt  to  influence,  even 
by  the  appearance  of  violence,  the  deliberations  of  the  court ; 
told  them  their  petition  would  be  considered  ;  and  directed  them 
to  withdraw.  They  obeyed  with  reluctance,  whereupon  the 
court  adjourned  until  the  next  day,  in  hope  that  the  mob  would 
disperse.  In  the  afternoon  Sullivan  addressed  them  on  the  sub- 
ject of  their  complaints,  and  advised  them  to  return  to  their 
homes.  On  the  opening  of  the  court  the  next  morning  the 
house  was  full  of  people,  impatient  for  the  answer  to  their  peti- 
tion. Sullivan,  now  in  citizen's  dress,  with  grace  and  dignity 
said  that  he  was  instructed  by  the  court  to  inform  them  that  the 
court  would  continue  all  causes  on  the  civil  docket  in  which 
either  party  was  not  ready  for  trial,  as  the  court  was  due  in  another 
county.  Upon  which  announcement  the  people  withdrew  with 
cheers  for  General  Sullivan.  The  mob  had  effected  its  pur- 
pose, and  the  dignity  of  the    court    had    been    sustained.     At 


1784]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  4H 

this  time  Keene  and  the  towns  bordering  on  the  Connecticut 
were  lukewarm  in  their  allegiance  to  the  New  Hampshire  au- 
thorities. 

In  Massachusetts  a  similar  condition  of  things  led,  in  1786, 
to  Shays's  rebellion ;  and  in  this  State,  at  an  earlier  period  of 
that  year,  events  seemed  fast  tending  to  a  like  dangerous  issue. 
Many  town  and  county  conventions  were  held,  and  petitions  for 
a  redress  of  grievances  were  presented  to  the  legislature.  Del- 
egates from  some  of  the  conventions  assembled  in  Concord 
during  the  June  session,  where  they  were  assisted  to  organize 
by  several  active  young  men,  some  of  whom  were  afterwards 
distinguished  in  the  service  of  the  State,  who,  although  not  prop- 
erly chosen  members,  conceived  the  idea  of  turning  the  pro- 
ceedings into  ridicule.  Having  been  admitted  without  question, 
as  delegates  from  their  respective  towns,  they  at  once  took  a 
leading  part,  taking  different  sides  to  avoid  an  appearance  of 
concert,  and  vied  wdth  the  true  members  in  their  zeal  for  reform. 
After  a  debate  of  several  hours  the  convention  adopted  a  series 
of  resolutions,  and  appointed  a  committee,  of  which  William 
Plumer,  one  of  the  eleven  young  conspirators,  was  chairman,  ta 
report  a  petition  to  the  legislature.  This  petition,  which  was 
reported  the  next  morning,  embodied  the  substance  of  the  reso- 
lutions, and  was  unanimously  adoj^ted  by  the  convention.  Among 
other  things  it  requested  the  legislature  to  abolish  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  to  establish  town  courts,  to  restrict  the  number 
of  lawyers  to  two  in  a  county,  and  to  provide  for  the  issue  of 
State  notes  to  the  amount  of  three  million  dollars,  the  same  to 
be  legal  tender  in  payment  of  all  debts.  The  issue  of  paper 
money  by  the  State  was  the  favorite  measure  of  the  discontented 
and  debtor  party,  and  the  mock  members  of  the  convention 
could  hardly  keep  pace  wnth  the  real  ones  in  the  extravagance 
of  their  suggestions.  Dr.  Jonathan  Gove,  of  New  Boston,  who 
represented  ten  towns  in  Hillsborough  county,  proposed  to  raise 
the  amount  named  to  twelve  millions  of  dollars,  to  i:)ay  all  debts 
public  and  private.  The  convention  went  in  a  body  to  present 
their  petition,  and  were  gravely  received  by  the  legislature. 
The  speaker  showed  them  ceremonious  attention,  and,  as  one  of 


412  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^S 

the  delegates  said,  treated  them  "with  superfluous  respect," 
laying  their  memorial  on  the  table.  Having  again  assembled  at 
their  place  of  meeting,  Mr.  Plumer  addressed  them  and  showed 
the  absurdity  of  their  proceedings  ;  after  a  heated  discussion 
the  convention  broke  up  in  disorder:  and  for  sometime  the  very 
name 'of  a  convention  became  a  term  of  reproach. ^ 

The  dispute  between  the  ])eople  of  New  Hampshire  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Hampshire  grants  and  the  authorities  of  New 
York  as  to  the  western  boundary  of  New  Hampshire  had  been 
settled  by  the  Continental  Congress  admitting  into  the  Union  the 
new  State  of  Vermont.  About  this  time  several  New  Hampshire 
towns  situate  in  the  Connecticut  valley  were  tempted  to  throw 
off  their  allegiance  to  New  Hampshire ;  but  happily  more  pru- 
dent counsels  prevailed  and  the  separation  did  not  take  place. 

John  Langdon,  who  was  elected  second  president  of  the  State 
in  1785,  after  Meshech  Weare  had  declined  to  serve,  was  born  in 
Portsmouth  in  1740,  was  a  merchant,  shipbuilder,  and  a  patriot. 
He  helped  seize  the  ammunition  at  Fort  William  and  Mary  in 
1774,  built  the  Ranger  for  John  Paul  Jones,  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Continental  Congress  in  1775  and  1776,  served  with  Stark  at 
Bennington,  was  again  elected  president  of  the  State  in  1788,  a 
delegate  to  the  convention  which  framed  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  the  State  convention  which  accepted  it. 
He  was  the  first  United  States  senator  elected,  and  was  chosen 
president  of  that  body,  and  as  such  informed  General  Washing- 
ton of  his  election.  After  he  left  Congress  he  was  elected  gov- 
ernor five  times.  From  a  Federalist  he  became  a  Republican,  and 
later  a  Democrat. 

General  John  Sullivan  was  chosen  president  of  New  Hampshire 
in  1786.  The  want  of  money  and  the  depression  in  business 
were  evils  too  deeply  rooted  to  be  removed  by  ridicule,  mock 
conventions,  or  idle  talk.  The  people  were  in  distress,  especially 
the  veterans  of  the  Continental  army.  New  conventions  were 
called  in  different  parts  of  the  State.  In  the  Rockingham  con- 
vention, held  in  Chester,  it  was  resolved  to  send  to  Exeter, 
where   the   legislature  was  to  meet  in  September,   a  body  of 

•  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


1786]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  413 

armed  men  to  enforce  their  claims.  Accordingly  about  two 
hundred  men,  under  command  of  Joseph  French,  of  Hampstead, 
and  James  Cochrane,  of  Pembroke,  some  armed  with  muskets  and 
others  with  clubs,  marched  into  Exeter,  and  sent  in  their  petition  to 
the  General  Court  for  a  redress  of  grievances,  declaring  their  inten- 
tion, if  it  was  not  granted,  to  do  themselves  justice.  They  sur- 
rounded the  house  in  which  the  legislature  was  in  session,  and, 
placing  sentinels  at  the  door  and  windows,  demanded  an  imme- 
diate answer  to  their  petition.  The  House  appointed  a  com- 
mittee on  the  petition  ;  but  the  Senate,  under  the  influence  of 
Sullivan,  who  was  now  president  of  the  State,  and  as  such  had 
a  seat  in  the  Senate,  refused  to  act  on  the  subject  while  they 
were  thus  besieged  by  the  mob,  and  proceeded  with  their  ordi- 
nary business.^  A  party  of  the  friends  of  order  armed  them- 
selves, and  called  upon  all  good  citizens  to  disperse  the  mob  and 
thus  set  the  members  of  the  legislature  at  liberty.  General 
Sullivan  came  out,  accompanied  by  Nathaniel  Peabody,  Ebenezer 
Webster,  and  other  officers  of  the  Revolution  and  friends  of  gov- 
ernment, and  ordered  the  mob  to  disperse.  Armed  citizens  in 
their  rear,  pressing  on  them  and  calling  for  the  artillery  to  ad- 
vance, the  mob  began  to  retire  ;  and  French,  finding  that  the 
legislature  was  not  frightened  by  threats,  withdrew  with  his 
men  some  distance  from  the  village  for  the  night.  Sullivan 
summoned  the  militia,  and  on  the  following  morning  nearly  two 
thousand  assembled  and  were  led  by  General  Cilley  against  the 
insurgents,  who  made  some  show  of  resistance.  Upon  being 
ordered  to  fire  by  Major  Cochrane  they  broke  and  fled  in  disor- 
der, and  the  militia  captured  thirty-nine  of  their  number.  The 
question  now  arose  as  to  what  should  be  their  punishment. 
They  had  been  guilty  of  treason  or  of  some  high  offence.  The 
leaders  were  brought  before  the  two  Houses  in  convention. 
French  made  very  humble  supplications  for  his  life.  Cochrane, 
who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  pled  for  pardon  with 
some  self-respect.  Both  stated  that  they  had  been  encouraged 
in  their  course  by  men  in  high  standing,  some  of  them  members 
of  the  legislature,  who  now  repudiated  all  connection  with  their 

*  William  Plumer,  Jr..  ii 


414  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/S/ 

acts.  The  leaders  now  became  as  anxious  to  get  rid  of  their 
captives  as  they  had  been  the  day  before  to  capture  them.  Most 
of  them  were  indicted,  but  allowed  at  the  next  term  of  court  to 
escape  without  punishment.  Such  as  were  church  members 
were  dealt  with  by  their  churches  ;  militia  officers  were  dis- 
missed from  the  service.  It  was  deemed  good  policy,  as  no 
blood  had  been  shed,  to  treat  this  first  attempt  at  armed  resist- 
ance to  the  Government  with  lenity,  yet  so  as  to  vindicate  the 
violated  authority  of  the  law,  thus  attacked  at  the  fountain  head. 

Littleton  is  a  part  of  the  territory  originally  granted  as  Chis- 
wick.i  Subsequently  it  was  called  Apthorp.  In  1784  it  was 
divided,  forming  the  present  towns  of  Littleton  and  Dalton. 
The  first  town  meeting  in  Littleton  appears  to  have  been 
held  on  the  19th  day  of  July,  1787,  at  the  house  of  Nathan 
Caswell,  the  first  settler  in  the  town,  the  same  having  been 
called  by  John  Young,  by  authority  granted  by  the  legislature, 
who  by  the  same  authority  served  as  moderator.  At  this  meet- 
ing Robert  Charlton  was  chosen  clerk,  Samuel  Larnard,  John 
Chase  and  Perley  Williams,  selectmen,  and  Sargent  Currier, 
constable.  Until  1809  the  town  was  classed  with  various  others, 
the  arrangement  being  changed  at  different  times,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  choosing  a  representative  to  the  General  Court.  The 
first  resident  of  Littleton  chosen  representative  was  James  Wil- 
liams, in  1794.  The  next  was  James  Rankin,  in  1798;  then 
David  Goodall,  from  1800  to  1806  inclusive,  the  class  then  in- 
cluding Littleton,  Dalton,  and  Bethlehem. ^ 

The  year  1787  is  memorable  as  that  in  which  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States  was  formed.  Highly  as  that  instrument  is 
now  prized,  it  was  not  received  with  much  favor  by  the  people 
on  its  first  promulgation.     It  met,  in  all  the  States,  with  many 

'  It  has  been  a  central  point  in  White  Mountain  travel  ever  since  tourists  and  pleasure  seekers  com- 
menced visiting  this  now  celebrated  region.  Even  before  the  construction  of  the  railroad,  it  was,  in 
the  summer  time,  a  great  stage  depot,  where  centred  the  various  lines  to  the  mountains  from  the  wes- 
tern approach.  It  is,  however,  since  the  construction  of  the  White  Mountains  Railroad,  which  was 
completed  to  this  point  in  1S53,  that  the  growth  of  the  place  in  population  and  business  importance  has 
mainly  occurred.  From  185.:!  until  1S70,  when  the  Boston,  Concord,  and  Montreal  Railroad,  having 
come  into  possession  of  the  White  Mountains  road,  extended  the  line  to  Lancaster  and  Fabyan's, 
Littleton  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  being  a  railroad  terminus,  which  contributed  materially  to  its 
development  as  a  trade  centre. 

2H.  H.  Metcalf. 


4l6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^^ 

opponents ;  and  in   several  it  was  adopted  only  after  rejaeated 
trials,  and  by  small  majorities. ^ 

In  more  than  half  the  States  its  ratification  was  accompanied 
by  proposed  amendments,  without  which  it  would  probably  have 
been  rejected.  A  government  for  the  Union  was  proposed  by 
constitution  for  the  first  time.  The  votes  of  the  Revolution- 
ary Congress  had  no  legislative  authority  ;  even  the  articles  of 
confederation,  which  went  into  operation  in  1781,  merely  formed 
a  league  or  alliance  between  independent  States.  The  people 
who  believed  in  establishing  a  strong  central  government  were 
called  Federalists;  those  who  believed  in  State  rights  were  soon 
called  Anti-Federalists.  After  its  ratification  the  friends  of  the 
first  two  administrations  retained  the  name  of  Federalists, 
while  their  opponents  took  that  of  Republicans.  The  Federal- 
ists were  succeeded  by  the  Whigs,  and  later  by  the  Republicans 
the  Anti-Federalists  became  Republicans,  and  at  length 
Democrats;  the  two  great  political  parties  into  which  the  people 
of  the  United  States  are  divided  at  the  present  time.  In  gen- 
eral the  Federalists  were  in  favor  of  a  liberal  construction  and 
exercise  of  the  powers  of  the  general  government ;  and  the  Re- 
publicans, in  theory  always,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  in  prac- 
tice, were  for  narrowing  down  those  powers  to  their  least  possible 
extent.  The  election  of  delegates  to  the  convention,  which  was 
to  accept  the  proposed  constitution  or  to  reject  it,  drew  into  two 
parties  the  people,  who  became  thoroughly  familiar  with  its  provi- 
sions from  frequent  private  and  public  discussions.  Men  equally 
honest  and  intelligent  belonged  to  both  parties. 

The  convention  chosen  to  accept  or  reject  in  behalf  of  the 
State  the  Federal  Constitution  met  at  the  Court  House  at 
Exeter,  February  13,  1788.  That  instrument  had  already  re- 
ceived the  approval  of  six  States.  Upon  the  meeting  of  the  dele- 
gates it  was  found  that  there  was  a  powerful  opposition  to  the 
proposed  form  of  government,  many  of  the  members  from  the 
_  smaller  towns  having  been  instructed  to  vote  against  it.  The 
convention  included  many  of  the  leading  men  of  the  State.  The 
leading' Federalists  were  John  Sullivan,  John  Langdon,  Samuel 

'  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


1788]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  '  417 

Langdon,  Samuel  Livermore,  Josiah  Bartlett,  John  Pickering, 
John  Taylor  Oilman,  and  Benjamin  Bellows.  The  leaders  of  the 
opposition  were  Joseph  Badger,  Joshua  Atherton,  William  Hooper, 
Matthias  Stone,  Abiel  Parker,  and  Jonathan  Dow.  During  the 
early  debates  it  seemed  that  the  opponents  of  the  constitution  had 
a  majority  in  the  convention.  The  friends  of  the  Union  did 
not  dare  to  let  a  decisive  vote  be  taken,  and  after  a  session  of 
seven  days  brought  about  an  adjournment,  in  order  to  let  those 
delegates  whom  they  had  won  over  return  to  their  constituents 
for  different  instructions.  The  convention  again  assembled  in 
June,  at  Concord,  and  in  the  meanwhile  two  more  States  had 
voted  to  accept  the  constitution.  Thus  devolved  upon  New 
Hampshire  the  responsibility  of  casting  the  ninth  or  decisive 
vote,  which  would  put  the  new  form  of  government  in  operation. 
New  York  and  Virginia  were  considering  the  measure,  in  con- 
vention, at  the  same  time.  June  21,  by  a  vote  of  57  yeas  to  47 
nays  the  New  Hampshire  convention  voted  to  accept  the  federal 
constitution,  but  at  the  same  time  proposed  several  amendments. 
A  messenger  was  sent  post  haste  to  notify  the  convention  then 
sitting  in  New  York,  and  undoubtedly  caused  favorable  action 
in  that  body. 

Tradition  asserts  that  one  delegate,  of  pronounced  Anti-Fed- 
eral convictions,  was  being  "dined  and  wined"  at  the  house  of 
Judge  Walker  at  the  time  the  decisive  vote  was  being  taken, 
and  failed  to  have  his  vote  recorded. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  in  the  fall  of  1788  the  choice 
of  two  senators  to  the  first  Congress  of  the  United  States  under  the 
new  constitution  devolved  upon  it.  The  two  Houses  refused  to 
meet  in  convention  and  accordingly  voted    separately  by  ballot. 

In  the  House  John  Langdon  had  all  but  three  votes,  where- 
upon William  Plumer  offered  a  resolution  declaring  that  Mr. 
Langdon  was  duly  elected,  and  called  for  the  yeas  and  nays,  tluis 
putting  every  member's  vote  on  record.  His  object  did  not  ap- 
l)ear  at  the  time,  but  was  understood,  when  the  ballot  for  the 
second  senator  was  taken,  to  establish  a  precedent.  The  two 
candidates  were  Josiah  Bartlett  and  Nathaniel  Peabody  ;  and  the 
latter,  an   Anti-Federalist,    had  a    considerable   majority,  which 


4l8  HISTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSIIIRK.  [l/SS 

was  reduced  to  two  on  the  roll  call,  Mr.  Plumer,  in  a  plain  and 
forcible  speech,  having  denounced  Mr.  Peabody  as  unfit  for  the 
office,  and  extolled  Dr.  Bartlett.  It  had  the  desired  effect  on 
Mie  Senate,  which  sent  down  the  name  of  Dr.  Bartlett:  and  he 
was  finally  elected.  Dr.  Bartlett  declined  the  honor,  however  ; 
and  Paine  Wingate  was  chosen  in  his  place.  Mr.  Peabody  felt 
mortified  and  provoked  at  the  result,  talked  loudly  of  his  vio- 
lated honor,  and  threatened  to  chastise  his  assailant.  A  prompt 
intimation  that  more  or  worse  would  be  said  if  he  moved  far- 
ther put  an  end  to  his  threats,  though  not  to  his  hostility. 

At  the  December  session  of  the  legislature  to  count  the  votes 
for  electors  and  announce  the  result  it  was  found  there  had 
been  no  choice  by  the  people-  Again  the  Senate  refused  to 
meet  the  House  in  convention,  causing  an  exciting  and  angry 
controversy  ;  but  the  House  at  the  last  moment  yielded  the 
point.  President  Sullivan  violently  opposed  the  claim  of  the 
Senate,  while  William  Plumer  favored  it.^ 

2  Few  if  any  of  the  original  thirteen  States  had  an  abler  or  more 
influential  representation  in  the  various  Continental  Congresses 
by  which  the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  directed  than  New 
Hampshire,  a  representation  which  was  continued,  in  point  of 
ability  and  influence,  in  the  various  congresses  which  met  under 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  until  the  constitution  was  adop- 
ted, and  the  first  Congress  met  at  New  York  in  1789.  From  the 
meeting  of  the  first  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  Sep- 
tember 5,  1774,  to  the  adjournment  of  the  last  Congress  under 
the  Confederation,  at  New  York,  October  21,  1778,  New  Hamp- 
shire was  represented  by  eighteen  of  her  wisest  and  most 
prominent  men.  Several  of  these,  as  for  instance  Nathaniel 
Folsom,  John  Langdon,  Samuel  Livermore,  and  John  Sullivan, 
served  for  several  terms,  having  been  engaged  in  other  patriotic 
service  in  the  intervals  between  their  terms  of  service. 

When  the  first  Continental  Congress  met  at  Philadelphia, 
September  5,  1774,  New  Hampshire  had  two  representatives, 
Nathaniel  P'^olsom  and  John  Sullivan. 

'  Willi.mi  I'lunit-r,  Jr.  -  W.  I'.  Wliitclier. 


1788]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    COXSTITL'TIOX.  4I9 

Nathaniel  Folsom  was  born  at  Exeter,  in  17^6.  He  early  evinced  ability 
which  gave  him  prominence  in  the  affairs  of  the  Province.  In  the  Seven 
^'ears'  War  he  served  as  captain  in  the  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel 
Blanchard.  He  was  active  in  militia  affairs,  and  commanded  the  4th 
regiment  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the 
first  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia.  In  April,  1775,  he  was  appointed 
brigadier-general  to  command  the  State  troops  sent  to  Massachusetts,  and 
iierved  during  the  siege  of  Boston.  He  was  subsequently  major-general.  He 
was  again  a  delegate  to  the  congresses  which  met  at  Lancaster,  Penn.. 
Philadelphia,  York,  and  Philadelphia,  serving  the  whole  time  in  the  first 
three  of  these  congresses,  and  about  a  year,  1779-S0,  in  the  last.  In  each  of 
these  he  was  regarded  as  a  valuable  member.  In  177S  he  was  a  member  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Executive  Council,  and  was  the  President  of  the  State 
constitutional  convention  which  prepared  the  first  constitution  of  the  State 
in  17S3.  He  died  at  Exeter,  where,  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  he  had  his 
home,  May  26,  1790. 

John  Sullivan. 

Josiah  Bartlett. 

John  Langdon,  born  in  Portsmouth,  June  25,  1741,  was  one  of  the  most 
active  citizens  of  the  Slate  in  the  movements  leading  to  the  Revolution.  He 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Second  Continental  Congress,  and  was  appointed  con- 
tinental navv  agent.  Largely  at  his  own  expense  he  equipped  General 
Stark's  regiment  which  won  the  battle  of  Bennington.  He  was  elected  to  the 
Continental  Congress  in  1786;  was  for  a  number  of  years  a  member  of  the 
State  House  of  Representatives  and  several  times  speaker.  He  was  elected 
president  of  the  State  in  17S8,  and  United  States  senator  in  17S9  and  in  1795. 
He  was  elected  governor  in  1S05,  1806,  1S07,  1808,  and  iSio.  He  declined  the 
office  of  secretary  of  the  navy  offered  to  him  by  President  Jefferson,  and  the 
office  of  vice-president  tendered  by  the  Democratic  delegation  in  18x2.  He 
died  in  Portsmouth.  September  18,  1819,  mourned  as  one  of  the  most  honored 
and  distinguished  citizens  of  the  .State. 

Woodbury  Langdon.  an  older  brother  of  John,  was  born  at  Portsmouth 
in  1739,  and,  like  his  brother,  early  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  He 
served  for  about  a  year,  1779-1780,  in  the  Continental  Congress,  rendering 
^'aluable  service  in  the  councils  of  the  time.  For  three  years,  from  1781  to 
1784,  he  ^vas  a  member  of  the  State  Executive  Council.  In  1782  he  was  ap- 
pointed one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  serving  but  a 
short  time,  however.  In  17S6  he  was  again  appointed,  serving  till  1790.  He 
died  at  Portsmouth,  January  13,  1805. 

One  of  the  most  honored  names  in  New  Hampshire's  early  history  is  that 
of  Matthew  Thornton.  He  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1714,  and  came,  when  a 
mere  lad,  to  America,  living  for  a  while  at  Wiscasset,  Me.  Removing  to 
Worcester,  he  received  an  academic  education,  studied  medicine,  and 
began  his  practice  in  the  historic  town  of  Londonderry.  In  the  famous 
expedition  of  Sir  William  Pepperrell  against  Louisburg  he  served  as 
surgeon,  and  was  afterward  prominently  connected  with  the  colonial  militia, 


420  inSTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/SS 

holding  for  several  years  a  commission  as  colonel,  lie  was  a  member  of  the 
convention  which  declared  New  Hampshire  to  be  a  sovereign  State.  He  served 
in  the  Continental  Congress  from  1776  to  177S,  and  in  the  latter  vear  resigned 
to  accept  the  chief  justiceship  of  Hillsborough  county.  He  held  this  position 
only  about  two  years,  resigning  to  accept  an  appointment  on  the  supreme 
bench  of  the  Slate.  In  17S3  he  was  a  member  of  the  State  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  the  next  year  of  the  State  Senate.  The  year  following  hewa& 
a  member  of  the  Executive  Council,  but  soon  afterward  removed  to  Massa- 
chusetts. He  died  at  Newburyport,  Mass.,  June  24,  1804,  in  his  ninety- 
iirst  year. 

William  Whipple,  born  at  Kittery,  January  14,  1730,  received  his  education 
on  board  a  vessel,  being  bred  a  sailor,  and  was  in  command  of  a  vessel  in  the 
African  trade  before  he  reached  his  twenty-first  birthday.  During  the  Seven 
Years'  War  he  retired  from  a  seafaring  life  and  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits,  at  Portsmouth,  in  which  he  was  remarkably  successful.  In 
1775  iie  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  tak'-^g  his- 
seat  in  May;  was  re-elected  in  1776,  taking  his  seat  in  February,  in  time  to 
immortalize  himself  as  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration.  He  was  again 
elected  in  177S,  but  did  not  take  his  seat  till  some  time  after  the  opening  of 
the  congress,  as  in  the  meantime  he  had  accepted  the  command  of  a  brigade 
for  the  defence  of  Rhode  Island.  He  declined  further  re-elections  to  Con- 
gress which  were  tendered  him,  and  resigned  his  military  commission,  June 
20,  1782.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Assembly',  1780-1784;  superinten- 
dent of  finance  of  the  State,  17S2-1784.  In  1782  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of 
the  State  Supreme  Court,  holding  the  position  till  obliged  to  relinquish  it  on 
account  of  disease.  While  captain  of  a  vessel  in  the  African  trade  he  engaged 
to  some  extent  in  the  slave-trade,  but  after  the  opening  of  the  war  of  the 
Revolution  he  emancipated  all  his  slaves,  and  refused  to  assist  General  Wash- 
ington in  the  recovery  of  a  servant  of  Mrs.  Washington,  who  had  run  away 
and  taken  refuge  in  New  Hampshire.  Captain  Whipple,  as  he  was  familiarly 
called,  died  suddenly,  of  heart  disease,  November  28,  1785. 

George  Frost  was  born  at  Newcastle,  April  26,  1727,  and  after  receiving  a 
public  school  education,  entered  the  employ  of  his  uncle,  the  celebrated  mer- 
chant. Sir  William  Pepperrell,  at  Kittery  Point.  For  several  years  he  followed 
a  seafaring  life  as  supercargo  and  captain,  but  in  1770  abandoned  the  sea  and 
removed  to  Durham.  He  was  made  a  judge  of  the  Strafford  county  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  in  1773,  and  served  till  1791,  for  several  of  these  years  being 
chief  justice.  He  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress  in  1777, 
and  served,  rendering  good  service,  till  1779.  For  the  three  years  17S1-17S4  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council.  Resigning  his  seat  on  the  bench 
at  the  age  of  seventy,  he  retired  to  private  life,  and  died  at  Durham,  June  2iy 
1796,  in  his  seventy-seventh  year. 

Little  needs  to  be  said  of  the  Wentworths,  a  familyof  the  first  prominence  in 
the  colonial  and  early  history  of  New  Hampshire,  and  the  list  of  members  of 
the  Continental  Congress  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  complete  unless  it  em- 
braced the  name  of  a  Wentworth.    John  Wentworth,  Jr.,  was  born  at  Somers- 


1788]  STATE    UNDER    FIKST    CONSTITUTION.  42I 

worth,  July  17,  1745,  ^^'^  graduated  at  Harvard  College  m  the  class  of 
176S.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  commenced  the  practice  of  law 
at  Dover  in  1770.  This  same  year  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Joiii> 
Wentworth  register  of  probate  for  Strafford  county.  Was  a  member  of  the 
State  House  of  Representatives  from  1776  to  17S0,  and  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Continental  Congress  for  nearly  the  whole  of  1778  and  1779.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate  17S1-1784,  and  of  the  Executive  Council  1780— 
17S4.  He  was  recognized  as  a  man  of  the  most  brilliant  talents  and  of  great 
promise,  and  his  early  death,  which  occurred  at  Dover,  January  10,  17S7,  was^ 
deeply  regretted  by  all  the  people  of  the  State. 

Nathaniel  Peabody  was  born  at  Topsfield,  Massachusetts,  March  i,  1741. 
He  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Jacob  Peabody,  with  whom  he  studied  medicine,  and 
after  being  licensed  commenced  practice  at  Plaistow  in  1761. 

He  was  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel  in  the  militia  in  1774,  and  was  the  first  man  in  the  pro- 
vince to  resign  a  royal  commission.  He  was  elected  one  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety  January  10,  1776,  and  was  appointed  adjutant-general  of  the  State 
militia  July  19,  1779.  He  was  elected  to  the  Continental  Congress  in  1779, 
and  again  in  1786,  but  the  latter  time  did  not  act.  He  was  for  eight  years  a 
member  of  the  State  legislature,  and  in  1793  was  elected  speaker.  Few  men 
rendered  the  State  better  service  in  both  civil  and  military  capacity  during 
the  Revolutionary  period,  but  in  his  last  years  he  became  financially  em- 
barrassed and  died  in  jail  at  Exeter,  June  27,  1S23,  where  he  had  been  impris- 
oned for  debt. 

Of  Philip  White  little  is  known  beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  was  probably  a  member  of  the  family  of  Whites  that  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Rockingham  county.  He  served  a  short  time  as 
one  of  the  delegates  from  New  Hampshire  in  the  Continental  Congress  that 
met  at  Philadelphia,  July  2,  1778.  His  term  of  service  was  in  the  latter  part 
of  17S2  and  during  the  early  months  of  1783.  Like  some  congressmen  of  the 
present  day  he  was  not  much  heard  from,  and  made  no  enduring  mark. 

Livermore  is  one  of  the  honored  names  of  New  Hampshire  history.  Sam- 
uel Livermore  in  17S0  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
taking  his  seat  in  February  of  that  year,  but  resigned  in  June,  1782,  to  accept 
the  chief  justiceship  of  the  New  Hampshire  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

Jonathan  Blanchard  served  in  the  Continental  Congress  in  1783-84. 

Abiel  Foster,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church  in  Canterbury,  was  a 
member  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1783  and  1784,  and  was  several  times 
elected  to  Congress  under  the  Constitution. 

John  Taylor  Oilman  is  perhaps  best  known  to  students  of  New  Hampshire 
as  the  man  who  held  for  the  longest  period  the  chief  executive  ofHce.  His 
father  was  for  a  long  time  receiver-general  of  the  Province,  and  afterward  of 
the  State,  and  he  was  for  several  years  assistant  to  his  father.  In  17S2-1783 
hewasa  delegate  from  New  Hampshire  to  the  Continental  Congress.  In  1794 
he  was  elected  governor  as  a  Federalist,  and  was  re-elected  each  year  till  1805, 
when  he  was  defeated  by  John  Langdon,  Democrat,  hy  nearly  4000  majoritv. 


422  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l?^^ 

In  1812  he  was  again  the  Federal  candidate,  but  failing  a  majority  of  votes  by 
the  people,  his  opponent  WilliaTi  Plumer  was  elected  by  the  legislature.  In 
j^8i3  he  was  again  elected  governor  by  a  majority  of  500  votes,  and  was  re- 
-elected  in  1814  and  1815,  each  time  by  about  the  same  majority.  Governor 
•Gilman  well  earned  the  title  of  being  the  Federal  governor  ^ar  excellence  of 
the  State.  He  was  born  in  Exeter,  December  19,  1753 ;  and  died  there 
August  21,  1S2S. 

His  brother,  Nicholas  Gilman,  was  born  at  Exeter  in  1762,  and  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  war  as  lieutenant,  captain,  adjutant,  and  adjutant-general.  From 
1786  to  1788  he  was  the  youngest  member  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  first,  second,  third  and  fourth  congresses,  serving  till 
March3,  1797,  when  he  took  his  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate  as  a  Democrat. 
His  election  to  this  position  was  the  first  break  in  the  New  England  Federa- 
lists in  the  Senate,  who  up  to  this  had  been  solidly  Federal.  He  was  re-elec- 
ted in  1805,  and  again  in  181 1,  and  died  at  Philadelphia,  on  his  way  home, 
Mav  3,  1814.  Congress  had  adjourned  April  18.  During  his  senatorial 
career  he  was  as  ardent  a  Democrat  as  was  his  brother  John  Taylor  a  Fed- 
eralist. 

Pierce  Long  was  a  native  of  Portsmouth ;  born  in  1739,  he  became,  on 
reaching  manhood,  a  partner  with  his  father  in  the  shipping  business.  In 
1775  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  Hampshire,  and  on 
the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  served  in  the  Revolutionary  army  as  colonel 
of  the  fst  New  Hampshire  regiment,  especially  distinguisliing  himself  at 
Ticonderoga.  In  1784,  1785,  and  part  of  1786  he  was  an  efficient  member 
of  the  Continental  Congress.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council 
1786-1789,  and  member  also  of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention  of  1788. 
In  1789  he  was  appointed  by  President  Washington  collector  of  customs  at 
Portsmouth,  where  he  died  April  3,  1799. 

Paine  Wingate  was  another  of  New  Hampshire's  members  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  who  was  liberally  educated.  He  was  born  at  Amesbury, 
Massachusetts,  May  14,  1739,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1759.  Like  Abiel 
Foster  he  studied  theology,  and  December  14,  1763,  was  ordained  over  the 
church  at  Hampton  Falls,  remaining  as  its  minister  till  March  18, 17S1,  when 
lie  was  dismissed;  removed  to  Stratham  and  engaged  in  farming.  In  the 
latter  part  of  1787  and  the  former  part  of  17S8  he  served  for  a  brief  period  in 
the  Continental  Congress,  and  was  one  of  the  first  United  States  senators 
from  New  Hampshire,  serving  four  years  from  March  4,  1789.  He  was  elec- 
ted representative  to  the  third  Congress,  serving  two  years.  From  1798  to 
1809  he  was  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  retiring  when  he  reached 
his  seventieth  birthday.  He  passed  his  last  years  in  Stratham,  dying  there 
March  7,  1S38,  having  nearly  completed  his  ninety-ninth  year.  His  life,  cov- 
ering as  it  did  the  field  of  theology,  politics  and  law,  extending  through  nearly 
a  century,  was  a  remarkable  one. 

These  eighteen  names  deserve  to  be  placed  on  New  Hampshire's  roll  of 
honor.  They  belong  to  men  whose  lives,  services,  and  character  had  an  in- 
calculable influence  in  making  New  Hampshire  what  it  has  been  and  is,  in 


I 


1788]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    COXSTITUTIOX.  423 

giving    it    its    honorable    place   in    American    historv.      Tlse    names  of  tiiese 

patriots  are  wortliv  to  be  held   in  remembrance  by  every  son  of  the   Granite 

State. 

< 

The  following  account  of  the  custom  and  post  offices  is  from 
the  pen  of  the  late  Hon.  Tlios.  L.  Tullock,  a  native  of  Portsmouth: 
About  the  year  1675  Sampson  Sb.eafe,  senior,  was  collector  of 
the  port  of  Piscataqua,  and  continued  in  office  a  few  years.  Dur- 
ing his  administration  several  vessels  were  seized  for  a  violation 
■of  the  revenue  laws,  or  the  laws  of  "trade  and  navigation."  He 
was  successful  as  a  merchant  ;  honored  as  one  of  His  Majesty's 
Council,  and  also  as  secretary  of  the  Province.  His  descendants 
became  prominent  and  wealthy  citizens  of  the  Province.  His 
great-grandson,  the  Hon.  James  Sheafe,  an  opulent  merchant  of 
Portsmouth,  was  a  member  of  the  Sixth  Congress  and  a  United 
States  senator.  He  was  also  the  Federal  candidate  for  governor 
of  New  Hampshire  in  18 16,  but  was  defeated  by  William  Plu- 
mer.     Mr.  Sheafe  died  December  5,  1829,  aged  seventy-four. 

In  1680  Edward  Randolph  was  the  collector  of  customs  for 
New  England,  and  Walter  Barefoote  was  deputy  collector. 

In  1692  Phesant  ILstwick  was  the  deputy  collector  of  the  port 
of  Portsmouth. 

About  the  year  1700  Samuel  Penhallow  was  appointed  col- 
lector. He  was  an  eminent  citizen,  one  of  the  governor's  Coun- 
cil, chief  justice  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Judicature  in  1717, 
recorder  of  deeds,  treasurer  of  the  Province,  and  held  other 
responsible  positions.  He  married  a  daughter  of  President  John 
Cutt,  and  inherited  in  his  wife's  right  a  large  estate.  He  died  in 
December,  1726,  aged  sixty-two. 

Hon.  Theodore  Atkinson,  senior,  who  died  September  22, 
1779,  aged  eighty-two,  was  for  many  years  the  secretary  of  the 
Province,  and  held  other  offices  of  reputation,  such  as  president 
of  council,  and  chief  justice  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Judicature. 
He  was  the  son  of  Hon.  Theodore  Atkinson,  of  Newcastle, 
and  the  father  of  Hon.  Theodore  Atkinson,  junior,  and 
preceded  and  succeeded  him  in  the  office  of  secretary  of  the 
Province.  He  had  also  been  collector  of  customs,  naval  officer 
of  the  port,  and  sheriff  of  the   Province  ;  but  Jonat'nan    Belcher, 


424  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  I789 

of  Boston,  when  appointed  in  1730  governor  of  Massachusetts 
and  New  Hampshire,  removed  Mr.  Atkinson  from  the  office  of 
collector,  and  appointed  Richard  Wibird  in  his  stead.  He  also 
displaced  him  as  naval  officer  ;  and  Captain  Ellis  Huske  suc- 
ceeded to  the  office.  Mr.  Atkinson  was  however  continued  as 
sheriff.  Mr  Atkinson  married  the  daughter  of  Lieut. -Governor 
John  Went  worth. 

Lieut.-Gov.  John  Temple,  surveyor  general  of  His  Majesty's 
customs  in  the  northern  part  of  America,  appointed  Theodore 
Atkinson,  jr.,  deputy  collector  of  the  customs  at  Piscataqua. 
James  Nevin,  a  native  of  Scotland,  a  post  captain  in  the  British 
navy,  and  also  one  of  His  Majesty's  Council,  was  collector  of  the 
customs  for  the  port  of  Portsmouth,  and  was  succeeded  by  John 
Hughes.  Robert  Hallowell  succeeded  him,  remaining  in  Ports- 
mouth about  one  year,  until  1772,  when  he  was  transferred  to 
Boston. 

George  Meserve,  a  native  of  Portsmouth,  son  of  Colonel  Nath- 
aniel Meserve,  who  rendered  highly  meritorious  services  at  the 
first  and  second  siege  of  Louisburg,  as  well  as  at  Crown  Point 
and  Fort  Edward,  and  died  at  Louisburg  in  1758,  was  the  agent 
for  the  distribution  of  stamps  in  New  Hampshire.  He  was  in 
England  in  1765,  when  the  Stamp  Act  passed.  His  commis- 
sion reached  Portsmouth  in  1766  ;  but  the  Act  was  particularly 
obnoxious  to  the  people  of  the  Province,  and  the  Sons  of  Liberty 
at  Portsmouth  were  so  active  and  positive  in  their  opposition, 
that  Mr.  Meserve  declined  to  qualify,  not  deeming  it  prudent  to 
accept  the  trust.  To  compensate  him  for  the  disappointment 
and  loss  of  the  office,  he  was  appointed  comptroller  of  customs 
for  the  port  of  Boston  ;  but  with  the  consent  of  the  Crown,  Mr. 
Hallowell,  the  collector  at  Portsmouth,  exchanged  offices  with 
him,  and  he  returned  to  Portsmouth,  where  he  was  collector  of 
the  port  in  1772. 

Robert  Trail,  v/ho  married  Mary  Whipple,  the  sister  of  Joseph, 
the  collector  of  customs,  and  William  Whipple,  one  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  at  one  time  the 
comptroller  of  the  port  at  Portsmouth  —  an  office  not  continued 
under  the  present  organization  of  tlic  government. 


1789]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  425 

Eleazer  Russell  was  naval  officer,  and  virtually  for  a  time  the 
collector  of  the  port.  He  was  an  unmarried  man,  very  precise 
and  careful.  It  is  related  of  him  that  "  when  a  vessel  arrived 
and  the  papers  were  carried  to  the  custom  house,  Mr.  Russell 
would  receive  them  with  the  tongs  and  submit  them  to  a  smok- 
ing" before  he  examined  them,"  being  "  always  in  great  fear  of 
5mall-pox  or  foreign  epidemics."  He  was  connected  with  the 
customs  September  9,  1776,  for  he  wrote  on  that  day  a  letter  of 
considerable  length  to  Hon.  Meshech  Weare  in  relation  to 
maritime  fees  charged  and  collected.  May  23,  1783,  he  was 
instructed  by  President  Weare  to  allow  British  vessels  to 
•enter  the  port,  as  the  reasons  for  excluding  them  had  ceased. 

Colonel  Pierce  Long  was  appointed  by  Washington  collector 
in  1789,  but  died  in  April  before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  the 
office.  Colonel  Long  was  a  successful  merchant,  an  influential 
member  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  was  particularly  distin- 
guished for  his  military  and  civic  services. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  appointed  general  deputy  postmaster 
in  1753,  and  in  the  following  year  startled  the  people  of  the  col- 
onies by  giving  notice  that  the  mails  for  New  England,  which 
theretofore  had  left  Philadelphia  once  a  fortnight  in  winter, 
would  start  once  a  week  throughout  the  year.  In  1760  he  pro- 
posed to  run  stage  wagons  between  Philadelphia  and  Boston  for 
the  conveyance  of  the  mail,  one  starting  from  each  city  on  Mon- 
day morning,  and  reaching  its  destination  by  Saturday  night. 

Franklin  was  removed  from  office   by  the  British  ministry  in 

1774.  The  Continental  Congress  appointed  a  committee  to  de- 
vise a    system  of  post-office   communication,  and    on   July    26, 

1775,  a  report  was  submitted,  and  the  plan  proposed  was  adopted, 
whereupon  Dr.  Franklin  was  appointed  postmaster-general. 

Jeremiah  Libbey  was  postmaster  at  Portsmouth  in  1776. 

In  1790  the  general  post-office  was  located  in  New  York  city, 
at  which  time  there  were  1875  miles  of  post-roads  established 
in  the  United  States.  Now  the  aggregate  length  of  routes,  in- 
cluding all  classes  of  service,  would  probably  reach  over  350,000 
miles.  In  1790  there  were  only  seventy-five  post-offices.  Now 
there  are  over  50,000.     The  entire  revenue  from  postages  in  1790 


426  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^7^9 

was  less  than  sixteen  thousand  dollars.      Now  it  aggregates  up- 
wards of  forty-two  million  dollars. 

In  April,  1 761,  John  Stavers,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  and  the 
proprietor  of  noted  hostelries  in  his  day,  commenced  running  a 
stage  between  Portsmouth  and  Boston.  A  curricle,  or  large 
stage  chair,  drawn  by  two  horses  and  sufficiently  wide  to  comfort- 
ably accommodate  three  persons,  was  the  vehicle  used,  and  is  repre- 
sented to  have  been  the  first  regular  stage  line  established  in  Amer- 
ica. The  journey  was  performed  once  a  week.  The  conveyance 
started  on  Monday  for  Boston  and  returning  arrived  at  Ports- 
mouth on  Friday.  An  advertisement  announcing  the  enterprise 
reads:  "  It  will  be  contrived  to  carry  four  persons  beside  the  driv- 
er. In  case  only  two  persons  go,  they  may  be  accommodated  to 
carry  things  of  bulk  or  value  to  make  a  third  or  fourth  person." 
After  one  month's  successful  service,  public  notice  was  given 
"that  five  passengers  would  be  carried,"  leaving  Portsmouth  on 
Tuesday,  "and  arrive  back  Saturday  night." 

In  May,  1763,  "  The  Portsmouth  Flying  Stage  Coach,"  with 
four  or  six  horses  according  to  the  condition  of  the  roads,  started 
from  the  "Earl  of  Halifax"  inn,  kept  by  John  Stavers,  on 
Queen,  now  State  street,  near  the  easterly  end,  toward  the  Pis- 
cataqua  river.  The  new  "  P^arl  of  Halifax"  hotel  was  first  oc- , 
cupied  about  1770,  and  was  a  commodious  three-storied  wooden 
structure,  situated  on  the  corner  of  Pitt  (changed  to  Court)  and 
Atkinson  streets,  and  is  now  occupied  as  a  tenement  house.  The 
stable,  a  very  large  and  spacious  building  which  sheltered  the 
horses  belonging  to  the  "  P'lying  Stage  Coach,"  as  well  as  those  of 
travellers,  is  on  the  corner  of  Atkinson  and  Jefferson  streets,  and  in 
the  rear  of  the  public-house.  The  inns  had  been  respectively 
named,  first  "  P2arl  of  Halifax,"  and  afterward  "  William  Pitt," 
and  had  furnished  comfortable  quarters  for  Washington,  Lafay- 
ette, Hancock,  Gerry,  Knox,  Sullivan,  Rutledge,  Louis  Philippe, 
and  many  other  illustrious  personages.  The  driver  attached  to 
the  "  Flying  Stage  Coach"  was  Bartholomew  Stavers,  undoubt- 
edly the  first  regular  stage  driver  north  of  Boston,  if  not  in  the 
country. 

One  of  the  earliest  mail  pouches,  if  not  the  first  in  use  on  the 


428  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/QO 

route,  and  of  not  greater  capacity  than  a  common  hand  satchel, 
is  preserved  among  the  curiosities  at  the  Portsmouth  Athen- 
seum. 

Eleazer  Russell,  a  great-grandson  of  John  Cutt,  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Province,  held  several  government  positions.  At  one 
time  he  was  naval  officer  of  the  port,  and  also  the  sole  postmas- 
ter of  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  and  was  distinguished  as 
the  first  postmaster  in  the  State.  All  letters  addressed  to  New 
Hampshire  were  deposited  in  his  office,  and  remained  there  un- 
til sent  for  from  other  towns.  Mr.  Brewster,  in  his  "  Rambles  " 
numbered  forty-seven,  gives  quite  an  interesting  account  of  this 
very  precise  and  dignified  public  functionary,  with  "  cock  hat  and 
wig,  a  light  coat  with  full  skirts,  a  long  vest  with  pocket  pads, 
light  small  clothes,  with  bright  knee  buckles,  and  more  ponder- 
ous buckles  on  his  shoes."  For  several  years  Portsmouth  had 
the  only  post-office  in  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Elea- 
zer Russell  filled  most  acceptably  the  office  of  postmaster  as  well 
as  naval  officer.  His  residence,  which  was  the  custom  house 
as  well  as  the  first  post-office,  was  located  near  the  old  ferry  ways 
where  the  stone  store  now  stands,  opposite  the  intersection  of 
Russell  with  Market  street. 

In  the  Committee  of  Safety,  at  Exeter,  July  27,  1781,  pursu- 
ant to  a  vote  of  the  General  Assembly  of  June  27,  1781,  author- 
izing the  establishment  of  a  post  to  ride  from  Portsmouth  to  the 
western  part  of  New  Hampshire,  John  Balch,  of  Keene,  was  ap- 
pointed post-rider  for  three  months,  at  the  compensation  of  sev- 
enty dollars  in  hard  money  for  the  entire  service.  The  route 
was  from  Portsmouth  via  Concord  and  Plymouth  to  Haverhill ; 
thence  down  the  Connecticut  river  through  Charlestovvn  and 
Keene  to  Portsmouth  ;  the  trip  to  be  performed  in  each  and 
every  fourteen  days,  the  committee  reserving  the  right  to  alter 
the  route  if  the  public  good  or  convenience  should  require  any 
change. 

Dr.  Josiah  Bartlett,  of  Kingston,  was  elected  president  of  the 
State  in  1790,  succeeding  John  Sullivan.  Dr.  Bartlett  was  very 
distinguished  in  the  early  annals  of  the  State.  He  was  born  in 
Amesbury,  MassachusettSjin  November,  1727,  studied  medicine, 


1790]  ST^TE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  429 

settled  in  Kingston,  and  soon  acquired  a  large  practice  by  his 
skill  in  surgery ,/and  in  the  study  of  the  human  frame.  He  was 
■early  noted  for /uprightness  and  decision  of  character. 

Governdr  John  Wentworth  gave  him  the  command  of  a  regiment  of 
mill  ia. 

In  1765  Dr  Bartlett  was  first  elected  a  representative  from  Kingston  to  the 
legislature,  where  he  soon  became  distinguished,  as  a  leader  of  the  opposi- 
tion. 

In  February,  1775,  Dr.  Bartlett  received  a  letter  notifying  him  that  his 
name  had  been  erased  from  the  commission  of  the  peace  for  the  county  of 
Rockingham,  and  that  he  had  been  dismissed  from  his  colonelcy  in  the 
militia.     Other  patriots  were  treated  in  the  same  way. 

In    the  summer  of  1775  Dr.  Bartlett  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  and  he  set  out  for  Philadelphia  in  the  following  September. 
When  Congress  decided  to  take  a  vote  on  the  subject  of  independence,  they 
begun  with   the  northernmost  colony,  New  Hampshire.     Dr.  Bartlett's  name 
was  called  first,  and  he  voted   in  the  affirmative.     The  other  members  were 
then  appealed  to  in  rotation  until   they  came  to  Georgia,   the  southernmost 
colony.     The  president  of  Congress,  John  Hancock,  was  the  first  to  sign  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.     Josiah  Bartlett  was  the  second  who  did  so. 
In  17S0  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 
In  1782  he  was  appointed  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  he  held  that 
position  until  17S8,  when  he  was  made  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

It  does  not  appear  that  he  had  any  special  legal  training  for  the  bench, 
but  few  of  the  judges  had  in  those  days.  But  he  had  many  of  the  requisites 
that  generally  go  far  towards  the  making  of  a  sound  justice,  viz.,  honesty, 
good  sense,  and  a  large  knowledge  of  books  and  men.  In  the  somewhat  un- 
settled state  of  the  colonies,  judges  were  not  so  much  called  upon  to  resolve 
line  points  of  law  as  they  are  at  the  present  time. 

Dr.  Bartlett  was  elected  president  of  the  State  in  1790,  and  also  in  ijgi- 
When  the  new  constitution  went  into  effect,  in  1792,  the  title  was  changed 
to  that  of  governor.     Dr.  Bartlett  was  elected  governor  in    1792    and  in   1793, 
thus  being  the  first  governor  of  the  State. 

In  1792  Governor  Bartlett  was  one  of  the  electors  of  president  and  vice- 
president. 

In  1794  he  retired  from  the  gubernatorial  chair.  He  was  also  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  but  could  not  accept  because  of  poor  health.  He 
was  a  staunch  Federalist  in  politics,  an  active  member  in,  and  president  of, 
the  New  Hampshire  Medical  Society. 

He  was  a  man  of  fine  figure,  being  six  feet  in  height,  and  of  erect  bearing. 
His  face  was  thoughtful  and  expressive,  and  he  had  handsome  blue  eyes. 
He  wore  his  auburn  hair  in  a  queue,  and  had  a  white  stock  at  his  throat,  and 
ruffles  on  his  wrists.  He  wore  knee  breeches,  black  silk  stockings,  and  low 
shoes  with  silver  buckles,  the  prevailing  style  for  gentlemen  at  that  time.  He 
was  affable,  but  dignified,  in  manner.     In  religion  he  was  a  Universalist 


430  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [179^ 

In  Kingston,  at  a  little  distance  back  from  the  large  and  well-kept  green, 
on  higher  ground,  stands  the  imposing,  old-fashioned  house  built  by  Josiah 
Bartlett.  White  oak  was  the  material  chiefly  used  in  its  construction.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  common  stands  the  village  tavern.  Just  beyond  the  old 
hostelry  lies  that  part  of  the  hamlet  which  slowly  but  surely  encroaches  upon 
the  busy  portion. 

In  one  corner  rest  the  remains  of  Josiah  Bartlett,  who  died  of  paralysis 
May  19,  1795,  in  the  sixty-fifth  3'ear  of  his  age.  A  simple  inonument  of  cut 
granite  marks  the  spot,  a  fitting  covering  for  one  of  New  Hampshire's  most 
honored  sons.' 

Josiah  Bartlett  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Ordway  when 
only  sixteen  years  of  age.  But  prior  to  this  he  obtained  a  rudimentary 
knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek.  He  soon  exhausted  Dr.  Ordway's  meager 
library,  and  subsequently  other  libraries  in  that  section,  among  which  was 
Rev.  Dr.  Webster's  of  Salisbury.  After  five  years  of  study,  Dr.  Bartlett 
settled  in  Kingston  in  1750,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

That  fine  discretionaiy  judgment  which  ever  characterized  his  public  life- 
was  early  manifested  in  his  methods  of  practice  as  a  physician.  He  was  a 
close  and  careful  observer.  Early  in  his  professional  career  he  discovered 
errors  in  the  then  accepted  pathology  and  treatment  of  disease.  Believing 
that  his  own  life  was  saved  in  a  severe  fever  by  a  quart  of  cider,  which  he 
persuaded  his  watchers  to  get  in  the  night,  against  the  explicit  orders  of  his 
physician  that  drinks  should  not  be  administered,  he  ever  after  discontinued 
the  barbarous  practice  which  allowed  patients  burning  with  a  fever  to  die  of 
thirst. 

That  terrible  scourge  now  known  as  diphtheria  appeared  in  this  country  for 
the  first  time  at  Kingston,  with  fearful  fatality.  The  orthodox  method  of 
treatment  for  the  disease  was  by  bleeding,  emetics,  depressing  drugs  and 
starvation  —  under  the  belief  that  the  malady  was  inflammatory  in  its  charac- 
ter. Dr.  Bartlett  again  saw  error  in  this  conception  of  the  pathology  of  the 
disease,  and  with  a  boldness  that  always  followed  his  convictions,  inaugurated 
a  method  of  treatment  diametrically  opposite  to  the  one  endorsed  by  the  pro- 
fession. He  resorted  to  tonics  and  antiseptics,  with  a  sustaining  diet,  and 
met  with  a  degree  of  success  that  had  not  before  characterized  the  treatment 
of  the  "  throat  distemper." 

These  incidents  in  his  professional  life  almost  constitute  marking  stones 
in  the  progress  of  medicine  in  this  country.  Indeed,  Belknap  and  other 
historians  have  made  a  record  of  His  marked  success  in  the  treatment  of  the 
malignant  "throat  distemper." 

The  mantle  of  distinction  was  first  placed  upon  him  while  a  tireless  and 
conscientious  worker  in  the  ranks  of  the  medical  profession.  The  history 
of  his  unparalleled  career  indicates  that  he  possessed  a  fixity  of  purpose  —  that 
of  fidelity  to  present  duty  —  in  whatever  capacity  in  life  the  course  of  events 
placed  him.  This  quality  was  first  manifested  in  the  laborious  routine  of 
medical  practice  ;  and  its  appreciation  b}'  the  loyal  citizens  of  the  Province, 

*  Rev.  Daniel  Rollins. 


I 


I/QO]  STATK    LNDKR    FIRST    COXSTITL'TION'.  43! 

coupled  wilh  his  recognized  ability,  led  him  step  bv  step  into  nearly  every 
official  position  within  their  gift. 

Prior  to  1791  no  medical  society  or  organization  .existed  in  the  State. 
During  that  year  Dr.  Bartlett,  then  president  of  New  Hampshire,  with  eigh- 
teen associated,  all  physicians  of  eminence  and  ability,  obtained  a  charter  for 
the  New  Hampshire  Medical  Society.  The  document  shows  the  handiwork 
of  his  master  mind  and  his  recognition  of  the  importance  of  education  to 
the  physician.  In  proof  of  this  reads  the  second  preamble,  which  occm-s 
near  the  middle  of  the  enacting  sections  of  the  charter  :  — 

■'  And  whereas  it  is  clearly  of  importance  that  a  just  discrimination  should 
be  made  between  such  as  are  duly  educated  and  properly  qualified  for  the 
liuties  of  their  profession,  and  those  who  may  ignorantly  and  wickedly  admin- 
ister medicine  whereby  the  health  and  li\es  of  many  valuable  individuals 
may  be  endangered,  or  perhaps  lost  to  the  community.  Be  it  therefore  fur- 
ther enacted,"  etc. 

This  admirable  charter  was  signed  by  "  Josiah  Bartlett,  president,"  on 
February  16,  1791.  By  its  provision  he  was  to  call  the  first  meeting  of  the 
society,  which  he  did  on  the  4th  day  of  May  following,  at  Exeter.  The  manu- 
script records  of  that  meeting  say  :  "  Present — His  Excellency  Josiah  Bart- 
lett, Esq.,  Joshua  Brackett,  Hall  Jackson,  Nathaniel  Peabody,  John  Rogers, 
Ebenezer  Rockwood,  William  Cogswell,  William  Parker,  jr.,  Benjamin  Page, 
and  Isaac  Thorn,  members."  One  will  recognize  these  names  as  men  of 
eminence  in  the  earlier  history  of  New  Hampshire,  whom  Josiah  Bartlett 
chose  and  received  as  associates  in  the  profession. 

Dr.  Bartlett  was  elected  president  of  the  New  Hampshire  Medical  Society 
at  its  first  meeting,  and  held  the  oflice  for  two  years  and  then  declined  a  re- 
election. The  society  passed  resolutions  thanking  him  for  his  inestimable 
services,  to  which  he  replied  with  the  following  letter:  — 

••  Gentlemen  of  the  New  Hampshire  Medical  Society:  — 

•'The  unexpected  resolve  of  thanks  presented  me  by  your  committee,  for 
the  small  services  I  have  been  able  to  aftbrd  the  Medical  Society,  I  consider 
as  an  instance  of  the  polite  attention  and  regard  they  mean  to  pay  to  such 
persons  as  may  in  any  manner  endeavor  to  promote  the  public  happiness. 

*'  I  have  long  wished  that  the  practice  of  medicine  in  the  State  (upon  which 
the  lives  and  healths  of  our  fellow  citizens  depend)  might  be  put  under  better 
regulations  than  it  has  been  in  times  past,  and  have  reason  to  hope  that  the 
incorporation  of  the  New  Hampshire  Medical  Society  (if  properly  attended 
to  by  the  fellows;  will  produce  effects  greatly  beneficial  to  the  community  by 
encouraging  genius  and  learning  in  the  medical  sciences  and  discouraging 
ignorant  and  bold  pretenders  from  practising  an  art  of  which  they  have  no 
knowledge. 

"Thatthe  members  of  the  society  maybe  useful  to  themselves  and  the  public, 
and  enjoy  the  exalted  pleasure  of  satisfaction  that  arises  from  a  conscious- 
ness that  they  have  contributed  to  the  health  and  happiness,  not  only  ot  their 
patients,  but,  by  communicating  to  others  the  knowledge  and  cure  of  disease, 


432  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l790 

to  the  general  happiness  of  the  human  race,  is  the  ardent  wish.  Gentlemen, 
of  your  very  humble  servant,  "  Josiah  Bartlett. 

"  Concord,  N.  H.,  June  19th,  1793." 
This  letter  was  his   last  communication   to   the  New    Hampshire  Medical 
Society.     He  founded  it,  drew  its  charter,  shaped  its  by-laws  and  regulations, 
and  saw  it  properly  organized  upon  a  basis  that  guaranteed  its  perpetuity, 
before  his  lamp  went  out* 

At  the  June  session  of  the  legislature,  1790,  William  Plumer 
objected  to  John  S.  Sherburne's  taking  his  seat  as  a  member, 
on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  pensioner  of  the  United  States,  and 
held  the  office  of  district  attorney  under  the  general  govern- 
ment. During  the  discussion  Sherburne  shed  tears,  which 
so  influenced  the  members  that  he  was  allowed  to  retain  his 
seat.  He  had  been  a  preacher  and  had  become  a  lawyer,  and  had 
lost  his  leg  while  in  the  army.  He  was  a  man  of  talents,  gentle- 
manly in  his  manners  and  insinuating  in  his  address.  He  was 
afterwards  elected  to  Congress,  and  held  for  many  years  the  office 
of  district  judge.  The  State  constitution,  established  three  years 
later,  settled  the  question  thus  raised  by  excluding  from  both 
branches  all  persons  holding  any  office  under  the  United  States.^ 

The  attempt  to  impeach  Judge  Woodbury  Langdon  occu- 
pied considerable  of  the  time  of  this  and  the  next  legis- 
lature. After  many  delays  the  impeachment  was  finally  dropped, 
the  judge  having  resigned  his  seat  on  the  bench  and  accepted 
an  office  under  the  United  States.  Many  believed  that  the 
impeachment  proceedings  arose  from  private  pique  and  personal 
interest.  Jeremiah  Smith,  a  rising  young  lawyer,  this  being  his 
third  term,  conducted  the  impeachment  for  the  House. 

The  legislature,  which  prided  itself  very  little  on  its  patronage 
of  literature,  appropriated  ;^50  towards  the  expenses  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Jeremy  Belknap's  "  History  of  New  Hampshire." 

The  attempt  to  lay  a  direct  State  tax  warmly  recommended  by 
the  treasurer  was  defeated  after  a  severe  struggle  by  a  single 
vote.  The  argument  used  against  the  motion  was  that  the  trea- 
surer used  the  funds  of  the  State  for  his  private  emolument  ; 
while  the  friends  of  the  measure  claimed  that  the  public  had  no 
concern  in  the  matter,  except  to  see  that  his  bondsmen  were 
good, 

•  Dr.  I.  A.Watson. 


I /go]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  433 

His  course  on  this  measure  alienated  William  Flumer  from  the 
leading  Exeter  politicians,  while  agreeing  with  them  in  general 
politics,  and  made  him  ultimately  a  centre  of  anti-Exeter 
influence.^ 

Exeter  was  for  many  years  the  political  capital  of  the  State. 
John  Taylor  Oilman,  Nicholas  Oilman,  Nathaniel  Oilman,  Oli- 
ver Peabody,  Samuel  Tenney,  Benjamin  Abbott,  George  Sulli- 
van, Benjamin  Conner,  who  though  less  known  was  a  great  party 
manager,  and,  later,  Jeremiah  Smith,  possessed  an  aggregate  of 
talents  and  information,  and  a  weight  of  character  and  influence, 
which  could  be  equalled  in  no  other  part  of  the  State. ^ 

So  little  was  the  general  interest  felt  in  politics  at  this  time 
that  only  one  in  seventeen  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  took 
the  trouble  to  vote. 

2  The  land  which  now  comprises  the  town  of  Bartlett  was  granted 
by  Oovernor  Wentworth  to  several  persons,  among  whom  were 
William  Stark  and  Vera  Royce,  for  services  rendered  in  Canada 
during  the  French  and  Indian  war.  Captain  Stark  divided  his 
share  into  lots,  giving  large  tracts  to  persons  who  would  settle 
them.  Two  brothers  by  the  name  of  Emery,  and  a  Harriman, 
were  the  first  permanent  settlers.  Settlements  had  been  begun 
during  this  time  in  most  of  the  locations  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
mountains.  In  1777,  but  a  few  years  succeeding  the  Emerys, 
Daniel  Fox,  Paul  Jilly,  and  Samuel  Willey,  from  Lee,  made  a 
settlement  in  what  is  known  as  Upper  Bartlett,  north  of  those 
already  located.  They  commenced  their  settlement  with  mis- 
fortune as  well  as  hardship.  Their  horses,  dissatisfied  with  the 
grazing  along  the  Saco,  started  for  their  former  home  in  Lee. 

Hon.  John  Pendexter  removed  to  the  town  from  Portsmouth 
at  an  early  period  of  its  history,  settling  in  the  southern  part 
near  the  Conway  line.  Here  he  resided  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  dying  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three  years.  He  and 
his  wife  came  a  distance  of  eighty  miles  in  midwinter,  she  riding 
upon  an  old,  feeble  horse,  with  a  feather-bed  under  her,  and  an 
infant  child  in  her  arms,  he  by  her  side,  hauling  their  household 
furniture  upon  a  hand-sled.      Nor  was  it  a  well-prepared  home  to 

I  William  Plume  ,  Jr.  *  j.;    \    Philbrick. 


434 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1790 


which  they  came,  — a  warm  house  and  well-cultivated  lands, — 
but  a  forest  and  a  rude  log  cabin. 

The  town  was  incorporated  in  June,  1790,  and  named  in  honor 
of  Governor  Bartlett. 


GIANT  STAIRS,    BARTLETT. 

1  Cardigan  lifts  its  silvery  head  thirty-one  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea  level.  At  its  base  stood  the  dwelling-house  and  farm- 
buildings  of  Colonel  Elisha  Payne.  Me  was  born  in  1731,  and 
reared  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and   probably  graduated  at 

'  (lOveniur  Wal'.er  Haniman. 


1790]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  435 

Yale  College.  The  township  of  Cardigan  was  granted  in  February, 
1769.  The  grantees  were  Elisha  Payne,  Isaac  Fellows,  and 
ninety-nine  others.  The  first  settlements  in  the  township  were 
made  in  1773,  by  Payne,  Silas  Harris,  Benjamin  Shaw,  David 
Fames,  and  Captain  Joseph  Kenney.  Payne  at  this  time  was 
forty-two  years  of  age.  The  town  was  incorporated  by  the  name 
of  Orange,  in  June,  1790.  Payne  went  back  into  the  dense  wil- 
derness, far  beyond  the  reach  of  any  human  habitation,  and  se- 
lected a  swell  of  good,  strong  land  for  his  farm,  near  the  base  of 
the  mountain. 

Payne  was  a  trustee  of  Dartmouth  College  from  1784  to  1801, 
and  was  its  treasurer  in  1779  and  1780.  His  connection  with 
the  college  explains  the  fact,  that  when  the  small-pox  broke  out 
at  Dartmouth,  subsequent  to  1780,  the  afflicted  students  were 
carried  to  this  remote  and  lonely  mountain-seat  for  treatment. 
Payne  had  removed  to  East  Lebanon,  and  settled  on  the  shore 
of  Mascoma  Lake,  before  this  occurrence.  Several  of  the  stu- 
dents died  and  were  buried,  but  no  stone  marks  the  place  of 
their  peaceful  rest.  The  Payne  house,  from  this  time  forward, 
was  called  the  Pest  House,  and  was  used  as  such,  at  a  later  day, 
by  the  authorities  of  Orange. 

Payne  had  a  son,  Elisha  Payne,  jr.,  who  graduated  at  Dart- 
mouth, and- who  was  a  man  of  character  and  ability.  He  was 
the  first  lawyer  to  open  an  ofificc  in  Lebanon.  This  office  was 
at  East  Lebanon,  which  was  then  the  chief  village  in  that  town. 
He  served  in  both  branches  of  the  legislature  of  this  State,  but 
died  at  the  early  age  of  about  forty-five. 

Elisha  Payne,  senior,  was  a  man  of  strong  mind  and  great 
decision  of  character.  He  was  the  leader,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Connecticut  river,  in  the  scheme  to  dismember  New  Hamp- 
shire and  annex  a  tract,  some  twenty  miles  in  width,  to  Vermont. 
In  July,  1778,  he  was  chosen,  under  the  statutes  of  Vermont,  a 
justice  of  the  peace  for  the  town  of  Cardigan,  in  a  local  town- 
meeting  held  that  day.  He  was  a  member  of  the  "  Cornish 
Convention"  of  1778,  and  of  the  "  Charlestown  Convention" 
in  1 78 1.  He  was  representative  from  Cardigan  in  the  Vermont 
legislature,  under  the  first  union,  in  1778,  and  was  representative 


436  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/QO 

from  Lebanon,  under  the  second  union,  in  April,  1781.  In  Oc- 
tober of  the  same  year  he  was  chosen  lieutenant-governor  of 
Vermont,  by  the  legislature  of  that  State,  then  in  session  at 
Charlestown,  New  Hampshire.  In  this  legislature,  fifty-seven 
towns  west  of  the  Connecticut  and  forty-five  towns  on  the  New 
Hampshire  side  of  that  river  were  represented. 

When  the  bitter  and  prolonged  strife  between  the  two  juris- 
dictions. New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  was  nearing  the  crisis, 
and  Bingham  and  Gandy  of  Chesterfield  had  been  arrested  by 
Vermont  officials  for  resisting  the  authority  of  that  State,  and 
thrown  into  jail  at  Charlestown,  and  Colonel  Enoch  Hale,  the 
sheriff  of  Cheshire  county,  had  proceeded  under  orders  from  the 
president  and  Council  of  New  Hampshire  to  release  them,  and 
had  been  seized  and  summarily  committed  to  the  same  jail,  and 
the  militia  of  New  Hampshire  had  been  put  on  a  war  footing  to 
rescue  Hale  and  the  other  prisoners  at  Charlestown,  Governor 
Chittenden  of  Vermont  commissioned  Elisha  Payne  of  Leba- 
non, the  lieutenant-governor,  as  brigadier-general,  and  appointed 
him  to  take  command  of  the  militia  of  that  State,  to  call  to  his 
aid  Generals  Fletcher  and  Olcott,  and  such  of  the  field  officers 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Green  Mountains  as  he  thought  proper, 
and  to  be  prepared  to  oppose  force  to  fo7'ce.  But  bloodshed  was 
happily  averted.  The  Continental  Congress  took  hostile  ground 
against  the  scheme  to  dismember  New  Hampshire,  and  General 
Washington  put  his  foot  upon  it.  In  this  dilemma  the  authori- 
ties of  Vermont,  for  the  sake  of  self-preservation,  relinquished 
their  claim  to  any  part  of  New  Hampshire,  and  in  February,, 
1782,  the  second  union  between  the  disaffected  towns  on  the 
west  side  of  this  State  and  Vermont  came  to  an  end. 

In  addition  to  the  offices  already  named,  Payne  held  that  of 
chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  his  cherished  State,  Ver- 
mont, a  State  then  stretching  from  the  head-waters  of  the  Pemi- 
gewasset  to  Lake  Champlain. 

After  a  life  of  adventure,  of  strange  vicissitude,  of  startling 
success  and  crushing  defeat,  Elisha  Payne  quietly  fell  asleep  in 
East  Lebanon,  at  the  age  of  sevcnty-si.x  years.  He  was  buried 
in  the  unpretending  cemetery  near  his  place  of  residence  in  that 


I791]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  437 

village.  His  wife,  a  number  of  his  children,  and  other  members 
of  the  family,  in  all  seven  persons,  were  inurned  in  the  same 
cemetery  lot  ;  but  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  in  the  late 
fall,  there  came  a  fearful  storm,  and  the  gentle  brook  whose 
course  lies  along  the  border  of  this  receptacle  for  the  dead  sud- 
denly became  a  rushing  torrent,  and,  breaking  from  its  channel, 
swept  in  among  the  quiet  sleepers  and  carried  away  most  that 
remained  of  the  Payne  family.  Winter  closed  in,  but  the  next 
spring  such  bones  as  had  not  found  a  lodgment  at  the  bottom 
of  Mascoma  Lake,  as  it  is  usually  called,  were  gatliered  up,  all 
put  into  one  box  and  redeposited  in  the  earth  in  another  part  of 
the  cemetery,  whereon  has  been  erected,  by  family  relatives,  a 
substantial  and  appropriate  monument.  And  so  ends  the  story 
of  a  life  of  stern  conflict  and  romantic  incident. 

The  winter  session  of  1791  was  devoted  chiefly  to  a  revision 
of  the  statutes,  with  a  view  to  a  new  edition  of  the  laws.  Among" 
the  bills  introduced  was  one  for  the  punishment  of  blasphemy. 
The  committee  reported  the  old  law,  in  substance,  but  Mr. 
Welman,  who  had  been  a  preacher,  moved  as  an  amendment 
that  any  person  "  convicted  of  speaking  disrespectfully  of  any 
part  of  the  Bible  should  have  his  tongue  bored  through  with  a 
hot  iron."  Sherburne  seconded  this  motion  in  a  vehement  speech,, 
declaring  that  he  should  be  better  pleased  with  death  as  the  pen- 
alty for  so  atrocious  an  offence.  As  Sherburne  was  thought  tO' 
be  an  unbeliever,  and  was  free  in  his  remarks  on  Scripture  and 
his  ridicule  of  the  clergy,  his  address  was  thought  an  effort  to 
bring  out  Plumer  on  the  unpopular  side.  Fearing  the  amend- 
ment would  pass  Mr.  Plumer  did  speak  against  it  in  his  eloquent 
and  impressive  style,  and  did  succeed  in  defeating  it,  though  not 
by  a  large  majority.  "Whipping,  branding  and  other  mutilation.s 
of  the  body  were  punishments  then  inflicted  by  the  penal  codes 
of  most  of  the  States,  and  the  zeal  of  a  Christian  community  saw 
nothing  revolting  in  their  application  to  the  support  of  religious, 
truth.  "1 

It  was  during  the  preceding  session  that  Mr.  Plumer,  who  was 
a  popular  leader  in  the  House,  introduced  a  bill  to  tax  State  notes 

1  Wil  i,i:n   PI  laie.-,   Jr. 


43^  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l/QI 

a  measure  combated  by  the  Exeter  party,  who  were  largely  inter- 
-ested. 

"  Your  influence,  "  said  one  of  them  to  him,  "may  carry  the 
bill  through  an  ignorant  House,  as  you  can  carry  anything  else 
there,  but  it  will  be  rejected  by  the  Senate.  "  "  We  shall  see," 
was  the  quiet  reply.  The  bill  passed  the  House  and  was  sent  to 
the  Senate,  but  was  lost.  It  passed  the  House  a  second  time, 
was  enacted  by  the  Senate,  and  became  a  law.  A  member  of 
the  House,  not  from  Exeter,  afterwards  boasted  that  he  had 
pocketed  the  first  bill. 

At  the  November  session  of  the  legislature  at  Portsmouth 
the  most  important  business  was  the  incorporation  of  a  bank. 
The  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  recently  been  established, 
and  there  were  only  three  State  banks  in  the  country,  —  one  in 
Boston,  one  in  New  York,  and  one  in  Philadelphia. 

At  this  time  the  legislature  was  in  the  practice  of  frequently 
interfering  with  the  business  of  the  courts,  by  granting  new  trials 
and  prescribing  special  rules  for  the  trial  of  a  particular  action. 
A  ludicrous  instance  of  the  exercise  of  this  sovereign  power 
occurred  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  in  a  case  involving  the 
ownership  of  two  pigs.  The  legislature  passed  an  Act  to  set 
aside  the  finding  of  the  court,  but  the  justice,  an  old  soldier  of 
the  Revolution,  convinced  by  the  arguments  of  Jeremiah  Mason 
that  the  legislature  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  his  ruling, 
would  not  grant  a  new  trial ;  and  the  pig  action  gained  extensive 
notoriety  and  tended  to  bring  such  special  Acts  of  the  legisla- 
ture into  ridicule  and  deserved  contempt. ^ 

A  convention  having  been  called  to  revise  the  constitution  of 
the  State,  the  elections  took  place  in  August,  and  the  conven- 
tion met  early  in  September,  1791.  The  importance  of  the 
object  drew  together  many  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  State.  The 
discussion,  not  of  laws  merely,  but  of  constitutional  provisions, 
and  the  fundamental  principles  of  government,  gave  to  the  de- 
bates an  interest  not  often  felt  in  legislative  proceedings.  The 
debates,  though  long  and  able,  were  never  published,  and  the 
journal  of  the  convention  furnishes  but  an  imperfect  account  of 

'  Jeremiah  Mason. 


lygi]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  439 

what  was  done,  and  still  less  by  whom  it  was  done.  Even  the 
yeas  and  nays  are  only  given  in  two  or  three  cases.  From  the 
"  Life  of  William  Plumer,"  a  member  of  the  convention,  one  can 
■obtain  some  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  body.  Among  the 
members  were  John  Pickering,  Edward  St.  Loe  Livermore,  Dr. 
Samuel  Tenney,  James  MacGregore,  Moses  Leavitt,  Christopher 
Toppan,  Nathaniel  Rogers,  General  Joseph  Cilley,  John  McClary, 
Abial  Foster,  Timothy  Walker,  Colonel  Nathaniel  Head,  John 
Calfe,  Dr.  Nathaniel  Peabody,  John  Waldron,  Ebenezer  Thomp- 
son, Thomas  Cogswell,  Ebenezer  Smith,  Zachariah  Chandler, 
Joshua  Atherton,  Jeremiah  Smith,  Major  Benjamin  Pierce,  Major 
Caleb  Stark,  Rev.  Jonathan  Searls,  Daniel  Newcomb,  John 
Duncan,  Samuel  Livermore,  Elisha  Payne,  Captain  Nathaniel 
White,  Moses  Chase,  Nahum  Parker,  Timothy  Tilton,  and  others, 
- — strong  men,  having  the  future  best  interests  of  the  State  con- 
stantly in  mind. 

^  The  old  constitution  was  taken  up  by  sections,  and  its  provi- 
sions altered  or  amended,  and  new  clauses  added,  or  old  ones 
stricken  out,  at  the  will  of  the  convention,  till  the  whole  had  been 
revised.  This  occupied  the  first  ten  days  of  the  session.  William 
Plumer  and  Jeremiah  Smith  were  the  most  conspicuous  members 
of  the  convention.  The  former  was  then  a  young  man,  just  com- 
ing into  notice,  having  been  admitted  to  the  practice  of  law  only 
four  years  before,  yet  there  was  no  one  who  took  so  active  a  part 
or  who  had  greater  influence  in  that  body.  By  his  industry  and 
perseverance,  his  energy  and  decision,  and,  above  all,  by  the  force 
and  accuracy  of  his  discriminating  mind,  he  acquired,  before  the 
close  of  the  convention,  a  weight  and  authority  in  that  body  whicii 
no  other  man  possessed.  "  He  was,"  said  Judge  Livermore,  "by 
all  odds  the  most  influential  man  in  the  convention  ;  so  much  so 
that  those  who  disliked  the  result  called  it  Plumer's  constitution, 
by  way  of  insinuating  that  it  was  the  work  of  one  man,  and  not 
the  collective  wisdom  of  the  whole  assembly."  The  manuscript 
volume  in  the  State  House  which  relates  to  the  convention  is 
mainly  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Plumer  and  Mr.  Smith.  Both 
of  these  men  were  at  this  time  comparatively  young,  ambitious 

■William  Plumer,  Jr. 


440  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  [^791 

of  distinction,  hard  workers,  prompt  in  action,  and  ready  and  wil- 
ling alike  with  the  tongue  and  the  pen.      They  concurred  for  the 
most  part  in  their  general  views  of  policy,  though  occasionally 
differing  on  questions  of  minor  importance.     But  in  concert  or 
opposition  it  was  hard  to  say  whether,  aside  from  the  strength  of 
their  arguments,  the  House  most  admired  the  broad  humor,  the 
Scotch-Irish  drollery  and  shrewdness  of  Smith,  or  the  keen  re- 
tort, the  ready  resources,  and  strong  practical  common  sense  of 
Plumer.      Smith  being  at  that  time  a  member  of  Congress  was 
present  only  during  the   first  session  of  ten  days.     Plumer  was 
present  to  the  end  and  busy  from  the  first.     They  were  at  this 
time  friends,  although,  placed  ultimately  at  the  head  of  opposite 
parties  in  the  State,  their  friendship  was  not  destined  to  survive. 
Their  respect  for  each  other  was  probably  lifelong.      The  sub- 
jects in  which  Mr.  Plumer  took  the  strongest  interest  were  the 
provisions  on  the  subject  of  religion,  the  organization  of  the  exec- 
utive department,  the  judiciary,  and  the  basis  of  representation 
in  the  House.      Mr.  Plumer  took  the  broadest  view  of  religious 
tolerance  :  his  opponents  would  have  subjected  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  State  to  a  town  tax  for  the  support  of  the  clergy- 
man whom  the  majority  of  the  voters  should  select  as  their  pas- 
tor.     Neither  party   prevailed,    and    the  provision  of  the   1784 
constitution  remained  in  force.      His  motion  to  abolish  the  reli- 
gious test  for  office  holders,  who  were  required  by  the  consti- 
tution to  be  "of  the  Protestant  religion,"  though  at  first  rejected, 
was  finally  adopted  by  the  convention.      It  was  not  accepted  by 
the  people  at  that  time  nor  subsequently  in    1850,  although  it 
remained  a  dead  letter  for  very  many  years  before  it  was  finally 
stricken  from  the  constitution  in  1876.     Mr.  Plumer's  idea  was 
to  divide  the  State  into  sixty  representative    districts,  nearly 
equal    as    to    population,    but    this    was    rejected  by    a    strong 
majority.    The  smaller  towns,  miniature  republics,  refused  to  sur- 
render their  ancient  privileges  of  representation  in  the  legislative 
assem.blies.     Mr.  Plumer  advocated  the  separation  of  the  execu- 
tive from  the  legislative  department  and  the  power  of  veto,  and 
would    have  made  a  plurality  of    votes    alone    necessary  for   a 
choice  by  the  people  of  senators,  si^  that  the  Senate  should  not 


1792]  STATE    UNDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  44I 

depend  upon  the  House  for  the  election  of  any  of  its  members. 
The  plan  for  organizing  the  judiciary  department  to  secure  a  more 
speedy  and  less  expensive  administration  of  justice,  and  to  reform 
"its  expense,  its  injustice,  its  delays,"  by  lessening  the  number 
•of  courts  and  increasing  their  power,  and  for  extending  the  jur- 
isdiction of  justices  of  the  peace  to  sums  not  exceeding  four 
pounds,  was  rejected  by  the  people,  except  as  to  extending  the 
jurisdiction  of  justices  of  the  peace.  The  convention  appointed 
a  committee  to  reduce  the  amendments  to  form,  and  another 
committee  to  take  the  whole  subject  into  consideration  and  re- 
port at  a  future  meeting  the  amendments  proper  to  be  submitted 
to  the  people.^ 

The  convention  then  adjourned  to  meet  in  February,  1792. 
The  committee  of  ten,  two  from  each  county,  met  frequently. 
Peabody,  who  was  chairman,  was  disposed  to  perplex  and  em- 
barrass, rather  than  aid,  the  business.  Atherton  acted  almost 
uniformly  with  Peabody.  Freeman  was  opposed  to  all  amend- 
ments. The  infirmities  of  age  made  Payne  inactive.  Page 
was  able  and  well  disposed,  but  indolent  and  inattentive.  The 
chief  labor  and  responsibUity  fell  on  Plumer.^  The  other  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  gave  him  little  trouble  and  no  assistance. 
He  had  to  control  perverseness  and  rouse  indolence,  both  very 
laborious  and  perplexing.  By  perseverance  he  surmounted 
every  obstacle  thrown  in  his  way.  The  committee  agreed  upon 
amendments  which  Mr.  Plumer  reduced  to  form,  and  transcribing 
the  whole  constitution,  introduced  them  into  their  proper  places. 
On  the  meeting  of  the  convention,  in  1792,  the  report  of  the 
committee  was  assailed  from  various  quarters,  but  Page  and 
Atherton  joined  Plumer  in  its  defence,  and  succeeded  after  long 
debates,  continuing  for  two  weeks,  in  carrying  it  through,  al- 
though not  without  some  important  modifications.  The  con- 
vention then  adjourned,  to  meet  again  in  May  to  receive  the 
answer  of  the  people.  On  coming  together  again  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  ascertain  what  amendments  had  been  adopted 
and  what  rejected,  and  to  harmonize  the  old  and  nev/  constitu- 
tions.    This  being  done  the  subject  was  again  submitted  to  the 

'  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


442  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l79- 

people  ;  and  the  labors  of  the  convention  were  closed  by  an- 
other short  session  in  September.  The  constitution  thus 
formed  remained  in  force  without  alteration  until  1876,  nor  was 
there  any  attempt  at  change  for  nearly  half  a  century.  Of  this 
convention  Governor  Plumer  was  the  last  survivor  when  the 
convention  of  1850  met,  and  he  did  not  live  to  see  it  close. ^ 

One  clause  in  the  constitution  of  New  Hampshire  Governor 
Plumer  always  claimed  the  credit  of  inserting:  "No  member 
of  the  General  Court  shall  take  fees,  be  of  counsel,  or  act  as 
advocate  in  any  cause  before  either  branch  of  the  legislature :  and 
upon  due  proof  thereof  such  member  shall  forfeit  his  seat  in  the 
legislature."  ^ 

■'The  first  singingof  which  w«  have  any  record  was  mainly  congregational, 
without  instrumental  accompaniment,  and  identical  with  that  style  which 
prevailed  in  the  early  New  England  church.  It  was  led  by  a  precentor,  who 
read  two  lines  of  the  hymn  to  be  sung  at  a  time,  then  announced  the  tune, 
gave  the  key  on  the  pitch-pipe,  and,  standing  usually  in  front  of  the  pulpit, 
beat  the  time  and  sang  with  the  congregation.  Moreover,  the  precentor  wa& 
usually  a  deacon,  hence  the  term  "  deaconing  the  hymn;  "  and  from  the  earl_y 
period  to  the  present  day  many  of  the  deacons  have  been  prominent  singers. 
The  names  of  the  tunes  used  in  the  early  period  are  very  curious.  Most  of 
them  are  named  from  places,  and  New  Hampshire  is  well  represented  in 
"Alstead,"  "Bristol,"  "Concord,"  "  Dunbarton,"  "Exeter,"  "Epsom,"' 
"Pembroke,"  "Portsmouth,"  "  Lebanon,"  and  "Loudon;"  some  for  States, 
as  "  Vermont,"  "  New  York,"  "  Pennsylvania,  "  and  "  Virginia;  "some  for  the 
saints,  as  "  St.  Martin's,"  "  St,  Ann's,"  "All  Saints;  "  some  for  countries,  a& 
"Africa,"  "  Russia,"  "  Denmark  ;  "  a  very  few  for  persons,  as  "  Lena;  "  and  we 
find  one,  which  was  probably  not  used  in  church,  entitled,  "An  Elegj-  on 
Sophronia,  who  died  of  small-pox  in  171 1,"  consisting  of  twelve  stanzas  set  to 
a  most  doleful  melody. 

Tradition  has  it  that  the  first  hymn  ever  sung  in  Concord  was  the  103rd, 
Book  I,  Watts's  Psalms  and  Hymns,  "  I'm  not  ashamed  to  own  my  Lord." 

This  method  was  pursued  for  some  time,  but  at  length  it  is  recorded  in  Dr. 
Bouton's"  Historyof  Concord,"  that"  Mr.  John  Kimball,  subsequently  deacon, 
being  one  of  the  singers,  proposed  to  Rev.  Mr.  Walker  to  dispense  with  the 
lining  of  the  hymn,  as  it  was  called;  but  as  Mr.  Walker  thought  it  not  pru- 
dent to  attempt  it  first  on  the  Sabbath,  it  was  arranged  between  them  to  make 
the  change  on  Thanksgiving  day.  Accordingly,  after  the  hymn  had  been 
given  out,  the  leader,  as  usual,  read  two  lines,  the  singers  struck  in,  but 
instead  of  stopping  at  the  end  of  the  two  lines,  kept  on,  drowning  the  voice 
of  the  leader,  who  persisted  in  his  vocation  of  lining  the  hymn." 

Although  some  singers  sat  in  the  front  seats  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 

'  William  Plumer,  Jr.  -  Sec.  7,  Part  Second,  Constitution  of  New  Hampshire. 

3  Dr.  W.  G.  Carter. 


1792]  STATE    UXDER    FIRST    CONSTITUTION.  445 

leader,  still  many  more  were  scattered  throughout  the  congregation,  and 
gradually  it  became  apparent  that  the  singing  could  be  made  more  effective  by 
collecting  the  "  men  and  women  singers"  together  in  a  more  compact  body, 
and  accordingly  the  choir  was  formed,  which  was  under  tlie  direction  of  a 
choir-master.  -'When  the  meeting-house  was  finished  in  1784  it  was  fitted 
with  a  singers'  pew  in  the  gallery  opposite  the  pulpit.  This  was  a  large 
square  pew,  with  a  box  or  table  in  the  middle  for  the  singers  to  lav  their 
books  on.  In  singing  they  rose  and  faced  each  other,  forming  a  hollow- 
square.  When  the  addition  was  made  to  the  meeting-house  in  1S02,  the  old 
singers'  pew  was  taken  away,  but  seats  were  assigned  them  in  the  same  rela- 
tive position  opposite  the  pulpit." 

The  first  instrument  in  use  was  the  pitch-pipe,  which  was  made  of  wood, 
'■  an  inch  or  more  wide,  somewhat  in  the  form  of  a  boy's  whistle,  but  so  con- 
structed as  to  admit  of  different  keys."  This  was  simply  used  to  give  the 
correct  key,  and  was  not  played  during  the  singing.  Under  the  ministry  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Evans,  who  was  himself  very  fond  of  music,  some  instruments  were 
introduced,  which  innovation  was  attended  with  so  much  opposition  that, 
according  to  tradition,  some  persons  left  the  meeting-house  rather  than 
hear  the  profane  sound  of  the  "  fiddle  and  flute."  We  find,  then,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  century  of  the  existence  of  the  church,  the  service  of 
praise  was  sustained  by  a  large  choir,  accompanied  by  wind  and  string  instru- 
ments, usually  a  violin,  flute,  clarinet,  bass  viol,  and  double  bass,  the  two  lat- 
ter being  the  property  of  the  society. 

The  choir  consisted  of  thirty  persons  of  both  sexes,  under  the  direction  oi 
a  chorister,  who  was  usually  a  tenor  singer.  This  leader  was  the  only  indi- 
vidual who  received  compensation,  and  it  was  stipulated  in  his  engagement 
that  he  should  teach  a  singing-school,  which  any  person  in  the  societv  could 
attend  for  improvement  in  singing.  The  singing-school  was  usually  held 
in  the  court-house,  sometimes  in  the  bank  building,  was  promptlv  attended, 
and  its  weekly  meeting  an  occasion  which  was  eagerly  looked  foward  to  by 
the  young  people,  especially  for  its  social  as  well  as  musical  advantages. 
Frequently  the  rehearsals  of  the  choir  were  held  at  the  various  houses  of  the 
singers,  and  were  most  enjoyable  occasions.  Concerts,  or  musical  entertain- 
ments, were  of  rare  occurrence,  consequently  the  weekly  rehearsal,  combining 
so  much  of  recreation  with  musical  instruction,  was  attended  with  an  interest 
and  promptness  unknown  to  the  "  volunteer  choir"  of  the  present  day.  On 
the  Sabbath  they  promptly  appeared,  bringing  with  them  their  music-books, 
many  of  them  their  luncheon,  and  in  cold  weather  their  foot-stoves,  making 
themselves  as  comfortable  as  possible  under  the  circumstances.  Doubtless 
the  singers  and  players  of  to-day  can  appreciate  the  dilHcuIty  of  keeping 
the  pitch,  and  handling  the  bow,  and  fingering  the  strings  and  keys,  at  a  tem- 
perature frequently  below  freezing. 

The  interest  in  church  music  continued  unabated  during  the  later  vears  of 
occupancy  of  the  old  North  Church,  and  when  the  new  church  was  occupied 
in  1842,  the  choir  filled  the  greater  part  of  the  gallery,  which  was  finished  for 
their  accommodation.  To  this  church  then  came  the  choir,  bringing  with 
them  the  ancient  viols,  soon  to  be  sacrificed  at  the  shrine  of  tlie  new  organ. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

STATE  GO VERNMENT—  1 792- 1 8 1 2. 

ToHN  Taylor  Oilman  —  Walpole  —  Mr.  West  —  Milford  —  Turnpikes  — 
Portsmouth  —  Methodists  —  Centre  Harbor  —  Tithing  Men  — 
Death  of  Washington  —  Second  New  Hampshire  Turnpike  —  Banks 

—  Laws  —  Judge  Smith  —  Middlesex  Canal  —  Judge  Pickering  — 
Federal  Judges—  Fourth  New  Hampshire  Turnpike — Republicans 

—  Post-Offices  —  Daniel  Webster  —  Burnham — Navigation  on  the 
Merrimack  —  Embargo  —  Patriots  —  Governor  Jeremiah  Smith  — 
Crow  Bill  — William  Plumer. 

•T^HE  new  State  constitution  went  into  operation  in  June,  1/92, 
during  the  administration  of  President  Josiah  Bartlett,  who 
was  the  first  to  assume  the  title  of  governor  of  the  State  of  New 
Hampshire.  During  the  preceding  year  the  New  Hampshire 
Medical  Societ}'  had  been  organized,  of  which  he  was  elected 
first  president.  The  first  bank  in  the  State  was  established  at 
Portsmouth  in  1792,  with  a  capital  of  $160,000,  a  year  memora- 
ble for  the  advent  of  Elder  Jesse  Lee,  who  introduced  Metho- 
dism into  the  State.  A  newspaper  had  been  established  in 
Concord  by  George  Hough  as  early  as  1790. 

John  Taylor  Oilman  was  elected  governor  in  1794.  He  be- 
longed to  a  noted  and  wealthy  family  of  Exeter. 

'Through  all  the  colonial  period  thej  were  a  notable  and  influential  race. 
Members  of  the  family  held  civil  ofBce  from  the  time  our  colony  became  a 
royal  Province  up  to  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living.  Edward  Gil- 
man,  the  ancestor  of  all  the  Gilmans  of  this  .'State,  came  into  New  Hampshire 
soon  after  its  first  settlement,  and  among  his  descendants  have  been  men  in 
every  generation  who  have  done  honor  to.  their  country,  and  whom  this 
country  has  delighted  to  honor.  Hon.  John  Gilman,  the  son  of  the  preced- 
ing, was  one  of  the  councillors  named   in  President   Cutts'  commission  in 

'  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


J  794]  STATE    GOVERNMENT.  445 

1679.  He  died  in  170S.  His  son,  Capt.  Nicholas  Giiman,  was  an  officer  of 
skill  and  decision  during  the  Indian  wars  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  was  a 
friend  of  Col.  Winthrop  Hilton,  and  had  command  of  a  detachment  that 
marched  against  the  savages  to  revenge  the  death  of  that  lamented  officer  in 
1710.  Hon.  Peter  Giiman  was  a  roval  councillor  under  John  Wentvvorth, 
and  was  the  first  to  fill  the  office  of  brigadier-general  in  New  Hampshire. 
Col.  Daniel  Giiman  was  one  of  the  commissioners  from  New  Hampshire, 
«tationed  at  Albany,  in  1756,  to  take  care  of  the  provisions  furnished  by  the 
Province  for  our  troops  quartered  at  Ticonderoga.  He  was  also  the  colonel 
of  the  4th  New  Hampshire  regiment  of  militia  for  many  years.  He  was 
a  grantee  of  the  town  of  Gilmanlon,  and  two  of  his  sons  settled  there. 

Nicholas  Giiman,  his  oldest  son,  was  born  October  21,  1731.  The  greater 
part  of  his  life  was  passed  at  Exeter.  He  inherited  his  father's  patrician  rank, 
and  early  became  a  man  of  influence  in  his  native  village.  In  1752  he  pur- 
chased of  William  Ladd,  Esq.,  the  large  mansion-house  that  had  been  built 
by  Nathaniel,  and  moved  into  it  with  the  wife  he  had  recently  married,  Miss 
Ann,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Taylor  of  Milton,  a  descendant  of  o.ie  of  the 
Pilgrim  f;\thers.  The  new  mistress  of  the  Giiman  house,  as  it  was  thereafter 
termed,  was  a  woman  of  large  culture,  strong  mind,  and  great  beauty  of  per- 
son. Her  first  child,  who  was  born  just  a  year  after  her  marriage  lacking 
two  days,  was  named  for  her  father,  a  patronymic  that  was  famous  in  New- 
Hampshire  in  after  years.  The  early  years  of  marriage  were  somewhat 
■disturbed  by  the  rumors  of  war,  that  blew  fateful  and  threatening  from  the 
frontiers,  and  his  second  son,  who  bore  his  own  name,  was  an  infant  of 
scarcely  two  months  when  Nicholas  Giiman  marched,  as  lieutenant,  under 
his  uncle  Peter,  to  join  in  the  operations  around  Lake  George  in  1755. 

Prior  to  the  Revolution  he  held  many  important  civil  and  military  appoint- 
ments under  the  government  of  the  Wentworths.  Between  him  and  the  last 
royal  governor,  the  cultivated  and  enterprising  Sir  John,  there  was  a  strong 
personal  friendship.  When  the  storm  of  the  Revolution  came,  he  threw  all 
of  his  influence  into  the  patriot  cause;  but  this  did  not  antagonize  him  with 
the  governor,  who  declared  that,  when  the  rebellion  should  be  put  down,  Col. 
Giiman  should  be  spared  all  punishment.  No  other  man  shared  his  friend- 
ship to  such  a  degree,  save  Major  Benjamin  Thompson,  who  was  afterward 
Count  Rumford. 

Nicholas  Giiman  was  one  of  the  great  men  of  New  Hampshire  during  the 
Revolutionary  period.  He  had  wealth,  large  ability,  and  a  great  name,  and 
he  threw  them  all  into  the  scale  for  the  patriot  cause.  Nor  did  he  shirk  the 
toils  incumbent  on  the  patriot  of '76.  He  won,  it  is  true,  no  glory  in  the  field 
of  carnage.  His  was  not  the  genius  of  a  man  of  war,  but  that  of  a  man  of 
peace.  He  was  needed  at  home,  and  the  services  of  Meshech  Weare  himself 
could  have  been  better  dispensed  with  than  those  of  Col.  Giiman.  From 
1775  to  17S2  he  was  treasurer  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire.  Besides  this, 
he  was  Continental  loan  officer,  one  of  the  chief  members  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  and  councillor  of  the  State  from  1777  to  the  day  of  his  death.  His  re- 
lation, therefore,  to  the  financial  aflfairs  of  New  Hampshire  resembled  much 


446  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l794 

that  of  Robert  Morris  to  those  of  the  nation.  He  was  an  active  and  accom- 
plished man  of  business,  and  his  prudence  and  skill  in  finance  were  remark- 
able. New  Hampshire  had  no  abler  servant  in  the  field,  at  home  or  abroad, 
tlian  Col.  Gilman ;  and  perhaps  it  is  not  saj'ing  too  much  to  state  that  he 
furnished  a  fourth  part  of  the  brains  of  New  Hampshire  in  the  Revolution,, 
the  other  members  of  the  quartette  being  Meshech  Weare,  Samuel  Livermore, 
and  Josiah  Bartlett.  Moreover,  his  own  personal  strength  and  the  influence 
of  his  able  sons  and  numerous  friends  furnished  a  firm  support  to  the  patriot 
cause  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  which,  if  such  powerful  influence  had 
been  lacking,  would  probably  have  been  overawed  hy  the  authority  of  the 
crown. 

Col.  Gilman  survived  the  treaty  of  peace  but  a  short  time.  He  died  in  the 
prime  of  life,  April  7,  1783.  His  wiie  preceded  him  to  the  grave  by  a  few 
days,  dying  March  17,  1783.  Their  tombs  are  still  visible  in  the  old  ceme- 
tery of  Exeter.  They  were  the  parents  of  three  sons,  John  Taylor,  Nicholas, 
and  Nathaniel  Gilman,  all  prominent  men  of  New  Hampshire  in  their  day. 

The  Gilman  mansion  was  built  somewhere  near  the  year  1740,  and  is  there- 
fore of  an  age  contemporary  with  the  Mount  Vernon  mansion,  the  Walker 
house  at  Concord,  and  the  Sparhawk  mansion  at  Kittery.  It  is  only  a  few- 
years  older  than  the  Gov.  Wentworth  house  at  Little  Harbor,  and  but  a  year 
or  two  younger  than  the  Meshech  Weare  house  at  Hampton  Falls.  It  is  a 
good  specimen  of  the  domestic  style  which  prevailed  in  the  colonies  before 
the  Revolution.  Built  of  brick  covered  with  wood,  three  stories  in  height, 
with  dormer  windows  in  its  upper  story,  gambrel-roofed,  and  its  walls  a  yel- 
low dun  color,  its  air  of  antiquity  is  unmistakable,  and  at  the  same  time  it 
pleases  the  eye  with  its  varied  charms.  It  stands  well  in  Irom  the  street,  with 
a  yard  and  shrubbery  in  front. 

The  mansion  occupied  by  this  distinguished  worthy  from  the  time  of  his- 
marriage  to  that  of  his  death  is  still  standing  on  Water  street.  It  occupies  a 
slight  eminence,  overlooking  the  street  and  the  river,  with  the  front  facing 
the  south-east.  The  old  house  has  been  kept  in  pretty  good  repair,  and  has 
never  been  altered  nor  in  any  way  modernized.  It  stands  out  alone  in  the 
landscape,  with  an  air  of  venerable  dignity,  its  huge  chimneys  rising  above 
the  tall  trees,  and  its  windows  looking  down  upon  the  street  and  over  the 
water,  where  many  a  time  they  must  have  seen  pageants  and  sights  worth 
looking  upon.  In  its  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  life  it  must  have  seen 
much  that  was  interesting  in  the  history  of  Exeter. 

After  the  death  of  Nicholas  Gilman,  the  old  house  became  the  property  of 
his  oldest  son,  John  Taylor  Gilman,  who  resided  in  it  until  his  marriage  with 
his  third  wife.  John  Taylor  was  the  most  prominent  of  the  three  brothers. 
He  was  born  December  19,  1753.  His  early  education  was  scant,  being  no 
more  than  what  the  common  schools  of  Exeter  aff'orded  at  that  time.  At  an 
early  age  he  became  interested  in  shipbuilding,  an  industry  that  was  then 
actively  engaged  in  by  maiiy  of  the  citizens  of  Exeter.  The  elder  Gilman 
was  a  wealthy  and  enterprising  man,  owner  of  a  large  estate  and  a  store.  In 
connection  with  navigation,  young  Gilman  now  and  then  busied  himself  with 
agriculture  and  trade. 


1794]  s'lATic  i;()\"i;rn".mi:nt.  447 

One  of  the  schoolmates  of  John  Tinlor  Gihnaii  was  Miss  Deborali  Folsoni. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Gen.  Nathaniel  P^olsom,  the  rival  of  Gen.  Stark,  and 
a  famous  Revolutionary  worth}'.  Born  the  same  year  that  Gilman  was,  Miss 
I'^olsom  was,  during  the  few  years  prior  to  the  Revolution,  the  reputed  belle 
of  Exeter.  The  two  families  were  intimate,  John  Taylor  soon  became  an 
announced  suitor,  and  a  few  months  before  that  affair  at  Concord  Bridge, 
■■Where  the  embattled  farmers  stood  and  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the 
world,"  they  were  married.  When  the  Revolution  broke  out,  John  Tayloi- 
(■rilman  was  only  twenty-two  years  old. 

On  the  morning  of  April  20,  1775.  at  daybreak,  the  news  arrived  at  Exeter 
of  the  battle  at  Concord.  With  all  the  alacrity  and  ardor  of  a  youthful 
patriot,  the  young  husband  gathered  a  company  and  marched  for  Cambridge, 
which  place  he  reached  at  noon  of  the  next  day.  Mr.  Gilman,  however,  did 
little  military  service.  He  was  needed  at  home.  He  acted  as  commissary  in 
supplying  the  three  regiments  of  the  State  at  Cambridge.  In  1779  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  New  Hampshire  legislature,  and  subsequently  served 
upon  the  Committee  of  Safety.  In  1780  he  was  the  sole  delegate  from  New 
Hampshire  to  attend  the  convention  at  Hartford.  He  was  absent  six  weeks 
from  home,  riding  on  horseback  and  paying  his  own  expenses,  as  there  was 
not  sufficient  money  in  the  State  treasury  to  defray  them.  This  period  was 
known  as  the  "  dark  days."  The  crops  of  the  farmers  had  been  unfavorable, 
and  destitution  and  distress  pervaded  the  armj-.  There  was  no  money  nor 
credit  in  either  department. 

In  1781  Mr.  Gilman  succeeded  General  Sullivan  as  a  member  of  the  fed- 
eral Congress,  and  was  re-elected  the  second  year.  He  was  at  that  time  the 
youngest  man  in  Congress,  but  his  influence  was  not  the  least.  At  the  end 
of  his  service  in  Congress  he  succeeded  his  father  as  treasurer  of  the  State, 
showing  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  finance,  only  second  to  that  of  his  father. 

John  Taylor  Gilman  was  a  Federalist  in  politics,  and  a  firm  supporter  of 
the  administration  of  Washington.  In  1794  Dr.  Bartlett,  who  had  been  sev- 
eral times  elected  president  of  the  State,  and  who  had  served  as  the  first  gov- 
ernor, declined  all  further  public  offices,  and  John  Taylor  Gilman  was  selected 
as  the  standard  bearer  of  his  party.  Timothy  Walker  was  the  candidate 
of  the  Republicans.  That  party  was  just  then  greatly  in  the  minority,  and 
Gilman  was  easily  elected.  He  was  at  this  time  at  the  meridian  of  his 
strength  and  ripened  manhood,  and  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  the  State. 
He  was  re-elected  several  times,  though  opposed  by  such  men  as  Walker  and 
Langdon.  In  1805  the  Republicans  triumphed,  and  John  Langdon  was  elected 
governor.  Four  years  afterward  the  Federalists  again  came  into  power,  but 
Jeremiah  Smith  was  the  gubernatorial  candidate.  The  next  year  Langdon 
was  again  elected,  and  also  in  iSii.  William  Plumer,  of  Epping,  was  elected 
by  the  Republicans  in  1S12.  Plumer  was  renominated  the  foUowingycar,  but 
the  Federalists,  who  had  again  taken  John  Taylor  Gilman  for  their  stand" 
ard  bearer,  triumphed.  Mr.  (jilman  was  elected  the  two  next  consecutive 
years  without  any  trouble,  although  opposed  each  time  by  that  able  Repub- 
lican chief  William  Plumer.     His  administration  covered  the  exciting  period 


448  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  I  794 

of  the  last  war  with  England,  and  though  of  the  opposite  party  in  politics,  he 
was  not  one  to  dally  when  the  honor  of  the  flag  was  in  jeopardy.  He  man- 
aged the  aflfairs  of  the  State  with  much  energy  and  skill,  its  military  defences 
requiring  his  exclusive  attention.  Detachments  of  militia  were  located  on  the 
frontier  of  the  "  Coos  country,"  to  guard  against  invasion  in  that  quarter. 
In  1814  an  attack  from  the  British  fleet,  off"  our  coast,  was  expected  to  be  made 
on  the  navy  yard  at  Portsmouth,  and  upon  the  town  itself.  Great  excitement 
prevailed.  All  eyes  were  directed  to  Governor  Oilman,  who,  serene  and  calm, 
but  active  and  determined,  surveyed  the  scene.  He  issued  his  call  for  troops; 
the  State  militia,  prompt  to  respond,  rushed  forward  with  all  its  former  alac- 
rity and  patriotism.  More  than  ten  thousand  men  gathered  at  Portsmouth 
and  upon  the  shores  of  the  Piscataqua,  to  meet  the  lion  of  St.  George.  But 
the  danger  passed ;  the  war  closed,  and  New  Hampshire,  under  the  guidance 
of  its  master  hand,  came  out  unscathed  and  untarnished. 

Governor  Gilman  declined  a  re-election  in  1816,  and  announced  his  inten 
tion  never  to  participate  in  political  struggles  again.  He  had  now  reached 
that  age  at  which  it  is  natural  for  men  to  look  forward  to  days  of  rest  and 
seclusion.  Few  men  had  lived  a  more  active  life,  or  had  been  more  promi- 
nently before  the  public.  He  had  been  chief  magistrate  of  the  State  for  four- 
teen years,  a  much  longer  period  than  any  other  man,  — John  Langdon,  who 
came  next  to  him,  having  been  governor  for  a  term  of  eight  years,  and  Josiah 
Bartlett,  William  Plumer,  and  Samuel  Bell  four  years  each.  No  one  of  the 
royal  governors  held  the  oftice  so  long,  with  the  single  exception  of  Benning 
Wentworth,  whose  administration  began  in  1741  and  ended  in  1767,  a  period 
of  twenty-six  years. 

The  latter  part  of  the  governor's  life  was  spent  in  that  retirement  which, 
after  such  a  public  and  excited  career,  could  not  have  been  uncongenial  to 
him,  in  the  rural  occupations  that  he  loved,  and  in  the  cultivation  of  the  social 
relations.  The  memories  of  the  past  thronged  upon  him.  He  loved  to  recall 
the  days  of  Washington,  and  he  wore  the  old  costume  —  long  waistcoat, 
breeches,  and  queue — to  the  last.  He  was  interested  in  all  educational  pro- 
jects, and  was  for  a  long  time  one  of  the  trustees  of  Dartmouth  College,  an.^ 
presidentof  the  trustees  of  Phillips  Academy  at  Exeter.  The  site  now  occu- 
pied by  the  academy  was  given  by  Governor  Gilman,  who  ever  felt  an  aff'ec- 
tionate  concern  for  its  welfare.  In  1818  Dartmouth  College  bestowed  upo» 
him  the  degree  of  LL.D. 

Of  a  strong  and  original  intellect.  Governor  Gilman  was  a  keen  observe*- 
and  logical  reasoner.  Few  men  could  see  so  far  as  he  could,  and  he  was  al- 
ways ready  to  act  upon  any  and  all  occasions.  As  a  man,  he  was  ardent,  im- 
petuous, and  unreserved  in  his  acts  and  feelings.  A  true  patriot  and  an 
ardent  lover  of  his  country,  he  was  ever  wont  to  freely  canvass  the  policy  and 
motives  involved  in  the  old  national  struggles.  Life's  warfare  over,  he  sleeps 
now  near  the  home  of  his  jouth,  among  the  friends  of  his  boyhood  and 
noble  manhood.  But  the  turf  rests  lightly  above  his  grave,  and  his  name  is 
sacredly  linked  with  the  other  illustrious  dead  of  our  early  history. 

Of  Governor  Oilman's  personal  appearance  we  have  several  descriptions. 


1/94] 


STATE    GOVERNMENT. 


449 


He  was  six  feet  high,  of  a  portij'  figure,  and  weighed  about  two  hundred 
pounds.  He  had  keen  bh^e  eyes,  a  fair  complexion,  light  brown  hair,  a  lion- 
like jaw,  and  a  nose  of  composite  order,  being  neither  Roman,  Greek,  or  Jew- 
ish. He  was  a  most  dignified  old  man,  and  preserved  his  straightness  and 
vigor  to  the  last.      He  died  in  August,  1S28. 

Colonel  Oilman,  as  we  have  said,  died  in  17S3.  His  large  property  was  di- 
vided among  his  sons.  The  youngest,  Nathaniel,  had  married  Miss  Abigail 
Odlin,  relative  of  Dr.  Odlin,  and  he  now  became  the  owner  of  the  original 
Odlin  property.  It  was  his  home  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Nathaniel' 
was  a  boy  of  sixteen  when  the-Revolution  commenced,  and  did  not  go  to  the 
field  at  all.  But  he  did  useful  service  at  home,  in  assisting  his  father  in. his 
manifold  employments.  He  succeeded  his  father  as  financial  agent  for  the 
State,  and  was  a  prosperous  and  prominent  citizen.  Though  he  did  not  fill 
the  nation's  eye  like  his  older  brothers,  Colonel  Nathaniel  Oilman  filled  many 
important  offices  in  his  day.  He  was  prominent  in  the  State  militia,  was  a 
State  senator,  and  served  as  State  treasurer  for  many  years.  He  died  in  1847, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.     He  was  the  father  of  four  daughters  and  seven  sons. 

Nathaniel  Oilman  was  the  tallest  and  the  stoutest  of  the  three  brothers. 
He  was  the  Roman  of  them  all,  six  feet  and  two  inches  in  height,  of  remark- 
ably muscular  and  vigorous  mold,  with  a  Roman  nose,  light  hair,  and  the  fair 
complexion  of  the  Gilmans.  Grave  and  sober  in  his  look,  we  can  imagine  the 
fear  with  which  he  was  regarded  by  the  urchins  who  used  to  pilfer  his  fruit. 
His  older  brother.  Senator  Nicholas,  was  the  most  elegant  man  of  his  dav  in 
New  Hampshire.  He  had  the  fine  physique  of  Ezekiel  Webster,  and  the 
winning  grace  of  Aaron  Burr.  His  height  was  five  feet  and  ten  inches,  the 
height  of  a  gentleman,  according  to  Chesterfield.  He  had  a  nearly  straight 
nose,  mild  blue  eyes,  a  handsome  chin,  and  wore  his  hair  in  a  queue.  Blonde, 
superb  in  carriage,  of  striking  dignity,  he  was  the  perfect  ideal  gentleman  of 
the  old  school. 

Nicholas,  like  his  brother,  John  Taylor,  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution. 
His  whole  term  of  service  included  six  years  and  three  months.  During  the 
latter  part  of  the  war  he  was  deputy  adjutant-general,  and  in  that  capacity 
ivas  at  Yorktown,  where  he  received  from  Lord  Cornwallis,  to  whom  he  was 
sent  for  the  purpose  by  Washington,  the  return  of  exactly  seven  thousand  and 
fifty  men  surrendered.  He  held  the  commission  of  captain,  and  was  for  a 
time  a  member  of  General  Washington's  military  family.  After  the  suspen- 
sion of  hostilities,  Nicholas  Oilman  was  a  delegate,  from  his  State,  to  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  for  two  consecutive  years  — 1786  and  1787.  Under  the  new 
constitution  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  jn  Congress 
eight  years,  and  a  United  States  senator  for  nine  years.  He  died  before  the 
completion  of  his  second  term,  at  Philadelphia,  while  returning  from  Wash- 
ington, May  2,  1814.  He  was  never  married.  He  resided  all  his  life  with  his 
brother  Colonel  Nathaniel. 

At  the  death  of  the  latter  the  house  and  estate  came  into  the  hands  of  one 
of  his  sons,  Joseph  Taylor  Oilman.  He  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Gray, 
daughter  of  Harrison  Gray,  of  Boston.     In  1S62  Mr.  Oilman  died,  compara- 


450  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  i  794 

tively  a  young  man.  His  widow,  after  due  time,  n;an-ied  again — a  man 
not  unknown  to  fame,  —  Hon.  Charles  II.  Bell,  in  iSSi  the  chief  execu- 
tive of  New  Hampshire.  Governor  Bell  is  a  son  of  Hon.  John  Bell,  who 
was  governor  of  the  State  in  1828.  He  bears  a  noble  name,  a  name  scarcely 
second  to  that  of  the  Gilmans  in  age  and  honor.  Two  brothers  of  the  name 
have  been  governors  of  the  state  during  a  period  of  five  years;  one  was  a 
United  States  senator  from  New  Hampshire  for  twelve  years,  and  a  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  for  three  years.  Another  of  the  name  was  chief  justice  of 
New  Hampshire  from  1859  to  1864,  and  one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  in 
the  State.  They  have  been  speakers  of  the  house,  presidents  of  the  Senate, 
and  congressmen,   filling  e\ery  office  with  ability,  honesty,  and  honor.' 

In  1794  a  post-rider  went  between  Boston  and  Concord  each 
way  once  a  week.  A  weekly  line  of  stages  was  advertised,  run- 
ning from  Concord,  through  Pembroke,  Allenstown,  Chester, 
and  Haverhill,  to  Boston.  Two  days'  time  was  allowed  for  the 
mail  to  make  the  trip  one  way.  The  advertisements  of  this  year 
mention  no  public  conveyance  in  other  directions.  The  notice 
appeared  October  i. 

In  November  the  stage  line  made  a  connection  at  Haverhill 
with  stages  for  Exeter  and  Portsmouth.  Passengers  were 
allowed  to  carry  fourteen  pounds  of  baggage  free. 

Walpole  was  at  that  time  a  place  of  more  business  than  any 
in  that  vicinity,  and  was  much  resorted  to  by  the  people  of  the 
neighboring  towns.  There  was  also  a  considerable  travel  from 
a  distance  passing  on  what  was  called  the  great  river  road.  The 
inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  river  were 
then  just  passing  from  the  rude  and  boisterous  manners  of  first 
settlers  to  a  more  civilized,  orderly  and  composed  state. ^  A  set 
of  young  men,  mostly  of  the  legal  profession,  gathering  from 
many  miles  up  and  down  the  river,  were  much  in  the  habit  of 
familiar  intercourse  for  the  sake  of  amusement  and  recreation. 
They  occasionally  met  at  village  taverns,  but  more  commonly  at  the 
sessions  of  the  courts,  and  freely  indulged  in  gaming,  excessive 
drinking,  and  such  like  dissipations.  The  most  of  them  were 
gentlemanly  in  manners,  and  some  talented.  The  ruin  of  some 
served  as  a  warning  to  others.'-^ 

"  Mr.  West  was  by  far  the  first  and  best  lawyer,  and  in  all  re- 
spects the  most  respectable  man,  in  that  region  of  country.      He 

I   iML-d    Mynm   Culhy.  •-' JeiL-mi.lh  M;is..n. 


1794]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  451 

was  educated  at  Princeton  College,  and  commenced  the  practice 
of  law  at  Charlcstown  before  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
war.  He  had  good  natural  powers  of  mind,  a  quick  and  clear 
perception,  a  delicate  taste,  highly  refined,  a  sound  judgment, 
and  lively  imagination.  His  style  of  speaking  was  simple,  nat- 
ural, smooth,  and  mild  ;  always  pure  and  neat,  and  sometimes 
elegant ;  with  a  good  person,  clear  and  pleasant  voice,  much 
earnestness  and  apparent  sincerity,  —  he  was  altogether  a  most 
persuasive  speaker."  ^  In  argumg  cases  of  complicated  and 
doubtful  evidence  before  a  jury  he  had  few  or  no  superiors.  In 
the  discussion  of  questions  of  law,  and  in  argumentation  of 
mere  abstract  propositions,  he  was  less  powerful,  for  he  was 
deficient  in  law  learning".  "This  he  was  fully  sensible  of,  and 
attributed  it  to  his  having  quitted  the  study  when  he  began  the 
practice  of  the  law.  He  said  of  the  elder  Judge  Livermore,  who 
had  been  attorney-general  of  the  Province  before  the  Revolution, 
and  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  that,  having  no  law 
learning  himself,  he  did  not  like  to  be  pestered  with  it  at  his 
courts  ;  that  when  he  (Mr.  West)  attempted  to  read  law  books  in 
a  law  argument,  the  chief  justice  asked  him  why  he  read  them  ; 
if  he  thought  that  he  and  his  brethren  did  not  know  as  much 
as  those  musty  old  worm-eaten  books .''  Mr.  West  answered, 
'•  These  books  contain  the  wisdom  of  the  ancient  sages  of  the 
law."  The  reply  was,  "Well,  do  you  think  we  do  not  under- 
stand the  principles  of  justice  as  well  as  the  old  wigged  lawyers 
of  the  dark  ages  did  .'' "  Thus  his  law  books  were  laughed  out 
of  court.  This  was  surely  but  poor  encouragement  for  the  dry 
study  of  law  books. ^  Mr.  West  was  a  member  of  the  conven- 
tion of  New  Hampshire  for  adopting  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  when  from  his  known  talents  much  was  expected 
from  him  ;  but  his  modesty  and  dififidence  kept  him  from  speak- 
ing although  he  was  very  much  interested  in  the  result,  which 
was  for  a  long  time  in  suspense. 

Joseph  Dennis,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1790,  was  also 
practising  law  at  Walpole  at  this  time,  although  "his  legal 
knowledge  consisted  wholly  in  a  choice  selection  of  quaint,  obso- 

*  Jeremiah  Mason. 


452  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^794- 

lete,  and  queer  phrases  from  'Plowclen's  Commentaries,'  the 
only  book  he  ever  read  with  any  attention.  These  phrases  he 
often  repeated  in  ridicule  of  the  law,  to  the  great  amusement  of 
his  auditors.  He  was  the  most  aerial,  refined,  and  highly  sub- 
limited  spirit,"  1  with  "a.  good  share  of  native  genius,  and  a 
delicate  and  accurate  taste,  cultivated  by  an  ardent  study  of  the 
English  classics."  He  afterwards  edited  the  Portfolio  in  Phil- 
adelphia. 

1  "  Another  of  the  extraordinary  men  who  then  ranged  that 
country  was  William  Coleman,  afterwards  so  greatly  distin- 
guished as  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  under 
the  patronage  of  General  Hamilton,  that  his  opponents  gave  him 
the  title  of  field-marshal  of  Federal  editors.  By  great  industry 
and  persevering  diligence  he  acquired  a  good  education.  As  a. 
lawyer  he  was  respectable,  but  his  chief  excellence  consisted  in 
a  critical  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  and  the  adroit 
management  of  political  discussions.  His  paper  for  several 
years  gave  the  leading  tone  to  the  press  of  the  Federal  party."' 
He  freely  admitted  the  assistance  he  received  from  Alexander 
Hamilton  in  writing  his  most  powerful  editorials. 

-In  contradistinction  to  most  of  the  places  in  the  valley  of  the  Souhegan, 
Milford  boasts  of  no  antiquity  and  will  not  celebrate  its  centennial  until  1894. 
For  its  origin  it  is  indebted  to  a  genuine  outburst  of  human  nature  in  the 
form  of  dissatisfaction,  which  took  place  in  the  old  town  of  Monson.  That 
ancient,  now  extinct,  town  was  incorporated  April  i,  1746,  and  was  bounded 
on  the  north  by  the  Souhegan  river  and  south  by  Hollis.  Its  corporate  exis- 
tence lasted  for  twenty-four  years,  during  which  time  it  regularly  held  annual 
town  meetings,  elected  its  town  clerks,  selectmen,  tithingmen,  hogreeves  and 
other  town  officers  ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  ever  had  a  school-house, 
meeting-house,  or  a  ''  learned  orthodox  "  or  other  minister.  The  only  public 
structure  ever  owned  by  the  town  was  a  pound  built  for  the  confinement  of 
disorderly  cattle.  At  the  first  town-meeting,  held  in  May,  1746,  it  was  voted 
to  build  a  pound  and  also  buy  a  suitable  "book  to  record  votes  in,  and  other 
things  as  the  town  shall  see  fit."  The  people  of  Monson,  however,  like  their 
neighbors  of  Hollis,  do  not  at  any  time  seem  to  have  been  well  content  with 
their  chartered  boundaries.  Several  expedients  in  different  years  came  before 
the  annual  meetings  proposing  changes  in  the  chartered  limits,  some  of  them 
favoring  additions  to  its  territory,  others  a  division  of  it  in  various  ways. 
Among  the  rest  was  a  proposal  adopted  at  the  March  meeting  in  1760,  to 

'  Jeremiah    Mason.  -  J.   B.   Conner. 


1796]  STATE  GOVERNMENT,  455 

annex  the  land  on  the  south  side  of  Monson  to  Hollis,  and  to  petition  the 
governor  and  Council  for  such  part  of  Souhegan  west  to  be  added  to  Monson 
as  would  be  sutlicient  to  maintain  the  Gospel  and  other  incidental  charges. 
Again,  in  1761  the  town  voted  to  set  off  a  mile  and  a  half  on  the  south  to 
Hollis.  This  last  was  passed  to  favor  a  petition  of  Hollis  to  the  General  Court 
for  the  like  purpose.  After  this  date  all  questions  looking  to  a  change  in  the 
boundaries  of  the  town  seem  to  have  rested  until  1770,  when  the  people  of 
Monson,  having  abandoned  all  hope  of  maintaining  preaching,  orof  "  settling 
the  Gospel  among  them,"  petitioned  the  General  Court  to  put  a  final  end  to 
their  unhappy  and  troubled  corporate  life  by  a  repeal  of  their  charter.  In 
this  petition  thev  gave  as  a  reason  the  barrenness  of  the  soil  about  the  centre  of 
the  town,  and  tlieir  inability  to  establish  the  Gospel  or  even  to  build  a  meet- 
ing-house. The  consent  of  Hollis  to  accept  of  two  miles  in  width  of  the  south 
side  of  the  suppliant  town,  and  of  Amherst  all  the  residue,  having  been  ob- 
tained, an  Act  was  passed  by  the  General  Court  in  1770,  dividing  Monson  by 
a  line  extending  east  and  west,  passing  very  near  its  centre,  and  annexing 
the  south  part  to  Hollis  and  the  north  to  Amherst. 

In  1793,  the  town  of  Milford  was  incorporated,  the  Act  chartering  it  being- 
entitled:  "An  Act  to  incorporate  the  south-westerly  part  of  Amherst,  the 
north-westerly  part  of  Hollis,  the  Mile  Slip,  and  Duxbuy  school  farm  into  a 
town.  Milford  as  incorporated  included  a  small  part  of  Amherst  northof 
the  Souhegan,  much  the  largest  portion  of  that  part  of  the  old  town  of  Mon- 
son which  was  ceded  to  Amherst  in  1770,  all  of  the  Mile  Slip  not  included  in 
Raby,  with  the  Duxbuy  school  farm,  and  an  area  of  one  thousand  acres  taken 
from  Hollis.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Monson,  after  having  been  carved  into 
many  slices  and  served  up  in  a  variety  of  ways,  was  finally  collected,  moulded 
into  a  different  form,  given  another  name,  and  in  its  new  dress  graces  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  spots  on  the  Souhegan  river. 

The  charter  for  the  first  New  Hampshire  turnpike,  extend- 
ing from  Concord  to  the  Piscataqua  bridge,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Portsmouth,  was  granted  by  the  legislature  in  1796,  and  was- 
promptly  commenced  and  completed,  running  through  the  ex- 
treme northern  section  of  Pembroke.  This  was  the  first  of  a 
series  of  these  thoroughfares,  extended  by  the  enterprise  of  a 
few  public-spirited  individuals  into  every  section  of  the  State. 

^Turnpikes  are  not  of  American  origin.  They  existed  in  the 
mother  country  long  before  the  days  of  Mansfield  and  Black- 
stone.  The  first  turnpike  road  was  between  the  West  Riding 
of  Yorkshire  and  London.  This  Act  was  passed  in  the  fifteenth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second.  It  was  an  innovation 
that  excited  great  hostility.     The  people  benefited  by  it  tore 

'John  M.  Shirley. 


454  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  1 79^ 

<lo\vn  the  toll-bars,  and  the  new  enterprise  was  baptized  in  blood 
])efore  the  people  would  submit  to  it.  The  new  system  tri- 
umphed by  slow  degrees. 

Macaulay  graphically  describes  the  condition  of  that  country 
with  respect  to  communication  before  such  roads  became  accept- 
able to  the  public. 

Capital  seeking  an  outlet  saw  its  opportunit}^,  and  under  a 
swarm  of  Turnpike  Acts  the  country  was  at  last  gridironed  with 
these  roads. 

The  turnpike  craze  in  this  State  is  almost  forgotten  ;  we  caught 
it  from  Massachusetts;  it  began  in  1795  and  culminated  about 
twenty  years  after  ;  it  wrought  a  revolution  in  public  travel, 
relatively,  nearly  as  great  as  that  brought  about  by  the  railway 
craze  between  1840  and  1850.  The  system  with  us  did  not 
originate  in  the  local  want  or  demand  along  the  lines  contem- 
plated. Other  and  more  far-reaching  causes,  as  we  shall  see, 
were  at  the  bottom  of  the  movement.  The  settlement  of  the 
State  was  necessarily  by  progressive,  though  at  times  apparently 
simultaneous,  steps.  First  came  the  settlement  and  location  of 
the  four  towns,  and  the  opening  of  communication  between 
them  ;  then  the  advent  of  the  trapper,  hunter,  and  scout  into 
the  unsettled  portion  ;  then  came  the  land  grants,  and  the  set- 
tlement in  isolated  locations  ;  then  the  blazed  path  to  the  parent 
towns  and  to  the  cabin  of  the  pioneer  or  the  outposts  ;  then  the 
drift-ways,  cart-ways,  and  the  local  roads  winding  from  cabin  to 
cabin  ;  then  the  town-ways  and  session  or  county  roads,  with 
here  and  there  the  "provincial"  roads  like  that  which  passes 
through  Gilmanton  and  that  which  was  laid  out  and  built  from 
the  Gerrish  place  —  now  the  county  farm  at  Boscawen  —  to  the 
college  at  Hanover  in  1784-86  by  legislative  committee,  and 
that  laid  out  by  a  like  committee  from  Hale's  Bridge,  in  Wal- 
l^ole,  in  the  county  of  Cheshire,  running  sixty  miles  to  a  pitch- 
pine  tree  on  Deerneck  in  Chester. 

Fifty-three  turnpike  companies  were  incorporated  in  this 
State.  The  Acts  of  corporation  in  Massachusetts  were  in 
fact  based  on  English  models,  but  the  Bay  State  mind,  then  as 
now,  felt  itself  competent  to  improve  upon  any  model,  irrespec- 


179^]  STATE    GOVERNMENT.  455 

tivc  of  whether  it  was  the  work  of  hunum  hands  or  of  the  Divine 
Architect  ;  and  as  minds  differed  even  in  Massachusetts  there 
was  a  marked  diversity  in  these  Acts  ;  and  the  New  Hampshire 
Acts  were  Httle  less  consistent  or  coherent. 

"  The  New  Hampshire  turnpike  road  "  is  commonly  known 
as  "the  first  New  Hampshire  turnpike,"  because  it  was  the  first 
Act  of  the  kind  in  this  State.  John  Hale,  Arthur  Livermore, 
Isaac  Waldron,  John  Goddard,  Thomas  Leavitt,  William  Hale, 
and  Peter  Green,  all  notable  men,  were  the  corporators  espe- 
cially named  in  the  Act.  This  Act  was  passed  June  i6,  1796. 
The  road  ran  from  Piscataqua  bridge  in  Durham  to  the  Merri- 
mack river  in  Concord,  passing  through  Lee,  Barrington,  Not- 
tingham, Northwood,  Epsom,  and  Chichester.  The  distance 
was  thirty-six  miles. 

The  elaborate  plan  or  survey  of  this  pioneer  turnpike  in  this  State  mav  still 
be  seen  in  the  State  House  in  Concord.  The  Act  contains  in  eli'ect  eleven  sec- 
tions. The  first  gave  the  names  of  the  corporators,  the  name  of  the  corpora- 
tion, and  conferred  upon  it  the  inestimable  privilege  of  suing  and  being  sued; 
the  second  proxided  for  the  organization  and  the  establishment  of  regulations 
and  by-lav.'s  for  the  government  thereof;  the  third  empowered  the  corpora- 
tion "  to  survey,  lay  out,  make,  and  keep  in  repair  a  turnpike  road  or  highway 
of  four  rods  wide,  in  such  route  or  track  as  in  the  1  e-t  of  their  judgment  and 
skill  will  combine  sAor/ness  of  distance  zvit/i  the  most  practicable  grourtd 
between  the  termini ;  the  fourth  provides  that  the  damages  to  landowners 
should  be  fixed  by  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  if  the  parties  could  not  agree; 
the  fifth  in  relation  to  "gates"  and  "  turnpikes ",  to  prevent  trespass: 
the  sixth  authorized  the  appointment  of  toll-gatherers  and  fixed  the  rates  of 
toll;  the  seventh  authorized  the  purchase  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  in  fee 
simple,  and  provided  that  the  shares  be  assigned  by  deed,  and  that  the  shares 
bought  be  sold  for  non-payment  or  assessments;  the  eighth  prohibits  the 
taking  of  toll  prior  to  the  expenditure  of  six  hundred  dollars  upon  each  mile 
of  the  road,  a  proportionate  sum  vipon  the  whole  number  of  miles;  by  the 
ninth  the  corporation  was  liable  to  be  indicted  and  fined  the  same  as  towns 
for  defective  highways,  with  a  proviso  that  if  the  turnpike  road  ran  over  any 
part  of  the  road  then  used  the  company  should  neither  collect  toll  for  that 
part  nor  be  liable  to  repair  it;  the  tenth  provided  that  an  account  of  the  ex- 
penditures and  profits  should  be  laid  before  the  Superior  Court  at  the  end  of 
twenty  years,  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  charter,  that  if  the  net  profits 
for  the  twenty  years  should  exceed  twelve  per  cent,  per  annum  the  court 
might  reduce  the  tolls  so  that  it  should  not  exceed  that  rate,  and  if  the  profit 
was  less  than  six  percent,  the  judges  might  raise  the  toll  so  that  the  rate  should 
not  be  less  than  six  nor  more  than  twelve  per  cent.  ;  the  eleventh  provides 


456  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^797 

that  the  charter  should  be  void  unless  the  road  should  be  completed  in  ten 
jt^ars,  with  the  proviso  that  the  State,  after  the  expiration  of  forty  years,  might 
convert  the  same  into  a  public  highway  by  repaying  what  had  been  expended 
by  the  company,  with  interest  at  the  rate  of  twelve  per  cent,  per  annum 
thereon,  after  deducting  the  amount  of  the  toll  actually  received. 

Some  of  the  provisions  of  this  Act  and  that  of  the  fourth  are  in  marked  con- 
trast. The  preamble  to  this  Act  and  the  petition  for  the  fourth  should  be  read 
♦^^ogether;  they  were  both  the  work  of  comprehensive  minds  having  the  same 
'^bjects  in  view. 

The  preamble  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  Whereas  a  petition  has  been  presented  to  the  General  Court,  setting  forth 
*.hat  the  communication  between  the  sea  coast  and  the  interior  parts  of  the 
State  might  be  made  much  more  easy,  convenient,  and  less  expensive,  by  a 
direct  road  from  Concord  to  Piscataqua  bridge  than  it  now  is,  between  the 
country  and  anv  commercial  seaport;  that  the  expensiveness  of  an  undertak- 
ing of  this  kind,  however  useful  to  the  community,  would  burthen  the  towns 
through  which  it  may  pass  so  heavily  as  to  render  it  difficult  to  effect  so  im- 
portant a  purpose,  otherwise  than  by  an  incorporated  company,  who  might 
■oe  indemnified  by  a  toll  for  the  sums  that  should  be  expended  by  them  :  there- 
fore it  was  prayed  by  the  petitioners  that  they  and  their  associates  might  be 
incorporated  into  a  body  corporate  for  the  aforesaid  purpose,  under  such  limi- 
tations, and  with  such  tolls  as  might  be  thought  fit,  which  prayer  being  rea- 
sonable, etc." 

Ac  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  in  June,  1797,  John  God- 
dard  had  three  votes  for  speaker ;  Woodbury  Langdon,  seven  ; 
P.ussell  Freeman,  forty-one  ;  and  William  Plumer,  seventy- 
three  ;  and  William  Plumer,  who  for  six  years  had  held  aloof 
from  the  legislature,  practising  his  profession,  was  thus  wel- 
comed back  to  public  life.      He  was  at  that  time  a  Federalist.^ 

2  Edward  St.  Loe  Livermore,  at  the  head  of  the  Rockingham 
county  bar,  having  accepted  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  Portsmouth  offered  a  fair  field  to  a  rising  young  lav^^yer, 
Jeremiah  Mason,  to  enter.  It  was  relatively  a  place  of  more 
importance  than  now.  Its  chief  sources  of  prosperity  were 
shipbuilding,  for  which  it  had  peculiar  facilities  in  its  noble 
harbor,  and  in  its  proximity  to  extensive  forests,  and  the  carry- 
ing trade, —  for  both  of  which  it  was  mainly  indebted  to  the  wars  of 
the  French  Revolution,  which  were  desolating  Europe.  It  had 
many  prosperous  and  enterprising  merchants,  and  an  active, 
thrifty,  and  energetic  population.     Its  ships  were  known  in  every 


'  Williajii  Plumer.  Jr.  ^  Iereini;ili  Mascii'.?  Life. 


i 


1/97]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  457 

clime,  and  the  commerce  which  enriched  it  gave  an  improved 
tone  to  the  manners  and  social  habits  of  its  inhabitants.^  Many 
men  of  good  judgment  entertained  the  belief  that  the  future 
progress  and  prosperity  of  Portsmouth  were  more  assured  than 
those  of  Boston. 

Portsmouth  was  also  at  that  time  a  place  of  more  than  com- 
mon social  attractions.  Even  before  the  Revolution,  in  days  of 
wigs,  cocked  hats,  and  flowered  waistcoats,  it  was  the  residence 
of  many  cultivated  families  and  the  seat  of  a  generous  hospitality, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  its  old  character  remained, 
indeed  made  more  marked  by  the  wealth  which  commerce  had 
poured  into  its  lap.  The  Marquis  of  Chastellu.x,  who  was  there 
in  1782,  speaks  of  seeing  handsome  women  elegantly  dressed, 
of  dinners  and  suppers,  and  of  fine  houses  richly  furnished. 
There  must  have  been  an  easy,  agreeable,  and  somewhat  refined 
society.  Travelling  was  slow,  difficult,  and  expensive.  For 
society,  the  inhabitants  were  mainly  dependent  upon  them- 
selves ;  the  ties  of  social  life  were  closely  drawn.  Men  were  not 
so  busy  and  time  was  not  so  precious  as  now.  Books,  news- 
papers, and  magazines  were  rare ;  men  and  women  read  less, 
but  talked  more,  and  wrote  longer  and  more  elaborate  letters, 
than  now.  '  Cheap  postage  has  spoiled  letter  writing.'  Much 
time  was  spent  in  social  visits  ;  tea  parties  and  supper  parties  were 
common.  The  gentlemen  had  their  clubs  and  exclusive  social 
gatherings,  sometimes  too  convivial  in  their  character;  and 
"occasionally  a  youth  of  promise  fell  a  victim  to  the  temptations 
of  a  mistaken  hospitality."  Gaming  was  more  common  among 
respectable  people  than  novv.^ 

2 There  are  different  divisions  of  Methodists,  but  those  most 
common  in  this  section  of  the  country,  and  the  largest  body  of 
them,  are  called  Episcopal  Methodists.  The  denomination 
originated  in  England  in  1739,  mainly  under  the  labors  of  Rev. 
John  Wesley. 

The  first  Methodist  Society  in  this  country  was  organized  in 
New  York  city  in  1766.  It  was  composed  of  immigrants  from 
Ireland,  who  had  been  won  to  the  faith  by  the  preaching  of  Mr. 

^  Jeremiah  Mason's  Life.  ^  Joseph  TuUonton. 


45S  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  [^797 

Wesley.  The  first  Methodist  preacher  in  that  city  was  Philip 
Embury.  New  England  was  visited  by  several  preachers,  among; 
them  being  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  a  pioneer  often  on  the  frontiers, 
travelling  on  horseback,  and  addressing,  with  great  earnestness, 
zeal,  and  fervor,  multitudes  that  came  to  hear  him.  He  was  in 
Boston,  where  he  preached  once  under  the  great  elm  on  the 
Common. 

No  sooner  had  a  foothold  been  gained  in  Massachusetts  than 
New  Hampshire  was  considered  a  field  to  be  cultivated.  In 
1794  the  New  England  Conference  appointed  John  Hill  to 
labor  in  this  State.  What  came  of  this  is  not  known,  as  there 
is  no  record  of  his  work.  Possibly  he  did  not  come  into  the 
State.  Yet,  through  the  efforts  of  some  one,  a  society  was  soon 
after  formed  in  Chesterfield,  which  in  1797  had  ninety-two  mem- 
bers, and  that  year  Smith  Weeks  was  appointed  to  that  place. 
The  church  there  still  exists,  and  is  probably  the  oldest  in  the 
State.     Two  years  later  Elijah  Batchelder  was  appointed  there. 

In  the  meantime  other  sections  were  visited.  Jason  Lee,  above  named, 
labored  in  the  lower  part  of  the  State  to  some  extent.  Some  opposition  was 
encountered,  but  in  general  a  good  work  is  not  hindered  by  opposition,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  is  usually  advanced.  During  the  year  iSoo  a  society  was 
constituted  in  Landaff  and  one  in  Hawke,  now  Danville  ;  in  iSoi  one  in  Han- 
over; in  1802  one  in  Bridgewater  and  one  in  Kingston  ;  in  1803  one  in  Grant- 
ham;  in  1804  one  in  Pembroke,  one  in  Loudon,  and  one  in  Tuftonborough ; 
in  1805  one  in  Northfield  and  one  in  Centre  Harbor;  in  1806  one  in  Ports- 
mouth; in  1807  one  in  Canaan  and  one  in  Rochester;  in  1810  one  in  Green- 
land. 

The  several  places  to  which  a  minister  was  appointed  constituted  a  "  cir- 
cuit," receiving  its  name  from  the  principal  town;  and  this  continued,  espe- 
cially in  country  regions,  until  within  a  very  few  years.  A  circuit  embraced 
two,  three,  or  more  towns.  These  the  minister  was  to  visit  and  hold  evening 
or  other  meetings.  When  a  circuit  was  very  large,  two  ministers  were 
assigned  to  it.  On  a  circuit,  a  minister  was  much  in  the  saddle,  or  travelling 
on  foot  in  wilderness  regions,  finding  his  way  by  spotted  trees. 

During  the  times  in  which  the  above  societies  were  established,  and  later, 
there  were  several  distinguished  ministers  doing  good  service  in  the  State> 
among  whom  should  be  named  the  following  :  — 

Rev.  Elijah  Hedding,  who  travelled  over  some  of  the  rough  portions  of  the 
State,  preaching  the  gospel  to  many,  but  subsequently  became  a  bishop,  and 
resided  in  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died. 

Rev.  Wilbur    Fisk,  who  was  a  presiding  elder    in   New  Hampshire,   and 


1798]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  459 

afterwards  became  president  of  Weslevan  Univer!>it_)',  in  Middietown,  Conn., 
and  -was  elected  bishop,  but  died  before  serving  in  that  office. 

Rev.  John  Broadhead,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  who  was  for  some  time  a 
presiding  elder  —  a  man  of  sterling  ability  and  an  effective  preacher,  who 
resided  at  what  is  now  South  Newmarket,  was  a  senator  in  the  legislature, 
and  for  four  years  representative  in  Congress,  and  who  died  April  7,  1S3S. 

Mn  June,  17S8,  Benning  Moulton,  and  fifty-one  others,  "  in- 
habitants of  Meredith  Neck,  the  northern  district  of  New  Hamp- 
ton and  New  Holderness,  and  of  the  southern  district  of  Moul- 
tonborough,"  petitioned  the  legislature  to  be  severed  from  the 
respective  towns  to  which  they  then  belonged,  and  incorporated 
into  a  "township  by  the  name  of  Watertown,"  for  the  following 
reasons  :  "  That  the  lands  aforesaid  are  so  surrounded  with 
ponds,  and  impassable  streams  running  into  and  out  of  said 
ponds,  and  so  remote  from  the  centres  of  the  respective  towns 
to  which  they  belong,  that  we  have  hitherto  found  the  greatest 
inconvenience  in  attending  public  worship."  The  matter  camt 
before  the  legislature  in  January  1789,  and  a  committee,  consist- 
ing of  Hon.  Joseph  Badger  of  Gilmanton,  Daniel  Beede,  Esq., 
of  Sandwich,  and  Captain  Abraham  Burnham  of  Rumney, 
was  appointed  "to  view  the  situation  of  the  premises  petitioned 
for,  .  .  .  and  report  their  opinion  thereon  to  the  General  Court 
at  their  next  session." 

The  committee  visited  the  locality  in  May  following,  with  a 
copy  of  the  petition,  in  which  the  bounds  of  the  proposed  town 
were  described,  and  containing  the  names  of  the  petitioners. 
They  made  up  their  report  on  the  premises,  and  wrote  it  on  the 
back  of  the  copy  of  the  petition,  dating  the  same  "  Centerr 
Harbor  May  y^  28th,  1789."  It  seems  from  this,  that  there  was 
a  landing  then  called  "Centre  Harborr,"  eight  years  before  the 
town  was  set  off  and  incorporated. 

Three  men  by  the  name  of  Senter  signed  this  petition ;  and  as 
the  committee  had  it  before  them  when  they  made  up  their 
report,  it  is  not  probable  that  such  men  as  Judge  Badger,  by 
whose  hand  the  report  was  made,  or  either  of  the  others,  would 
have  written  "  Center"  if  they  had  intended  to  write  "Senter." 

The  af-oresaid    committee   reported   against   the   petitioners, 

'  I.  W.  Hammond. 


^5o  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l799 

saying,  "  That  while  the  lands  proposed  would  make  a  conven- 
ient small  town  it  would  be  a  damage  to  Holderness  and  Mere- 
dith, and  that  neither  of  the  towns  would  be  able  to  support 
public  worship,"  and  the  matter  then  dropped  until  1797,  at 
which  time  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  legislature,  bearing 
■date  "  New  Hampton,  June,  1797,"  signed  by  James  Little  and 
forty-six  others,  praying  "That  your  honors  would  set  off  such 
a  part  of  said  town  as  is  included  in  the  following  bounds  as  a 
town,  and  that  it  may  be  incorporated  by  the  name  of  Centre 
Harbor."  The  bounds  are  then  given,  which  they  say  are 
■"agreeable  to  a  vote  of  the  town  of  New  Hampton  in  the  year 
1786."  The  legislature  appointed  a  hearing  for  their  next  ses- 
sion, and  required  the  petitioners  to  post  a  copy  of  the  petition 
and  order  of  court  in  some  public  place  in  said  town,  eight 
weeks  before  said  hearing,  and  serve  a  like  copy  on  the  select- 
men. There  is  preserved  the  copy  which  was  posted,  written 
in  a  plain  hand,  the  corners  showing  the  nail  holes,  and  contain- 
ing a  certificate  dated  November  18,  1797,  stating  that  it  was 
posted  at  the  store  of  Moses  Little  in  New  Hampton,  eight 
weeks  prior  to  said  date  ;  and  also  a  copy  containing  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  selectmen  of  service  on  them,  in  both  of  which 
the  name  of  the  proposed  town  is  written  "  Centre  Harbor."  If 
it  was  the  intention  of  the  people  to  name  the  town  Senter's 
Harbor,  it  is  impossible  that  it  could  have  been  posted  in  a  con- 
spicuous place,  and  undoubtedly  read  by  nearly  every  man  in 
town,  and  the  error  remain  undiscovered. 

Add  to  this  fact  that  it  has  been  spelt  "  Centre  "  in  the  town 
records  from  that  time  to  this,  and  that  the  first  petition  from 
the  town  after  its  incorporation,  which  was  for  the  appointment 
of  Lieutenant  Winthrop  Robinson  as  justice  of  the  peace,  was 
dated  "Centre  Harbor,  April,  1798." 

The  first  settlements  were  made  by  Ebenezer  Chamberlain 
in  1765  and  Colonel  Joseph  Senter  in  1767.  A  Congregational 
church  was  formed  in  18 15,  over  which  Rev.  David  Smith  was 
ordained  in  18 19. 

One  of  the  duties  imposed  upon  the  tithingmen  in  1799  was 
to  stop  all  persons  travelling  on  the  Sabbath,  and  interrogate 


l800j  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  461 

them  in  relation  to  their  business,  names,  and  places  of  resi- 
dence. Proud  of  their  brief  authority,  zealous  in  the  cause,  they 
were  frequently  a  source  of  annoyance  almost  unbearable,  seiz- 
ing upon  the  reins  of  the  traveller's  horse  with  the  ungracious 
rudeness  of  the  highwayman,  rather  than  as  the  conservators 
of  religious  observance  and  civil  order. 

Eighty  years  after  the  event  Colonel  William  Kent  gave  his 
account  of  how  the  inhabitants  of  Concord,  few  in  number,  at- 
tended the  funeral  services  on  the  death  of  General  Washinjr- 
ton,  at  the  Old  North  meeting-house  in  Concord,  February  22, 
1800.  They  formed  a  procession,  old  and  young,  and  marched 
to  the  church. 

"The  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  the  deep  mourning  dress  of  the  pulpit  and 
galleries,  in  connection  with  the  sad  countenances  of  the  people,  are  vivid  in 
my  memory  to  this  day.  Concord  at  that  time,  and  for  many  years  after, 
had  a  population  of  about  two  thousand,  with  the  same  territorial  limits  as 
at  present. 

"  In  the  precinct,  in  what  may  be  called  the  city  proper,  there  was  only  one 
street,  now  called  Main  street,  and  then  only  ^/w  street.  The  principal  ave- 
nue to  the  street  was  then  called  Milk  road  (now  called  Pleasant  street).  It 
led  to  the  grist-mill  belonging  to  the  late  Jacob  Carter,  fatlier  of  our  esteemed 
citizen  Jacob  Carter,  Esq.,  and  at  the  present  time  owned  and  occupied  by  St. 
Paul's  school.  This  road,  or  Pleasant  street,  had  only  ten  buildings  as  far 
as  the  top  of  the  hill  opposite  the  asylum.  On  the  north,  beginning  at  the 
corner  of  the  street  now  called  Green  street,  and  as  far  north  as  Centre  street, 
was  a  swamp  with  a  brook  leading  to  the  river,  and  a  dense  growth  of  trees 
or  shrubbery  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  the  section  now  occupied  by  our  most 
valuable  residences.  About  the  year  1S15  Judge  Green  built  the  house  now 
occupied  as  the  Asylum  for  the  Aged,  on  about  sixty-five  acres  of  the  land 
connected  therewith.  As  evidence  of  the  greatly  increased  value,  the  house 
and  land  belonging  were  sold  for  $5000. 

"On  the  south  of  Pleasant  street,  extending  to  Bow  line,  the  land  was 
occupied  for  cultivation  and  pasture,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  scattered 
house-lots,  not  exceeding  twenty  in  all. 

"  Main  street  at  that  time,  according  to  my  recollection,  from  the  south  end 
to  the  north,  had  five  public-houses  ;  one  of  which,  called  the  Butters'  Tavern, 
is  now  the  only  one  standing;  six  stores;  and  the  whole  number  of  dwellings 
did  not  exceed  seventy-five.  The  first  and  only  brick  building  in  Concord 
was  erected  in  1S06,  and  is  now  occupied  by  the  First  National  Bank.  At 
that  time  there  was  no  public  conveyance  in  any  direction.  This  fact  I  can 
fully  realize,  as  I  was  a  student  at  Atkinson  Academy,  and  the  only  mears  of 
coming  home  at  vacation  was  by  the  post-rider,  who  carried  the  mail  once  a 
week  on  horseback  from   Haverhill,  N-  II.,  to  Haverhill,  Mass.,  who  led  my 


462  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [18OO 

horse  by  his  side  for  me  to  ride.  The  post-office  was  kept  by  David  George, 
in  a  small  6  by  8  room  in  his  hatter's  shop.  The  whole  contents  of  a  mail  for 
Concord  might  not  have  required  more  than  a  good-sized  hat.  Correspond- 
ence was  rare,  and  mostly  of  imperative  necessity,  on  account  of  the  expense 
of  postage.  Letters  directed  the  shortest  distance  took  ten  cents  for  postage, 
and  the  expense  proportionally  increased  with  the  distance;  love  letters 
were  few  and  far  between.  The  only  meeting-house  in  town  was  the  Old 
North,  standing  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  Walker  school-house, 
and  it  continued  to  be  so  until  the  year  1826,  when  the  First  Baptist  church 
was  dedicated;  and  in  1829  the  Unitarian.  The  churches  have  continued  in- 
creasing with  the  increase  of  population,  now  numbering,  in  all  the  city, 
fifteen." 

'The  second  New  Hampshire  turnpike  road  was  incorporated  December  26, 
1799.  It  ran  from  Claremont  through  Unity,  Lempster,  Washington,  Mar- 
low,  Hillsborough,  Antrim,  Deering,  Francestown,  Lyndeborough,  New 
Boston,  Mont  Vernon,  and  to  Amherst,  th  ough  as  respects  several  of  these 
towns  it  merely  "  cut  the  corners."     It  was  fifty  miles  in  length. 

The  third  was  incorporated  December  27,  1799.  It  ran  from  Bellows  Falls 
and  Walpole,  through  Westmoreland,  Surry,  Keene,  Marlborough,  Jaffrey, 
and  in  a  direction  towards  Boston.     The  distance  was  fifty  miles. 

The  petition  for  the  fourth  New  Hampshire  turnpike  road  was  presented 
to  the  legislature  in  1800,  and  was  signed  by  Elisha  Payne,  Russell  Freeman, 
and  Constant  Stoors." 

On  November  25,  1800,  the  House  "voted  that  the  prayer 
thereof  be  granted,  and  that  the  petitioners  have  leave  to  bring 
in  a  bill  accordingly,"  with  which  the  Senate  on  the  next  day 
concurred. 

The  population  of  the  State  in  1800  was  183,868;  but  the 
population  of  the  towns  through  some  portion  of  which  the 
turnpike  passed  was  less  than  10,000. 

'  Before  considering  the  act  of  incorporation,  it  may  be  useful  to  advert 
briefly  to  some  of  the  more  salient  of  the  almost  innumerable  provisions  of 
the  English  Turnpike  Acts. 

They  provided  that  two  oxen  were  to  be  considered  the  same  as  one  horse; 
that  cattle  straying  on  a  turnpike  road  might  be  impounded ;  that  nails  in 
wheel  tires  should  be  countersunk  so  that  they  should  not  project  more  than 
one-fourth  of  an  inch  above  the  surface;  that  carriers'  dogs  should  not  be 
chained  to  the  wagons ;  that  teams  should  not  descend  hills  with  locked 
wheels  unless  resting  on  skid  pans  or  slippers  ;  that  supernumerary  "beasts  of 
draught "  should  not  be  used  without  licence ;  that  no  goods  should  be  un- 
loaded before  coming  to  a  turnpike  gate  or  weighing  machine;  that  drivers 
should  not  turn  from  the  road  to  avoid  such  machine ;  that  children  under 
thirteen  years  should  not  be  drivers;  that  all  drivers  must  give  their  names; 
that  no  driver   should  ride,  etc.,  without  some  one  on  foot  or  horseback  to 

'John  M.  Shirley. 


l800]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  463 

guide  the  team ;  that  drivers  when  meeting  other  carriages  "  must  keep  to 
the  left  side  of  the  road  ;"  that  no  person  should  pull  down,  damage,  injure, 
or  destroy  any  lamp  or  lamp-post  put  up  in  or  near  the  side  of  a  turnpike 
road  or  toll  house,  or  extinguish  the  light  of  such  lamp;  and  that  no  wind- 
mill should  be  erected  within  two  hundred  yards  of  any  part  of  the  turnpike 
road. 

It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  turnpike  surveyor  to  prevent  and  remove  all 
annoyance  by  filth,  dung,  ashes,  rubbish,  or  other  things  whatsoever,  even  if 
laid  upon  a  common  within  eighty  feet  of  the  centre  of  the  road,  and  to  turn 
any  watercourse,  sinks,  or  drains  which  ran  into,  along,  or  out  of  any  turn- 
pike road  to  its  prejudice,  and  to  open,  drain,  and  cleanse  watercourses  or 
ditches  adjoining  the  road,  and  to  deepen  and  enlarge  the  same  if  the  owners 
neglected  so  to  do  after  seven  days'  notice  in  writing. 

With  very  trifling  differences  the  same  rule  was  applied  to  obstructions  of 
highways  and  turnpikes. 

No  tree,  bush,  or  shrub  was  allowed  within  fifteen  feet  of  the  centre,  un- 
less for  ornament  or  shelter  to  the  house,  building,  or  courtyard  of  the  owner. 
Hedges  and  boughs  of  trees  were  to  be  kept  cut  and  pruned,  while  the  possessors 
of  the  lands  adjoining  the  roads  were  to  cut  down,  prune  and  lop  the  trees 
growing  on  or  near  the  hedges  or  other  fences  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
highways  should  not  be  prejudiced  by  the  shade,  and  so  that  the  sun  and 
wind  should  not  be  excluded  from  them  to  their  damage,  with  the  pro- 
viso that  no  oak  trees  or  hedges  must  be  cut  except  in  April,  May,  or  June, 
or  ash,  elm,  or  other  trees  except  in  December,  January,  February,  or  March. 
The  surveyor  could  not  compel  the  cutting  of  hedges  except  between  the  last 
day  of  September  and  the  last  day  of  March. 

The  hedges  were  to  be  cut  six  feet  from  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  the 
branches  of  trees,  bushes,  and  shrubs  were  also  to  be  cut,  and  were  treated 
as  a  nuisance  if  they  overhung  the  road  so  as  to  impede  or  annoy  any  person 
or  carriage  travelling  there. 

When  a  turnpike  road  was  laid  out,  which  rendered  an  old  road  unneces- 
sary, the  trustees,  etc.,  could  discontinue  the  old  road,  which  thereby  vested 
in  them,  and  they  might  sell  and  convey  the  same  by  deed,  or  they  might 
by  agreement  give  up  the  same  to  the  ow  ners  of  adjoining  lands  by  way  of 
exchange,  or  the  old  road  might  be  sold  to  some  adjoining  landowner,  or  in 
case  he  refused  to  purchase  to  some  other  person. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  contract  the  soil  of  the  old  road  vested  in  the 
purchaser  and  his  heirs, —  saving  fossils,  mines,  and  minerals  to  the  original 
proprietor. 

The  exceptions  under  the  English  Acts  were  much  more  minute  than  un- 
der section  six  of  the  Act  under  consideration. 

No  toll  could  be  collected  for  horses  or  carriages  which  only  crossed  the 
turnpike,  or  which  did  not  pass  one  hundred  yards  thereon,  or  for  horses  or 
carriages  conveying  any  one  to  or  from  the  election  of  a  member  of  the 
county  where  the  road  was  situate;  or  for  the  mails  or  the  military  service, 
nor  for  any  inhabitant  of  a  parish,  etc.,  attending  a  funeral  therein,  nor  for 
any  curate,  etc.,  visiting  any  sick  parishioner  or  attending  to  any  other  pare- 


464  HISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [18OO 

chial  duty  within  his  parish;  nor  from  any  person  going  to  or  returning 
from  his  parochial  church  or  chapel  or  usual  place  of  religious  worship  toler- 
ated bj  law,  on  Sundays  or  any  day  on  which  divine  service  was  by  authority 
allowed  to  be  celebrated. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  corporation  was  duly  warned  by  Elisha 
Payne,  January  28,  1801.  The  meeting  was  held  at  the  dwelling- 
house  of  Clap  Sumner,  "  Innholder,"  in  Lebanon,  on  March  24, 
1 801,  at  ten  a.  m.  Elisha  Payne  was  chosen  moderator,  Benja- 
min J.  Gilbert  of  Hanover  was  chosen  clerk,  accepted  his  ap- 
pointment, and  was  "sworn  accordingly." 

An  examination  of  the  list  shows  how  largely  the  people  at 
Portsmouth,  at  Hanover,  and  at  Lebanon  were  interested. 

The  shareholders  at  Hopkinton  were  headed  by  Judge  Harris. 
Herriman,  or  Harriman,  also  resided  there. 

The  list  shows,  with  the  exception  of  Bowers  and  a  few  others 
in  Salisbury,  how  few  shareholders  there  were  in  the  outset 
along  the  line  from  Boscawen  ferry  to  Lebanon. 

The  ne.vt  step  was  to  provide  for  locating  the  road.  This  was,  if  possible, 
more  delicate  and  difficult  than  the  raising  of  funds.  The  feelings  of  th« 
rival  interests  along  the  line  were  very  strong.  With  the  exception  of  thai 
part  of  the  road  from  Fifield's  mills  to  Horse-shoe  Pond  in  Andover,  a  distance 
of  about  three  miles,  there  was  likely  to  be  a  sharp  and  bitter  controversy 
about  the  location  of  the  entire  route.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  Roger  Per- 
kins and  General  Davis  at  this  time  had  not  discovered  how  vital  it  was  for 
the  interest  of  that  section  that  the  turnpike  should  run  from  the  Potter  Place 
to  Hopkinton.  Through  their  efforts,  mainly,  this  route  was  afterwards  laid 
out  by  order  of  the  court,  and  partially  built.  It  was  overthrown  by  Ezekiel 
Webster,  who  never  forgot  the  hostility  of  the  people  of  Hopkinton  towards 
him  in  a  celebrated  case,  upon  the  ground  mainly  that  for  a  portion  of  the 
way  it  ran  along  or  over  old  highways. 

The  corporators  in  the  outset  determined  to  select  people  outside  the  State 
to  make  the  location  in  order  to  avoid  the  huckstering  and  log-rolling  which 
had  made  so  much  trouble  in  other  cases,  and  which  afterwards  caused  so 
fniich  feeling  in  the  location  of  railroads.  Accordingly  at  the  adjourned 
meeting,  May  29,  1801,  the  following  votes  were  passed  : — 

"Voted  that  General  James  Whitelaw  of  Ryegate,  General  Elias  Stevens  of 
Royalton,  and  Major  Micah  Barron  of  Bradford,  all  in  the  State  of  Vermont, 
.  be  a  committee  to  survey  and  lay  out  the  route  for  the  fourth  turnpike  road 
in  New  Hampshire. 

The  great  question  before  the  legislature  at  the  June  session, 

1800,  was  on  the  memorial  of  certain  persons  asking  for  the  estab- 


J 


l8oi]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  465 

lishment  of  another  bank  in  rortsmouth.^  Soon  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  New  Hampshire  bank,  a  company  was  formed 
in  that  town,  which  issued  bills  and  transacted  the  ordinary  busi- 
ness of  a  bank,  though  unincorporated.  The  old  bank  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  Federalists  ;  the  new  one,  established  by 
Langdon,  Sherburne,  Goddard,  and  other  Republicans,  was  not 
a  mere  money  concern,  but  was  intended  as  an  engine  of  poli- 
tical power.  They  had  the  year  before  applied  for  an  Act  of 
incorporation,  which  was  denied  them  ;  and  a  law  was  passed 
making  all  such  unincorporated  banking  associations  unlawful. 
The  State  had,  also,  became  a  stockholder  in  the  old  bank. 
The  March  elections  had  turned  mainly,  in  many  places,  on  this 
bank  question  ;  and  the  Republicans  had  gained  largely  by  the 
votes  of  men  who  regarded  the  old  bank  as  a  monopoly,  the 
State  subscription  as  a  bribe,  and  the  new  bank  as  the  only  sure 
remedy  for  the  financial  evils  of  the  times.^ 

The  question  came  up  in  the  House  on  a  memorial  of  the 
iiew  bank,  praying  for  the  repeal  of  the  prohibition  on  unin- 
corporated banking  associations,  the  law  not  having  gone  into 
operation.  The  Federalists  were  opjDosed  to  the  request  on 
party  grounds,  and  were  represented  by  William  Plumer ;  the 
petitioners  were  represented  by  Mr.  Goddard,  the  ablest  debater 
on  the  Republican  side.  After  a  heated  debate,  the  law  was  not 
repealed. 

The  session  closed  on  Monday,  the  governor  refusing  to  ad- 
journ the  Houses  on  Saturday  lest  some  of  the  members  might 
travel  towards  their  homes  on  the  Sabbath.  Mr.  Sheafe  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  by  a  small  majority.^ 

The  Federalists  were  evidently  losing  ground,  and  the  new 
bank  at  Portsmouth  was  gaining  friends  in  every  part  of  the 
State.  It  required  the  utmost  personal  popularity  of  some  of 
the  tried  Federal  leaders  to  secure  their  election  to  the  legis- 
lature. When  the  legislature  met  at  Hopkinton  in  June,  1801, 
though  the  Federalists  had  a  decided  majority,  John  Langdon, 
the  Republicans'  candidate,  wanted  but  two  votes  of  being 
elected  speaker.     Prentice  owed  his  majority  of  one  to  the  vote 

MVilliam  Plumer,  Jr. 


466  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  [  1 802 

of  a  man  whom  he  had  grossly  insulted  at  a  former  session, — 
proof  at  that  time  of  the  influence  of  party  over  individual  con- 
duct, especially  as  Prentice  was  much  inferior  as  a  presiding 
officer  to  Langdon.  The  proprietors  of  the  Union  Bank  re- 
newed, at  this  session,  their  application  for  an  Act  of  incorpora- 
tion. The  Federalists  being  divided  in  opinion,  the  bill  passed 
the  House  but  was  rejected  by  the  Senate  ;  at  the  next  session, 
however,  the  Union  Bank  obtained  its  charter.  The  Repub- 
lican party  had,  in  the  meantime,  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son to  the  presidency,  gained  the  ascendency  in  the  general 
government,  but  were  still  in  a  minority  in  New  Hampshire. 
Accessions  to  their  number  were  owing  to  the  local  question  of 
the  bank.  The  system  of  paper  money,  except  in  the  old  form 
of  State  notes,  which  had  everywhere  proved  disastrous  to 
public  credit,  was  at  that  time  a  novelty  in  the  State.  For 
years  the  Union  Bank  confined  its  loans  to  its  political  friends, 
or  to  those  whom  it  hoped  to  make  such.  The  old  bank  was 
not  more  liberal  in  its  policy.  The  system  of  State  banks 
spread  in  all  directions,  and  on  the  whole  was  beneficial  to  the 
public  interests,  and  continued  in  force  until  the  establishment 
of  the  National  Bank  system. 

At  the  June  session,  1802,  William  Plumer  was  elected  to  fill 
the  unexpired  term  in  the  United  States  Senate  of  Mr. 
Sheafe,  who  had  resigned.  Nicholas  Oilman,  the  candidate  of 
the  opposition,  was  also  a  Federalist,  but  less  pronounced  in  his 
views  than  his  brother.  Governor  Gilman.  At  that  time  Mr. 
Plumer  was  considered  the  ablest  man  in  his  party. 

'  Prior  to  the  appointment  of  Judge  Smith  in  1S02,  the  law  in  this  State  as 
<i  science  had  no  existence.     For  this  there  are  two  principal  reasons  :  — 

I.  Under  the  proprietary  government  of  Mason  we  had  no  law  of  our  own, 
either  statute  or  common.  As  late  as  1660,  Mason  claimed  that  New 
Hampshire  and  Maine  were  governed  by  the  law  of  the  mother  countr\. 
Portsmouth,  Dover,  Exeter,  and  Hampton  were  little  principalities,  and  did 
substantially  as  they  pleased.  The  Province,  as  such,  had  no  existence  be- 
fore the  union  with  Massachusetts,  in  1641,  nor  until  after  the  forced  separa- 
tion in  1679. 

The  first  code  of  laws  enacted  in  this  Province,   in    1679-16S0,   was  in   sub- 

>  Julm  M.  Sliiilev. 


l802]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  46/ 

stance  a  re-enactment  of  the  Mosaic  code,  was  sent  to  the  mother  country  for 
royal  sanction,  and  was  disallowed  by  the  Privy  Council,  as  many  others 
afterwards  were. 

During  the  reign  of  James  II.  the  laws  were  silent.  A  trinity  of  pro- 
consuls ruled  and  robbed  the  people.  In  1692,  seventy  years  after  the  settle- 
ment, we  were  entirely  destitute  of  what  is  called  ■written  law.  Many  statutes 
were  enacted  after  this  time  which  never  received  the  sanction  of  the  King 
and  Council. 

No  laws  were  published  until  17 16,  when  an  edition  of  sixty  pages  folio 
was  published  in  Boston.  In  171S  seventy-two  pages  were  added,  and  in 
1719  twenty-four  pages  more.  After  this,  and  before  1728,  sixteen  pages 
more  were  added,  making  in  all  a  volume  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-two 
pages.  There  was  no  printing  press  in  this  Province  till  1756.  An  edition 
of  the  statutes  was  published  here  in  1760,  but  discarded  as  not  authentic, 
and  a  new  and  carefully  printed  edition  was  published  in  1771.  After 
the  Revolution,  the  statutes  were  printed  in  folio  till  1789,  when  an  octavo 
edition,  containing  the  public  and  some  of  the  private  laws,  was  published 
by  order  of  the  legislature.  The  dissatisfaction  of  the  public  compelled  the 
publication  of  a  new  and  revised  edition  in  1792,  which  was  followed  by  the 
edition  of  1797,  and  afterwards  by  the  more  copious  one  of  1805. 

The  statute  law,  when  Judge  Smith  came  to  the  bench,  was  in  a  crude, 
chaotic,  and  unsatisfactory  condition,  and  the  common  law  far  worse. 

2.  With  notable  exceptions,  like  the  Livermores,  which  prove  the  rule,  the 
bench  was  filled  with  broken-down  ministers,  lumbermen,  bankrupt  traders, 
and  cheap  lawyers.  From  two  to  four  of  these  judges,  as  the  quorum  varied, 
attended  each  trial  term,  if  they  did  not,  as  sometimes  happened,  forget  the 
time;  and  not  unfrequently  they  all  charged  the  jury  in  the  same  cause,  dif- 
fering oftentimes  as  much  as  the  opposing  counsel. 

Smith  was  a  strong  man.  It  needed  some  iron  hand  to  purge  the  Augean 
stable,  and  he  came.  He  was  one  of  the  best  representatives  of  that  industri- 
ous, tough,  enduring,  Scotch-Irish  stock,  who  regarded  it  as  recreation  to 
work  or  fight  from  dawn  till  set  of  sun,  and  then  to  spend  half  the  night  in 
jest,  and  song,  and  story.  At  forty.  Smith  was  a  profound  lawyer.  He  had 
absorbed  the  history  of  New  England,  and  especially  of  this  Province  and 
State,  as  a  sponge  does  water.  At  this  time  he  was  the  greatest  master  of 
probate  law  in  New  England.  No  one  since  has  equalled  him ;  and  no  one 
in  this  State  has  approached  him  except  the  late  Charles  H.  Atherton,  He 
prepared  two  large  manuscript  volumes  on  the  subject.  It  cost  a  vast  amount 
of  time  and  labor,  and  was  an  able  work  of  great  value.  It  was  the  reservoir 
from  which  Webster,  Chief  Justice  Richardson,  and  others  hardly  less  emi- 
nent, continually  drew.  Notwithstanding  he  was  a  busy  man  of  affairs,  he 
•was  top-heavy  with  law  learning  when  he  came  to  the  bench,  and  when  he 
retired,  at  the  age  of  tifty-six,  he  had  accomplished  more  than  ought  to  be 
expected  of  those  at  seventy-five,  who  now  stand  in  the  fore-front  of  the 
profession  with  the  aid  of  all  the  modern  appliances. 

Upon  coming  to  the  bench.  Judge  Smith  promptly  introduced  the  practice 


468  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [iSOJ 

of  allowing  a  single  judge  to  direct  the  course  of  trials,  at  the  trial  terms,  of 
reserving  cases  and  questions  for  the  consideration  of  the  whole  court,  and 
of  preparing  written  opinions. 

This  brought  order  out  of  chaos,  but  the  labor  was  immense.  Besides  that 
expended  on  the  great  work  of  his  life,  the  treatise  on  probate  law,  he  pre- 
sided at  the  trial  terms,  examined  the  cases,  and  prepared  the  written 
opinions  in  all  cases  heard  in  banc,  numbering  from  sixty  to  seventy  yearly, 
and  making  fourteen  manuscript  volumes  with  a  manuscript  digest. 

Partisan  madness  prevented  the  publication  of  these  opinions  when  that 
publication  was  demanded  by  every  rational  consideration  of  the  public  in- 
terest. Had  they  been  published  when  they  ought,  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  the  money  of  individuals  and  the  public  would  have  been  saved, 
for  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  questions  heard  before  Judge  Smith  have 
since  been  litigated  at  great  expense.' 

^The  curious  traveller  may  still  trace  with  little  difficulty  the 
line  of  the  old  Middlesex  Canal,  with  here  and  there  a  break,  from 
the  basin  at  Charlestown  to  its  j  unction  with  the  Merrimack  at  Mid- 
dlesex village.      Like  an  accusing  ghost,  it  never  strays  far  from 
the  Boston  &  Lowell  Railroad,  to  which  it  owes  its  untimely  end. 

Judging  the  canal  by  the  pecuniary  recompense  it  brought  its 
projectors,  it  must  be  admitted  a  dismal  failure  ;  yet  its  incep- 
tion was  none  the  less  a  comprehensive,  far-reaching  scheme, 
which  seemed  to  assure  a  future  of  ample  profits  and  great  pub- 
lic usefulness.     Inconsiderable  as  this  work  may  appear  com- 
pared with  the  modern  achievements  of  engineering,  it  was,  for 
the  times,  a  gigantic  undertaking,  beset  with  difficulties  scarcely 
conceivable  to-day;   Boston  was  a  small  town  of  about  twenty  thou- 
sand inhabitants;   Medford,  Woburn,  and  Chelmsford  were  insig- 
nificant villages  ;  and  Lowell  was  as  yet  unborn,  while  the  valley 
of  the  Merrimack  northward  into  New  Hampshire  supported  a 
sparse  agricultural  population.      But  the  outlook  was  encourag- 
ing.    It  was  a  period  of  rapid  growth  and  marked  inprovements. 
The  subject  of  closer  communication  with  the  interior  early  be- 
came a  vital  question.  Turnpikes,  ccntrollcd  by  corporations,  were 
the  principal  avenues  over  which  country  produce,  lumber,  fire- 
wood, and  building-stone  found  their  way  to  the  little  metropolis. 
The  cost  of  entertainment  at  the  various  country  inns,  the  frequent 
tolls,  and  the  inevitable  wear  and    tear  of  teaming,   enhanced 
very  materially  the  price  of  all  these  articles.       The   Middlesex 

I  Joli"  M.   Shirley.  -  L.    I>.   I>anie. 


1803]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  469 

Canal  was  the  first  step  towards  the  solution  of  the  problem  of 
cheap  transportation.  The  plan  originated  with  the  Hon.  James- 
Sullivan,  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  attor- 
ney-general, and  governor  in  1807  and  1808.  He  was  a  brother 
of  General  John  Sullivan,  of  Durham. 

A  brief  glance  at  the  map  of  the  New  England  States  will  bring  out  in  bold" 
relief  the  full  significance  of  Sullivan's  scheme.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  Mer- 
rimack river,  after  pursuing  a  southerly  course  as  far  as  Middlesex  village, 
turns  abruptly  to  the  north-east.  A  canal  from  Charlestown  mill-pond  to 
this  bend  of  the  river,  a  distance  of  twenty-seven  and  a  quarter  miles,  would 
open  a  continuous  water-route  of  eighty  miles  to  Concord,  N.  H.  From  this- 
point,  taking  advantage  of  Lake  Sunapee,  a  canal  could  easily  be  run  in  a 
north-westerly  direction  to  the  Connecticut  at  Windsor,  Vt.  ;  and  thence, 
making  use  of  intermediate  streams,  communication  could  be  opened  with, 
the  St.  Lawrence.  The  speculative  mind  of  Sullivan  dwelt  upon  the  preg- 
nant results  that  must  follow  the  connection  of  Boston  with  New  Hampshire 
and  possibly  Vermont  and  Canada.  He  consulted  his  friend,  Colonel  Bald- 
win, sheriff  of  Middlesex,  who  had  a  natural  taste  for  engineering,  and  they- 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  plan  was  feasible.  Should  the  undertaking 
succeed  between  Concord  and  Boston,  the  gradual  increase  in  population  and 
traffic  would  in  time  warrant  the  completion  of  the  programme.  Even  should 
communication  never  be  established  beyond  Concord,  the  commercial  advan- 
tages of  opening  to  the  market  the  undeveloped  resources  of  upper  New 
Hampshire  would  be  a  sufficient  justification.  A  charter  was  granted,  bearing^ 
date  of  June  :;:;,  1793,  "  incorporating  James  Sullivan,  Esq.,  and  others,  bv 
the  name  of  the  Proprietors  of  the  Middlesex  Canal,"  and  on  the  same  day 
was  signed  by  His  Excellency  John  Hancock,  governor  of  Massachusetts. 

Colonel  Baldwin,  who  superintended  the  construction  of  the  canal,  re- 
moved the  first  turf  September  10,  1794.  The  progress  was  slow  and  at- 
tended with  many  embarrassments.  The  purchase  of  land  from  more  than 
one  hundred  proprietors  demanded  skillful  diplomacy.  Most  of  the  lands 
used  for  the  canal  were  acquired  by  voluntary  sale,  and  conveved  in  fee-sim- 
ple to  the  corporation.  Sixteen  lots  were  taken  under  authority  of  the  Court 
of  Sessions  ;  while  for  tliirteen  neither  deed  nor  record  could  be  found  when, 
the  corporation  came  to  an  end.  Some  of  the  land  was  never  paid  for,  as  the 
owner  refused  to  accept  the  sum  awarded.  The  compensation  ranged  from 
about  $150  an  acre  in  Medford  to  $25  in  Billerica.  The  only  instrument 
used  for  engineering  purposes  was  a  level  imported  from  England.  Of  the 
two  routes  considered,  the  rejected  route  was  forty  years  later  selected  for  the 
Lowell  Railroad.  The  canal  was  thirty  feet  wide,  and  four  feet  deep,  cost 
$500,000,  was  twenty-seven  and  a  quarter  miles  long,  connected  Charles 
river  with  the  Merrimack  above  Lowell,  and  was  opened  to  public  navigation, 
in  1S03. 

As  the  enterprise  had  the  confidence  of  the  business  communitv,  monev 
for  prosecuting  the  work   had  been    procured  with   comparative    ease.     The 


4/0  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1804 

stock,  was  divided  into  eight  hundred  shares.  The  stock  had  steadily  ad- 
vanced from  $25  a  share  in  the  autumn  of  1794  to  $473  in  1803,  the  year  the 
canal  was  opened,  touching  $500  in  1804.  Then  a  decline  set  in,  a  few  dol- 
lars at  a  time,  till  1816,  when  its  market  value  was  $300  with  few  takers, 
•although  the  canal  was  in  successful  operation. 

1  The  Federal  party  was  carefully  organized  in  the  spring  of 
1804  by  Senator  Plumer  to  carry  the  fall  elections.  Although 
Governor  Oilman  had  been  re-elected  in  March,  a  majority  of 
both  Houses  was  Republican.  Associating  with  himself  five 
other  persons,  one  from  each  county,  he  formed  a  self-constitu- 
ted State  committee,  of  which  he  was  chairman.  Under  their 
auspices  county  committees  were  formed,  who  in  turn  organized 
town  and  school  district  committees,  whose  duty  it  was  to  bring 
out  every  Federal  voter  to  the  polls,  and  to  secure  as  far  as  pos- 
sible every  wavering  and  doubtful  voter  for  their  party.  This  is 
believed  to  have  been  the  first  instance  in  this  State  in  which  a 
systematic  attempt  was  made  to  bring  the  whole  force  of  a  party, 
thoroughly  organized,  to  bear  with  undivided  weight  on  the 
result  of  an  election.  Newspapers  were  provided  for  gratuitous 
distribution  :  post-riders  were  employed  to  distribute  them  in 
every  part  of  the  State.  An  address  was  prepared  by  Mr. 
Plumer :  six  thousand  copies  were  distributed,  in  every  town  in 
the  Commonwealth.  The  election  occurred  in  August  for  rep- 
resentatives to  Congress,  and  through  these  unusual  exertions  the 
Federalists  carried  the  State  by  an  average  majority  of  nearly 
eight  hundred  votes. 

At  the  presidential  election,  however,  the  Federalists  suffered 
a  fearful  defeat  by  the  Republicans,  losing  New  Hampshire  by 
over  five  hundred  votes.  Even  Massachusetts  voted  for  the  re- 
election of  Thomas  Jefferson  as  president.  He  received  all  but 
fourteen  of  the  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  electoral  votes. 
The  opposition  to  him  was  confined  to  Connecticut,  Delaware, 
and  Maryland. 

-  Hon.  John  Pickering  of  Portsmouth  was  removed  from  the  office  of  judge 
of  the  district  court  for  New  Hampshire  in  the  year  1S04,  and  died  in  1S05. 
He  was  born  in  Newington  in  1738,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1761  ; 
soon   became  eminent  in  the  profession  of  the  law  in  Portsmouth ;  was  an 

'  Williaiu  Plumer,  Jr.  ^  G.  W.  Nesmith. 


l804]  STATE    GOVERN MKXT.  4/1 

active  partisan  in  defence  of  the  rights  and  libeit\()f  America;  as  early  as 
1773  was  on  a  committee  to  prevent  tlie  importation  of  tea;  in  1775.  1776,  and 
several  other  succeeding  years,  was  an  influential  member  of  the  legislature 
from  Portsmouth;  was  a  member  of  the  convention,  and  assisted  in  framing 
our  State  constitution ;  was  chief  justice  of  our  Supreme  Court  for  five  years, 
commencing  with  1790;  was  previously  attorney-general  for  one  year;  served 
as  governor  most  of  one  vear,  atter  John  Langdon  was  chosen  senator;  was 
one  of  the  electors  of  president  for  17SS  and  179::,  and  had  the  privilege  of 
voting  for  Washington  and  sustaining  his  administration:  was  appointed  b_\- 
his  fellow  citizens  to  address  Washington  in  17S9.  when  Washington  visited 
Portsmouth.  His  address  and  Washington's  answer  may  be  found  in  Brews- 
ter's "  Rambles  about  Portsmouth."  About  the  end  of  the  year  1795.  upon  his 
resignation  of  the  ofHce  of  judge  of  our  State  court,  he  was  appointed  by  Wash- 
ington to  the  officeof  district  judge  of  New  Hampshire.  It  was  suggested  that 
the  health  of  Judge  Pickering  at  this  time  was  not  firm,  and  this  change  of  office 
Avas  made  because  the  duties  required  of  the  incumbent  of  the  district  court 
were  less  laborious  than  the  requisitions  of  the  State  bench.  And  there  is 
the  authority  of  Governor  Plumer  for  the  assertion,  that  the  hypochondria  of 
1794,  of  Judge  Pickering,  as  it  was  then  called,  had,  in  1S03,  been  developed 
into  such  a  condition,  bodily  and  mental,  as  to  render  him  incompetent  to 
the  proper  discharge  of  his  official  duties.  It  was  not  doubted  his  mental 
powers  were  deranged.  Then  the  question  arose  how  to  get  rid  of  the  judge 
from  the  bench.  In  February,  1S03,  President  Jefterson  sent  his  message  to 
the  House  of  Representatives,  enclosing  a  letter  and  affidavits  exhibiting  a 
complaint  against  Judge  Pickering.  The  message  and  papers  were  referred 
to  a  committee  consisting  of  Nicholson  of  Maryland,  James  A.  Bayard  of 
Delaware,  John  Randolph  of  Virginia,  Tenney  of  New  Hampshire,  and  El- 
mendorf  of  New  York,  with  instructions  to  report  thereon.  On  the  iSth 
of  February  Mr.  Nicholson  made  his  repoit,  recommending  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolution:  Resolved,  That  John  Pickering,  judge  of  th^  New 
Hampshire  district  court,  be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 

This  report  came  up  for  consideration  in  March,  1S03,  a  day  or  two  before 
the  close  of  the  session  of  that  Congress.  Goddard  of  Connecticut  moved  its 
postponement  to  the  next  session.  This  motion  was  sustained  by  the  mover, 
Mitchell  of  New  York,  Dana  of  Connecticut,  and  Mott  of  Pennsylvania.  It 
was  rejected  by  the  House,  and  the  resolution  was  adopted.  Messrs.  Nichol- 
son and  Randolph  were  appointed  managers,  by  the  House,  to  conduct  pro- 
ceedings before  the  Senate.  The  House  resolution  was  transferred  to  the 
Senate,  and  was  there  postponed  to  the  next  session.  At  the  session  of  1S04 
the  trial  came  on.  Governor  Plumer  was  then  one  of  the  senators  from  this 
State.  He  states  that  both  of  the  New  Hampshire  senators  were  examined 
as  witnesses  as  to  the  character  of  Judge  Pickering,  and  testified  to  the  high 
moral  worth  of  the  judge  so  long  as  he  retained  the  use  of  his  reason.  Here 
then  was  exhibited,  before  one  of  the  highest  tribunals  of  our  land,  the  ex- 
traordinary attempt  to  interpret  mental  insanity,  in  its  meaning  and  conse- 
quences,   as    tantamount    to    crime   and    misdemeanor  —  an    unwarrantable 


472  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1804 

attempt  to  confound  all  distinction  of  law  and  justice  which,  when  carried 
into  practice,  would  pervert  the  constitutional  provision  of  impeachment  for 
crime  into  an  unconstitutional  mode  of  removal  froin  office  without  crime. 
Senator  Samuel  White  of  Delaware,  on  this  occasion,  used  the  following: 
strong  denunciatory  language.  lie  said;  "The  accused  is  in  default,  not  in 
consequence  of  contempt  of  court,  but  under  the  awful  visitation  of  God,  and 
as  he  is  mentally  deranged,  our  proceedings  scarcely  deserve  the  name  of  a 
mock  trial."  Nicholson,  senator  from  Virginia,  here  called  out,  ''Order! 
Order!  Order  I  I  will  not  permit  our  proceedings  to  be  called  by  the  name 
of  a  mock  trial." 

Mr.  White  said  to  the  president:  "  I  am  in  order,  sir;  I  repeat  it,  it  is  a 
mock  trial.  I  have  no  wish  to  give  oftence,  but  if  that  gentleman  is  offended, 
I  am  ready  to  give  him  satisfaction  at  any  time  and  place."  The  president 
gave  no  rebuke  to  the  parties.  No  meeting  followed  their  words.  Governor 
Plumer  informs  us  that  the  impeachment  met  with  strenuous  opposition  in 
the  Senate.  The  measure  was  carried  at  last  by  the  vote  of  seventeen  to 
seven  nays  —  several  senators  refusing  to  vote.  The  whole  Senate  then  con- 
sisted of  thirty-two;  only  twenty-four  voted  for  the  resolution;  two-thirds- 
were  required  to  impeach.  Judge  Pickering  was  not  present,  nor  was  he  rep- 
resented by  counsel.  It  occurs  to  us  his  removal  may  have  been  justly  de- 
manded, because  his  disease  was  shown  to  have  been  incurable,  and  his  office 
probably  required  an  incumbent  able  to  work.  Yet,  admitting  the  public 
necessity  of  his  removal,  we  cannot  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States,  or  its  wise  framers,  ever  contemplated  that,  in 
order  to  effect  the  removal  of  a  judge  adinitted  to  be  insane,  the  sole  remedy 
must  exist  in  the  open  and  serious  charge  or  allegation  of  committing  some 
crime  or  misdemeanor,  when  it  is  obvious  to  everyone  that  his  mental  status 
is  of  that  character  as  to  render  him  not  responsible  for  the  commission  of 
any  offence.  The  provision  for  removal  by  impeachment  was  evidently  de- 
signed to  apply  to  cases  of  actual  guilt,  fully  sustained  by  ample  proof.  In 
this  case  the  severe  charge  is  alleged,  but  the  proof  of  guilt  is  wanting. 
Hence,  the  trial  deserved  Senator  White's  denunciation.  If  the  public  good 
demanded  Judge  Pickering's  removal  from  office,  why  not  resort  to  such  a 
remedy,  rather  than  to  the  harsh,  unjust  remedy  of  imputing  crime  where 
none  has  been  committed.  We  are  glad  to  know  that  all  our  New  Hampshire 
delegation  in  Congress,  and  such  men  as  Huger,  Griswold,  John  C.  Smith, 
James  A.  Bayard  of  Delaware,  and  many  other  able  men  in  both  branches, 
were  found  in  opposition  to  this  wicked  proceeding. ' 

-The  year  1S04  had  witnessed  the  completion  of  the  great  enterprise — the 
tburth  New  Ihimpshire  turnpike;  that  is,  the  road — to  use  the  common 
speech  of  the  times — had  been  "  built  through  "  and  in  some  sense  was  open 
lor  public  travel  thereon  ;  but  the  cost  had  far  exceeded  the  expectations  of 
the  pioneers  in  the  enterprise.  Instead  of  costing  $600  or  less  per  mile,  it 
had  cost  $61,157.00,  or  more  than  $1200  per  mile.  No  toll-houses  had  been 
erected.  No  turnpikes  or  gates  were  set  up  till  March  2,  1806.  The  repairs 
were  expensive,  and  the  prospect  of  fat  dividends  was  remote. 
U;.   \V.   NL'sm;,li.  2  J.   M.   Shirley. 


1804]  STATE    CtOVERNMENT.  473 

Until  the  turnpikes  were  set  up,  there  was  little  disposition  to  pay  toll. 
The  location  of  these  turnpikes  was  regarded  as  a  matter  of  great  importance, 
second  only  to  the  location  of  the  road  itself.  Besides  other  places,  tradition 
says  that  a  gate  was  erected  at  George  Hill  in  Enfield,  which  we  know  was 
afterwards  removed  to  Fishmarket.  Another  was  erected  at  the  low  Gay 
House  in  what  is  now  Wilmot,  some  thirty  or  forty  rods  on  the  road  to 
Springfield  from  the  Porter  K.  Philbrick  stand.  The  most  important,  with 
perhaps  one  exception,  was  that  at  West  Andover.  It  barred  not  only  the 
fourth,  but  its  great  feeder  the  Grafton  turnpike.  It  was  erected  almost  op- 
posite to  the  great  elm  tree  which  now  stands  near  the  house  of  George  M. 
Babbitt. 

There  was  another,  known  as  the  "  Parker  Gate,"  not  far  from  the  "Pet 
Webster  place"  in  Salisbury,  near  what  is  now  known  as  the  Heath  premises. 
The  site  of  the  old  cellar  of  the  toll-house  may  yet  be  seen. 

There  was  another  in  Boscawen,  about  which  there  was  no  end  of  con- 
tention. 

These  gates  were  sometimes  set  up  temporarily  in  one  place  and  then  re- 
moved to  another  for  the  greater  security  of  the  interests  of  the  corporation. 
All  sorts  of  lies,  tricks,  and  evasions  were  resorted  to  to  get  rid  of  the  pay- 
ment of  toll.  Selectmen  sometimes  laid  out  roads  or  changed  the  route  of 
olc^  ones  in  order  to  enable  the  traveller  to  leave  the  turnpike  before  he 
reached  the  gate,  and  then  resume  his  travel  on  the  turnpike  beyond  it. 

Sinners  evaded  the  payment  of  toll  by  claiming  that  they  were  passing 
■with  their  horses  and  carriages  to  or  from  "public  worship,"  when  they 
never  intended  to  attend  anything  of  the  kind  in  any  sense  known  to  the 
religious  world.  Among  themselves  they  claimed  that  the  charter  did  not 
define  public  worship,  that  going  a-courting,  attending  a  card  party  or  a 
drinking  bout  where  parties  regaled  themselves  with  that  choice  elixir  of  the 
saints.  West  India  or  New  England  rum,  was  religious  service.  Good  chris- 
tians cheated  the  corporation  out  of  its  due  by  claiming  that  they  were  going 
to  mill  when  they  were  going  a-visiting  or  attending  to  their  private  busi- 
ness, and  that  they  were  engaged  in  their  common  or  ordinary  affairs  of 
business  concerns  within  the  town  where  they  belonged  when  they  were  not 
engaged  in  such  business,  and  were  out  of  the  town  where  they  belonged. 

The  winds  blew,  the  floods  came  and  washed  away  the  road-bed,  and  ren- 
dered the  travel  thereon  and  upon  the  bridges  unsafe. 

There  were  no  stages  here  in  those  days  to  aid  in  swelling  dividends. 
They  were  the  product  of  a  later  epoch.  There  was  a  rumor  that  such  things 
had  been  seen  in  New  York,  in  1S04.  It  was  said,  though  not  fully  believed, 
that  there  was  a  New  York  and  Albany  stage  line  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hud- 
son river,  that  the  stage  left  the  city  every  morning  at  six  o'clock  and  reached 
Albany  on  the  third  day,  that  the  fare  of  each  through  passenger  was  eight 
dollars,  and  that  every  way  passenger  had  to  pay  a  York  sixpence  a  mile.  It 
was  also  said  that  a  like  stage  ran  daily  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  between 
New  York  and  Albany,  that  the  through  fare  was  the  same  as  on  the  other 
route,  and  that  way  passengers  only  had  to  pay  five  cents  a  mile. 


474  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1805 

There  were  then  no  great  transportation  companies,  and  tlie  canal  craze 
Avhich  came  on  at  a  later  day  had  not  even  reached  this  part  of  New  Hamp- 
shire.' 

Down  to  1805  New  Hampshire  was  a  Federal  State;  but  in 
that  year,  after  an  exciting  contest,  the  RepubHcan  party  pre- 
vailed, choosing  for  a  governor  John  Langdon,  and  carrying^ 
every  branch  of  the  State  government  by  a  majority  of  nearly 
four  thousand.  Simon  Olcott's  term  of  service  in  the  United 
States  Senate  having  expired  in  March,  Nicholas  Oilman,  a  Re- 
publican, was  chosen  in  his  place.  He  was  the  first  Republican 
who  had  represented  the  State  in  either  House  of  Congress,  and 
his  election  was  considered  a  great  party  triumph. 

William   Plumer,  in    1805,  wrote  Uriah  Tracy  as  follows  : — 

'•  Democracy  has  obtained  its  long-expected  triumph  in  New  Hampshire. 
John  Langdon  is  governor-elect.  His  success  is  not  owing  to  snow,  rain, 
hail,  or  bad  roads,  but  to  the  incontrovertible  fact  that  the  Federalists  of  this 
State  do  not  compose  the  majority.  Many  good  men  have  grown  weary  of 
constant  exertions  to  support  a  system  whose  labors  bear  a  close  affinity  to 
those  of  Sisyphus." 

To  comprehend  all  that  was  implied  in  the  popular  conception 
of  this  political  change,  one  needs  to  reflect  in  part  upon  a  con- 
dition of  society  no  longer  obtaining.  The  dominant  Federal 
element  was  largely  embodied  in  the  professional  and  official 
classes,  who  formed  a  kind  of  select  aristocracy,  more  separated 
from  the  sympathy  and  co-operation  of  the  common  people  than 
any  considerably  influential  class  in  New  Hampshire  to-day.  In 
a  sense,  the  triumph  of  Republicanism  was  the  success  of  the 
masses  of  the  people.  The  commonalty,  so  to  speak,  had  asser- 
ted their  right  to  lead  as  well  as  to  be  led.  The  rights  of  the 
people  have  formed  the  theme  of  every  Anti-Federalist  since  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution.^ 

The  Republicans  came  into  full  possession  of  the  State  govern- 
ment in  1806,  re-elected  Governor  Langdon;  and  the  legislature 
elected  Nahum  Parker  to  the  United  States  Senate,  to  succeed 
William  Plumer.  In  August  five  Republican  members  of  Con- 
gress were  chosen,  thus  making  the  whole  delegation  solid  in 
supporting  the  administration  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

>  John  M    Shirley.  2  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


l806]  STATE  COVERNMEXT.  475 

The  establishment  of  post-offiees  in  many  of  the  less  impor- 
tant towns,  in  1806,  was  without  doubt  very  welcome  to  the 
inhabitants,  and  may  be  justly  considered  an  important  event  in 
their  history. 

In  earlier  times  it  was  customary  to  intrust  to  some  friend  or 
acquaintance,  who  might  be  travelling  in  the  right  direction,  a 
missive  for  an  absent  friend  or  relative.  Doubtless  the  post- 
rider,  in  his  journeying  through  the  town,  accommodated  those 
living  on  his  immediate  route,  and  the  blowing  of  his  horn  an- 
nounced his  welcome  approach.  As  a  matter  of  course,  few 
letters  were  written  in  those  days,  so  that  high  rates  of  postage 
were  not  onerous. 

^  In  1806,  as  tradition  has  it,  the  Grafton  turnj^ike  was  for- 
mally opened.  The  travel  upon  the  great  feeder  as  well  as 
upon  the  trunk  line  steadily  increased.  Year  by  year  new 
taverns  were  put  up  on  the  line.  Year  by  year  the  pod  and 
gimlet  teams  with  their  precious  freight  from  beyond  the  State 
increased  in  number  and  their  freight  in  importance. 

No  coaches  ran  from  Boston  to  Concord  till  1807.^  The  main 
public  means  of  conveyance  in  1806  was  by  the  post-horse, 
which  carried  the  packet  while  the  post-boy  walked  by  his  side. 
We  have  no  means  of  fixing  the  precise  time  when  the  stages 
ran  north  from  Concord.  Pettengill  of  Salisbury  drove  up  the 
first  trip.  This  was  a  two-horse  coach.  Harvey  and  others 
afterwards  controlled  this  line  of  two-horse  coaches.  The  larger 
ones  came  afterwards.  The  stages  were  passing  up  the  turnpike 
just  prior  to  the  war  of  1812. 

James  Rowe,  Esq.,  of  Wilmot,  acted  as  post-boy  and  carried 
the  mail  from  West  Andover  over  the  Grafton  turnpike  to  Or- 
ford  in  1822,  "and  did  errands."  There  were  no  stages  which 
ran  over  that  route,  to  his  knowledge,  at  or  before  that  time. 

Between  181 5  and  18 18  the  Boating  Company  was  organized, 
and  the  Canal  Company  located  its  northernmost  boat-house 
and  store  at  Concord.  The  big  teams  became  one  of  the  perma- 
nent institutions,  and  then  came  the  stages  with  their  whir  and 
rattle,  and  the  mails.     This  gave  a  ready  market  in  every  town 

I  John  .M.  Shirley. 


476 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1 80; 


for  all  kinds  of  provision  for  man  and  beast  and  for  the  farmer's 
horses. 

The  pressure  of  this  increased  travel  demanded  greater  ac- 
commodations both  as  respects  the  road  and  along  the  line. 
Changes  in  the  route  were  made  to  facilitate  the  transit  of  heavy- 
freight,  and  some  of  them  at  great  expense.^ 

2  Following  the  construction  of  Ihe  Middlesex  Canal  came  the 
requisite  works  to  render  the  Merrimack  river  navigable  from 
the  head  of  the  Middlesex  to  the  town  of  Concord,  being  a 
series  of  dams,  locks,  and  short  canals  to  overcome  the  natural 


The  old   Blodgett   Mansion  at  Anaoskeag  Canal.     Erected  in    1795.     Pulled  down  in   1870. 

rapids  and  falls  of  the  river.  The  first  of  these  works  was  a 
lock  and  short  canal  at  Wicasee  Falls,  three  miles  above  the 
head  of  the  Middlesex,  at  what  is  now  known  as  Tyng's  Island. 
No  fall  is  now  perceptible  at  that  point,  the  Lowell  dam  having 
flowed  it  out.  The  second  work,  fifteen  miles  further  up  the 
river,  at  Cromwell's  Falls,  consisted  of  a  dam  and  single  lock. 
Then  came  dams  and  single  locks  at  Moor's,  Coos,  Goff's,  Grif- 
fin's, and  Merrill's  Falls.  About  a  mile  above  Merrill's  Falls  were 
the  lower  locks  of  the  Amoskeag —  a  canal  next  in  importance  to 

■  John  M.   Shirley.  2  General  George  Stark. 


i8o7] 


STATE    (;OVEKNMENT, 


477 


the  Middlesex.  It  was  only  about  one  mile  in  length,  but  sur- 
mounted, by  works  of  very  considerable  magnitude,  the  great 
fall  of  between  fifty  and  sixty  feet  that  now  furnishes  the  water 


WITH  WIND  AND  CURRENT. 


power  for  the  manufactories  of  Manchester.  Its  construction 
was  first  undertaken  by  Samuel  l^lodgett  as  early  as  1794,  but 
it  was  not  completed  until  1807. 


BOAT  ENTERING    LOCKS. 


Eight  miles  above  Amoskeag  the  locks  and  short  canal  of 
Hooksett  overcame  a  fall  of  some  seventeen  feet ;  and  six  miles 
further    on  the  Bow  locks  and  canal  afforded  the  final  lift    of 


478 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1807 


twenty-seven  feet,  to  the  level  of  the  navigable  water  of  the 
Merrimack  river  at  Concord. 

Short  side  canals  with  locks  were  subsequently  built  at  the 
junctions  of  the  Nashua  and  Piscataquog  rivers  with  the  Merri- 
mack to  facilitate  the  passage  of  boats  from  the  Merrimack  to 
the  storehouses  in  Nashua  and  Piscataquog  villages. 

For  forty  years  this  line  of  canals  formed  the  principal  channel 
of  heavy  transportation  between  the  two  capitals,  and,  except 
that  the  canals  did  not  effectually  compete  with  the  stages  for 
carrying  passengers,  they  held  the  same  position  to  transporta- 
tion as  is  now  held  by  their  successor  and  destroyer  —  the  rail- 
i"nad. 


THE   TOW-PATH   ON   THE  CANAL. 


During  the  entire  season  of  open  river,  from  the  time  that  the 
spring  break-up  of  winter  ice  permitted  navigation  to  commence, 
until  the  frosts  of  fall  again  closed  it,  this  eighty-five  miles  of 
water  was  thronged  with  boats,  taking  the  products  of  the  coun- 
try to  a  market  at  the  New  England  metropolis,  and  returning 
loaded  with  salt,  lime,  cement,  plaster,  hardware,  leather,  liquors, 
iron,  glass,  grindstones,  cordage,  paints,  oils,  and  all  that  infinite 
variety  of  merchandise  required  by  country  merchants,  formerly 
classed  under  the  general  terms  of  "dry  and  West  India 
goods."  The  original  bills  of  lading  show  that  they  brought 
up  from  Boston,  for  consumption  in  the  country,  flour,  corn,  but- 
ter, and  cheese,  which  plainly  indicates  that  the  people  of  the 


i8o8]  STATE  c.(n'i:K\.Mi:.N  I'.  47^ 

Merrimack  river  valley  gave  more  attention  in  those  days  tc* 
lumbering  and  river  navigation  than  to  agriculture. 

The  boats  were  built  of  two-inch  pine  plank,  spiked  on  small 
oak  cross-joints  and  side-knees,  and  had  heavy  oak  horizontal 
timbers  at  either  end.  The  sides  were  vertical  and  without 
cross  thwarts,  except  what  was  called  the  mast-board, —  a  thick 
oak  plank,  securely  fastened  across  on  top,  from  side  to  side,  a 
little  forward  of  the  centre  of  the  boat.  A  cross  yard,  with  a 
square  sail  attached,  which  could  be  hoisted  or  lowered  at  plea- 
sure by  a  rope  working  over  a  single  block  in  the  top  of  the 
mast,  completed  the  sailing  outfit.  It  was  only  used  upon  the 
river,  the  mast  being  struck  and  stowed  in  the  boat  when  pass- 
ing the  larger  canals.  The  rudder  was  a  long  steering  oar, 
pivoted  on  the  centre  of  the  cross-frame  of  the  stern,  the  blade, 
about  eighteen  inches  wide  and  ten  feet  long,  trailing  in  the 
water  behind  the  boat,  and  the  handle  or  tiller  extending  about 
the  same  distance  over  the  boat,  so  as  to  afford  a  good  leverage 
for  guiding  the  unwieldy  craft. 

The  Act  of  embargo  went  into  effect  at  the  end  of  December, 
1807,  and  was  not  repealed  until  a  year  had  elapsed.  Theamount 
of  suffering  it  involved  can  hardly  be  appreciated.  Had  a  farmer 
been  forbidden  to  work  his  farm  for  a  year,  he  would  still  have  had 
his  farm.  The  merchant's  ships  rotted  at  the  wharf.  The  sailors 
were  thrown  out  of  employment,  fortunes  were  swept  away, 
and  many  were  ruined.  So  disastrous  were  its  effects  that 
many  of  the  most  ardent  Federalists  could  see  relief  only  in  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  which  no  longer  protected  their  prop- 
erty. The  Massachusetts  legislature,  in  February,  1809,  de- 
clared the  embargo  "  unjust,  oppressive,  and  unconstitutional, 
and  not  legally  binding  on  the  citizens  of  the  State." 

In  the  spring  election,  in  1808,  for  State  officers,  the  Repub- 
lican party  retained  their  ascendency,  choosing  a  legislature 
which  sustained  the  policy  of  President  Jefferson,  adopting 
an  address  to  that  effect ;  but  in  the  national  election  in  the 
autumn  the  tide  of  politics  turned,  and  the  Federal  party 
prevailed,  choosing  five  members  of  Congress,  and  presidential 
electors. 


I 


480  HISTORY    OF    XEW    HAMPSHlKt:.  [  1 808 

'  The  commencement  of  the  American  Patriot  was  attended  by  circum- 
stances of  no  more  favorable  character  than  accompanied  preceding  attempts, 
except  that  Concord  had  been  chosen  in  which  to  permanently  hold  the  ses- 
sions of  the  legislature.  In  all  probability  the  Patriot,  after  brief  existence, 
would  have  gone  into  the  same  grave  as  its  predecessors,  but  for  the  fortunate 
circumstance  that  it  came  into  the  custody  of  a  gentleman  of  the  ability,  in- 
dustry and  tact  necessary  not  merely  to  rescue  it  from  the  fate  of  other  village 
journals  there,  but  to  make  it  a  power  in  New  Hampshire.  This  person  was 
the  late  Hon.  Isaac  Hill,  who  in  his  day  acquired  a  reputation  as  a  political 
writer  and  journalist  second  to  that  of  no  other  newspaper  conductor.  He 
came  to  Concord  soon  after  the  expiration  of  his  apprenticeship  with  Joseph 
Cashing,  proprietor  and  publisher  of  the  Amherst  Cabinet.  The  American 
Patriot  had  been  six  months  in  existence.  The  first  number  printed  by  Mr. 
Hill  is  dated  April  iS,  1S09;  and  thenceforward  the  people  of  New  Hampshire 
came  within  an  influence  they  had  only  imperfectly  realized — the  power  ot 
the  press  to  mold  and  guide  popular  opinion.  Mr.  Hill  was  a  man  of  decided 
convictions  and  untiring  industry,  wrote  with  great  facility  and  vigor,  and 
possessed  that  electric  force  by  which  a  writer  upon  political  aftairs  imparts 
to  others  the  convictions  and  zeal  possessed  by  himself.  Under  his  guiding 
hand  the  success  of  the  Patriot  yfus  certain.  It  soon  became  a  successful 
journal,  attaining  a  wide  and  constantly  increasing  circulation  ;  greater  than 
that  of  any  preceding  or  contemporary  journal  in  New  Hampshire.  A  circum- 
stance which  accelerated  its  growth  was  that  difficulty  with  England  which 
culminated  in  what  is  known  as  the  war  of  1S12-15.  That  the  Patriot,  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Hill,  would  have  become  permanent,  even  in  years  of  profound 
calm,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt;  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  its  growth 
would  have  been  less  rapid,  because  of  the  natural  sluggishness  of  mankind 
until  moved  by  exciting  causes,  the  disinclination  of  the  people,  during  the 
first  twenty  years  of  the  period  here  in  review  to  expend  money  for  the  grat- 
ification of  literary  taste,  and  the  limited  amount  of  money  in  circulation. 

The  only  competitor  of  the  New  Hampshire  Patriot,  from  its  commence- 
ment until  the  year  1823,  was  the  Concord  Gazette.  The  scanty  materials 
employed  in  printing  the  Gazette  were  purchased  of  Dudley  Leavitt,  the  cel- 
ebrated almanac  author,  and  were  brought  hither  from  Gilmanton  Corner  in 
a  two-horse  wagon.  They  had  been  used  for  printing  one  number  of  the 
almanac,  and  a  village  paper.  The  circumstance  that  only  two  horses  were 
required  to  transport  two  men  and  the  materials  with  which  a  weekly  paper 
was  equipped,  sixty-five  years  ago,  is  of  sufliciently  suggestive  character. 

Jeremiah  Smith  was  elected  governor  in  1809. 

Judge  Smith,  after  serving   four  terms   in   Congress,  and    as 

judge  of  probate  in  the  county  of  Rockingham,  was  at  forty-one,. 

^  in  February,  1801,  made  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 

States  for  the  district    of  New  Hampshire;  and  in  May,  1802, 

chief  justice  of  the  highest  court  in  the  State.      He  held  this  posi- 

'  Asii  McFarlaiid. 


^-^/ 


^ 


<i, 


'^•^« 


.^ 


cSTIlIEJlMIIMiail    gME'griHIo 


1809]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  481 

tion  until  1809,  when  lie  was  over-persuaded  by  certain  of  his  pol- 
itical friends„among  whom  was  Daniel  Webster,  to  abandon  it  for 
that  of  governor,  because  the  supposed  interests  of  the  Federal 
party  required  the  nomination  of  its  most  available  candidate, 

Jeremiah  Smith,  the  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Morison) 
Smith,  was  born  at  Peterborough,  N.  H.,  November  29,  1759. 
Mis  parents  were  of  Scotch-Irish  stock.  His  father  was  born 
in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  his  maternal  grandfather,  John 
Morison,  was  in  Londonderry  during  the  siege  of  that  town,  and 
was  at  the  l^attle  of  the  Boyne.  He  early  developed  great  de- 
sire for  learning  ;  sometimes  walking  miles  to  a  place  where  he 
heard  there  was  a  book.  When  seventeen  years  of  ag^  he  en- 
listed for  a  short  term  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  was  pres- 
ent at  the  l^attle  of  Bennington,  where  he  was  slightly  wounded. 
In  1777  he  entered  Harvard  College.  After  remaining  there 
two  years,  he  removed  to  Queen's  (now  Rutgers)  College  in  New 
Jersey,  where  he  graduated  in  1780.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
Ijar  in  1786,  and  opened  an  office  in  his  father's  farm-house  at 
Peterborough.  In  1788,  1789,  and  1790  he  was  a  member  of 
the  legislature,  and  was  chairman  of  the  committee  which  pre- 
l^ared  the  draft  of  the  revised  statutes  enacted  in  1791.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1791,  and  took  a 
prominent  part  in  its  proceedings.  In  December,  1790,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  second  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  was  re-elected  to  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  Congresses.  In 
Congress  he  was  a  supporter  of  Washington's  administration  ; 
and,  W'hen  the  inevitable  division  into  parties  came,  he  joined 
the  Hamiltonian  P'ederalists. 

In  July,  1797,  he  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress,  accepted  the 
appointment  of  United  States  district  attorney  for  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  removed  to  Exeter,  which  continued  to  be  his  home 
until  within  a  few  months  of  his  death.  In  1800  he  was  ap- 
l^ointed  judge  of  probate  for  the  county  of  Rockingham,  and  it 
was  probably  at  this  time  that  he  composed  an  elaborate  treatise 
on  probate  law,  which  still  exists  in  manuscript.  In  February, 
1801,  he  was  appointed  by  President  Adams  a  judge  of  the  newly 
established  U.  S.  Circuit  Court,  which  was  abolished  a  vear  later. 


482  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  1 809 

In  1802  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the  Superior  Court 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  served  until  1809,  when  he  became 
governor.  Failing"  a  re-election  as  governor,  he  returned  to 
the  bar  in  18 10,  but  left  it  in  18 13  to  take  the  position  of  chief 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  established  in  that  year.  Upon 
the  abolition  of  this  court  in  1816  he  returned  once  more  to  the 
bar,  where  he  was  associated  with  Mason  and  Webster  as  counsel 
in  the  Dartmouth  College  case. 

In  1820  or  1821  Judge  Smith  withdrew  from  active  practice, 
and  passed  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  chiefly  at  his  beautiful 
home  in  Exeter,  still  contin\iing  to  be  a  purchaser  and  reader 
of  law  books,  and  an  indefatigable  student  of  general  literature. 
In  these  years  he  was  never  idle.  In  addition  to  his  legal  and 
literary  studies  he  gave  much  time  to  financial  and  educational 
trusts  ;  serving  as  president  of  the  Exeter  Bank,  and  as  treasure) , 
and  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  of  Phillips  Exeter  Acad- 
emy. 

In  the  spring  of  1842  he  removed  to  Dover,  N.  II.,  where  he 
died  September  21,  1843. 

The  most  important  public  service  rendered  by  Judge  Smith 
was  that  performed  by  him  as  chief  justice  of  New  Hampshire. 
Before  his  time  the  administration  of  the  law  in  this  State  was 
exceedingly  unsystematic,  not  to  say  chaotic.  A  lively  sketch 
of  the  old  state  of  things  may  be  found  in  the  life  of  Governor 
Plumer,  pages  149-159  and  181-18^.  Many  of  the  judges  of 
the  highest  court  had  received  no  legal  education.  Two  of  the 
three  associate  justices  at  the  date  of  Judge  Smith's  appoint- 
ment were  clergymen.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  credit  of 
"bringing  order  of  chaos  "  belongs  to  Judge  Smith  more  than 
to  any  other  one  man  "To  him,"  said  Mr.  Mason,  "the  State 
is  greatly,  if  not  chiefly,  indebted  for  the  present  more  orderh' 
proceedings,  and  better  administration  of  justice."  "With 
him,"  said  Chief  Justice  Parker,  "  there  arose  a  new  order  of 
things."  The  present  chief  justice  (Hon.  Charles  Doe),  in  Vol. 
49,  New  Hampshire  Reports,  p.  604,  alludes  to  the  "inestimable 
labors  of  Chief  Justice  Smith,  who  found  the  law  of  New  Ham]i- 
shire,  in  practice  and  administration,  a  chaos,  and  who  left  it  com- 


1809]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  483 

paratively  an  organized  and  scientific  system."  "When  I  came 
to  the  bar,"  wrote  Mr.  Webster  to  Chancellor  Kent,  "  he  was 
chief  justice  of  the  State.  It  was  a  day  of  the  gladsome  light 
of  jurisprudence.  .  .  .  He  knows  everything  about  New 
England,  having  studied  much  of  its  history  and  its  institutions  • 
and  as  to  the  law,  he  knows  so  much  more  of  it  than  I  do,  or 
ever  shall,  that  I  forbear  to  speak  on  that  point." 

The  practice  of  reporting  the  decisions  in  print  did  not  begin 
in  this  State'  until  after  Judge  Smith  had  left  the  bench  ;  and 
consequently  none  of  his  opinions  are  to  be  found  in  the  regular 
series  of  New  Hampshire  Reports.  A  volume  selected  from  his 
manuscript  decisions  was  published  in  1879,  and  is  commonly 
cited  as  "Smith's  New  Hampshire  Reports."  But  these  deci- 
sions, though  praised  by  competent  authorities,  cannot  give  the 
present  generation  a  fair  idea  of  the  worth  of  Judge  Smith's 
judicial  labors.  His  most  valuable  work,  that  of  systematizing 
the  practice  and  administering  the  law  upon  scientific  principles, 
is  something  which  cannot  be  fully  delineated  on  paper  or  in 
print. 

Any  sketch  of  Judge  Smith  would  be  incomplete  if  it  failed 
to  mention  the  high  estimate  generally  formed  of  his  conversa- 
tional powers.  On  this  point  it  will  be  sufficient  to  cite  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Webster,  given  near  the  close  of  his  own  life, 
after  opportunity  for  converse  with  the  best  talkers  of  England 
as  well  as  America.  "Jeremiah  Smith,"  wrote  Mr.  Webster  in 
1849,  "  was  perhaps  the  best  talker  I  have  been  acquainted  with  ; 
he  was  full  of  knowledge  of  books  and  men,  had  a  great  deal  of 
wit  and  humor,  and  abhorred  silence  as  an  intolerable  state  of 
existence." 

The  two  paupers  who  claimed  support  from  a  town  in  Rock- 
ingham county  were  bid  off  to  the  lowest  bidder — Joseph 
Baker  bidding  in  a  woman  for  twenty-three  cents  a  week,  and 
Solomon  Wheeler,  Esq.,  bidding  in  a  man  for  one  dollar  and 
fifty-eight  cents  a  week ;  the  town  agreeing  to  clothe  and  pro- 
vide medical  attendance  for  the  unfortunate  ones.  This  entry  in 
the  records  of  the  town  in  1809  is  remarkable,  as  it  is  the  first 
mention  of  the  disposal  of  paupers  in  this  way. 


484  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [181O 

James  Tallant  was  the  post-rider  out  of  Concord,  and  sup- 
plied the  New  HampsJiire  Patriot,  then  in  its  first  volume,  to 
its  patrons,  and,  with  the  editor,  dunned  dehnquents  in  its 
columns. 

John  Langdon,  the  Republican  candidate,  was  elected  over  his 
Federal  opponent.  Governor  Smith.  William  Plumer,  who  had 
given  in  his  allegiance  to  the  popular  Republican  party,  was  elec- 
ted to  the  State  Senate,  and  was  chosen  president  of  that  body. 
The  following  year  Governor  Langdon  offered  $2000  to  his  party 
associates,  to  be  used  as  a  campaign  fund,  if  they  would  excuse 
him  from  being  again  a  candidate  ;  but  his  offer  was  not  ac- 
cepted, and  he  was  re-elected  "against  his  old  opponent,  Gilman^ 
the  Federalists  having  dropped  Smith,  as  less  likely  to  suc- 
ceed."^ Charles  Cutts,  a  Republican,  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate  to  fill  out  Nahum  Parker's  unexpired  term.  Of 
the  five  members  chosen  to  Congress,  in  the  fall  of  18 10,  four 
were  Republicans.  The  parties  were  pretty  equally  divided,  and 
neither  could  afford  to  be  careless  or  indolent.  Each  was  obliged 
to  select  good  candidates,  and  to  work  hard  in  their  behalf.  The 
result  being  doubtful,  elections  were  watched  with  lively  interest, 
and  the  full  strength  of  each  party  was  brought  out..  Of  wealth, 
influence,  social  position,  and  education  the  Federal  party  had 
a  larger  share  than  its  rival.  The  clergy  had  much  power  over 
public  opinion,  and  the  clergymen  of  New  Hampshire,  as  well 
as  all  New  England,  were  generally  Federalists,  not  only  dislik- 
ing the  politics  of  Jefferson,  but  hating  him  personally  on  ac- 
count of  his  heterodo.xy  in  religion,  with  all  the  rancor  of  theo- 
logical hatred.^ 

The  "Crow  bill,"  so  familiar  to  the  legislature  of  late  years, 
was  discussed  in  Pembroke  in  18 10.  A  bounty  of  twenty-five 
cents  each  was  offered  for  the  destruction  of  crows,  but  within 
the  year  the  offer  was  repealed. 

Manufacturing  of  cotton  into  cloth,  which  has  since  become 
an  industry  of  great  importance  in  the  village  of  Suncook,  was 
first  undertaken  this  year  by  Major  Caleb  Stark,  a  Revolutionary 
soldier   and  son    of   General  John    Stark.     He  purchased    the 

I  William  Plumer,  Jr.  2  Life  of  M.ison. 


l8l2]  STATE  GOVERNMENT.  485 

establishment  known  as  Osgood's  Mills,  which  was  being  en- 
larged or  rebuilt  by  a  company,  and  introduced  machinery  lately 
invented. 

The  celebrated  "Cold  Friday"  was  January  11,  1810.  The 
people  of  that  date  kept  indoors  and  piled  the  wood  upon  fervid 
fires. 

^In  18 1 2  William  Plumcr  of  Epping  was  elected  governor. 
He  was  a  descendant  of  the  Puritans,  and  was  born  in  Newbury- 
port,  Mass.,  in  June,  1759,  and  in  childhood  was  brought  to  Epping. 
He  was  a  thoughtful  and  studious  youth,  and  when  twenty-one 
years  of  age  began  to  preach  as  a  Baptist  minister,  travelling' 
through  most  of  the  State,  delivering  one  or  two  sermons  every- 
day, and  meeting  with  much  success  as  an  evangelist.  In  a 
short  time,  however,  he  turned  his  attention  to  legal  studies.  In 
1785  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  again  in  1786,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1787.  'Although  a  Federalist,  he 
was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1788,  1790,  1791,  when  he  was 
elected  speaker,  to  the  constitutional  convention  of  1791,  to 
the  House  in  1797,  1798,  1800,  and  1801.  In  1802  he  was 
elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  fill  out  Mr. 
Sheafe's  term,  andserved  until  1807.  In  1810  and  181 1  he  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate,  of  which  body  he  was  chosen  presi- 
dent at  both  sessions.  In  181 2  he  was  elected  governor  by  the 
Deniocrats,  and  re-elected  in  1816,  1817,  and  1818.  At  the  close 
of  his  last  term  he  retired  to  the  quiet  of  his  library  and  farm, 
and  took  no  more  active  part  in  politics,  until  his  death  in 
December,  1850,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one  years. 

His  election  was  by  a  very  small  majority.  This  too  was  the 
year  for  the  choice  of  presidential  electors.  The  autumn  elec- 
tion was  contested  with  peculiar  earnestness.  Each  party  put 
forth  all  its  strength,  and  after  a  hot  conflict  the  Federal  party 
prevailed,  choosing  the  electors  of  president  and  the  members 
for  the  thirteenth  Congress.  Among  these  latter  was  Mr.  Web- 
ster, who  had  become  widely  and  favorably  known  by  "  the 
Rockingham  memorial  "  in  opposition  to  the  war,  published  in 
August,  18 1 2.2 

»•  V/illiam  Plumer,  Jr.  =2  l.ife  of  Mason. 


486 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[l8l2 


Inquiry  is  frequently  made  as  to  the  disposition  or  fate  of  our  judges,  who 
are  unable  to  discharge  the  duties  of  their  stations  by  reason  of  permanent 
bodily  infirmities,  or  confirmed  mental  insanity. 

As  to  the  judges  appointed  under  State  authority,  the  constitution  confers 
the  power  upon  the  executive  to  remove  the  judge  in  such  cases,  when  both 
Houses  of  the  legislature,  in  their  discretion,  shall,  by  their  joint  address, 
first  determine  that  the  public  good  requires  the  act  to  be  done. 

The  first  under  our  own  State  Constitution  occurred  in  1812.  William 
Plumer  was  governor;  Arthur  Livermore  was  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court;  Clifton  Claggett  was  associate  justice;  Judge  Evans,  who  lies  buried 
•on  the  old  Hopkinton  road,  near  Concord  line,  was  associate  justice. 

The  views  of  Governor  Plumer,  in  relation  to  the  case  of  Judge  Evans,  are 
stated  in  the  following  extract : — 

"Livermore,  the  chief  justice,  though  a  strong  man,  felt  the  need  of  abler 
associates.  Evans,  who  was  not  a  lawyer,  had  been  prevented  by  ill  health 
from  sitting  on  the  bench  more  than  one  day  for  the  last  eighteen  months. 
On  applying  in  person  for  an  order  for  his  quarter's  salary,  the  governor  ad- 
verted delicately  to  the  condition  of  the  court,  when  Evans  said  that  he  had 
some  thoughts  of  resigning,  but  that  he  was  poor  as  well  as  sick,  and  wanted 
the  emoluments  of  his  office  for  his  support.  To  remove  a  sick  man.  says  the 
governor,  in  his  journal,  oppressed  wit.j  poverty,  is  a  hardship  to  him;  to 
■continue  him  in  office  is  a  greater  hardship  to  the  State.  The  legislature 
must  decide.  They  had  decided,  in  June,  not  to  request  his  removal,  and 
without  such  request  the  governor  could  not  act  in  the  case."  The  governor 
placed  the  responsibility  where  it  belonged.     Here  was  a  case  of  non-action.' 

I  G.  W.  Nesmith. 


y^-'/S. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Jl'AR  OF  1S12 — 1812-1815. 

Causes  of  the  War  —  Right  ok  Search  —  Orders  ix  Counxil  —  Decla- 
ration OF  War  —  Governor  William  Plumer  —  State  Militia — • 
Daniel  Webster— Governor  John  Taylor  Gilman  —  Federalists 
restored  to  Power  —  Change  of  the  Judiciary  —  Jeremiah  Mason  — 
Defence  of  Portsmouth  —  False  Alarms  —  Hartford  Convention 
—  Peace. 

nnHE  war  of  181 2,  known  for  several  generations  as  "the  last 
war  with  Great  Britain,"  arose  from  complications  attendant 
upon  England's  titanic  struggle  to  overthrow  the  Emperor 
Napoleon.  Her  enforcement  of  the  right  of  search,  to  enable 
her  ships  to  take  enemies'  goods  out  of  neutral  vessels,  exas- 
perated even  friendly  powers,  and  as  early  as  1801  Russia  was 
joined  by  Sweden  and  Denmark  to  enforce  resistance  to  the 
claim.  In  1807  P2ngland  had  to  face  Napoleon  alone.  The 
battle  of  Friedland  and  the  peace  of  Tilsit  left  him  master  of 
the  greater  part  of  the  Continent.  The  English  victory  at 
Trafalgar  two  years  earlier  over  the  combined  French  and 
Spanish  fleets  had  left  England  mistress  of  the  sea.  Prussia 
and  Austria  were  already  stripped  of  territory  ;  and,  as  protector 
of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  Napoleon  ruled  in  Germany, 
Italy  was  directly  subjected  to  his  power.  Unable  to  make 
war  upon  England  by  his  fleets  and  armies,  he  attempted  to 
subdue  her  by  ruining  her  commerce.  By  the  Berlin. decree  he 
declared  the  whole  of  the  British  islands  to  be  in  a  state  of 
blockade,  though  he  had  not  a  single  ship  at  sea  to  enforce  his 
declaration.  He  declared  all  British  manufactured  goods  pro- 
hibited   wherever    his   power   reached  ;   and  excluded   from   his 


488  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l8l2 

dominions  even  neutral  ships  which  had  touched  at  a  British 
port.  The  British  government  retaliated  by  Orders  in  Council 
that  declared  that  all  vessels  trading  with  France  were  liable  to 
seizure,  and  that  all  such  vessels  clearing  from  a  hostile  port 
must  touch  at  a  British  port  to  pay  customs  duties.  Napoleon 
answered  by  the  Milan  decree,  forbidding  neutrals  to  trade  in 
any  article  imported  from  any  part  of  the  British  dominions. 
The  Orders  in  Council  cost  England  a  war  with  America.  The 
Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  contributed  largely  to  the  overthrow 
of  Napoleon's  power.  Every  poor  man  who  was  debarred  from 
the  means  of  providing  sugar  or  cloth  for  his  family  felt  the 
grievance.  The  French  Republic  had  declared  war  against  the 
nobles :  Napoleon  decreed  an  oppression  which  was  felt  in  every 
cottage. 

The  right  of  search,  many  years  enforced  by  the  English,  was 
a  grievous  burden  to  our  adventurous  sailors,  and  an  insult  to 
every  patriotic  American.  The  Orders  in  Council,  enforced  by 
the  whole  power  of  the  British  navy,  amounted  to  a  confiscation 
of  American  ships ;  and  as  the  English  Government  refused  to 
withdraw  it  at  the  urgent  request  of  President  Madison,  he 
called  an  extra  session  of  Congress  in  November,  181 1,  and 
laid  before  them  the  state  of  our  foreign  relations  and  recom- 
mended preparation  for  war.  Congress  at  once  increased  the 
force  of  the  navy  and  the  regular  army,  accepted  the  service  of 
volunteers,  detached  the  State  militia,  and  made  other  active 
preparations  for  war  ;  and  in  the  early  part  of  18 12,  insults  and 
injuries  being  continued  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  openly 
declared  war  on  that  power.  This  act  of  war  was  unpopular 
with  the  Federalists,  but  was  sustained  by  the  great  majority  of 
the  American  people,  who  felt  that  a  resort  to  arms  was  the  only 
alternative  for  maintaining  our  rights,  protecting  our  citizens, 
and  sustaining  the  national  honor. 

President  Madison  made  requisition  upon  the  government  of 
New  Hampshire  for  its  quota  of  militia  to  be  detached,  armed, 
equipped  for  actual  service,  and  in  readiness  to  march  at  the 
shortest  notice ;  and  Governor  John  Langdon  issued  general 
orders  in  the  latter  part  of  May  for  a  draft  of  three  thousand 


I8l2]  WAR    OF     l8l2.  489 

five  hundred  men,  leaving  their  organization  into  companies, 
battalions,  and  regiments  in  the  hands  of  his  successor,  Gover- 
nor William  Plumer,  who  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office 
in  June.  The  declaration  of  war  found  the  militia  of  the  State- 
in  a  flourishing  condition.  It  consisted  of  three  divisions,  six- 
brigades,  and  thirty-seven  regiments. 

William  Plumer  was  elected  governor  by  the  legislature  as 
an  Anti-Federalist. 

In  18 [2  he  was  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  and  though  not  a 
military  man,  was  one  of  energy,  patriotism,  method,  and  great 
executive  ability.  His  heart  and  hand  were  in  the  cause.  His 
predecessors  in  office  had  been  men  engaged  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle,  and  in  time  of  peace  had  prepared  for  war  by  a 
Avell-regulated  militia.  Timothy  Upham  and  John  A.  Harper 
were  his  aids,  Michael  McClary,  adjutant-general,  Samuel 
Dinsmoor,  quartermaster-general,  and  Moody  Bedel,  com- 
mander of  a  brigade.  In  June  Major-general  Clement  Storer  o^ 
the  first  brigade  detached  a  battalion  to  defend  the  sea  coast 
about  Portsmouth,  the  companies  being  commanded  by  Captain.' 
Robert  Neal,  Samuel  Shackford,  Joseph  Towle,  and  John  Leor 
ard.  Moses  C.  Pillsbury,  many  years  warden  of  the  State  Prisor., 
was  a  sergeant  in  Captain  Leonard's  company.  At  the  sanib 
time  a  company  under  command  of  Captain  Ephraim  H.  Mahu 
rin  was  stationed  at  Stewartstown,  on  the  northern  frontiei-. 
John  Page,  jr.,  afterwards  United  States  senator  and  governor, 
was  his  lieutenant. 

^The  office  of  governor  of  New  Hampshire  had,  in  1812,  great 
importance  attached  to  it  in  popular  estimation.  The  office 
had  been  confined  for  many  years  to  two  men  —  John  Langdon 
and  John  Taylor  Oilman.  "  Langdon,  the  leader  of  the  De- 
mocracy, was,  perhaps,  the  most  perfect  gentleman  in  the  State  ; 
dignified,  yet  easy  of  deportment,  urbane  and  courteous,  with  a 
native  grace  which  won  the  good-will  and  respect  of  all  who  ap- 
proached him.  Oilman,  the  representative  of  less  popular  opinions, 
was  also  a  man  of  good  personal  appearance  and  refined  manners, 
and  wore  the  old-fashioned  cocked  hat  of  the  Revolution  with  an 

'  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


490  HISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l8l2 

ease  and  dignity  not  unbecoming  his  high  station."  The  unpop- 
ularity of  the  embargo  had  made  Judge  Smith  governor  in  1809. 
Langdon  positively  declining  to  be  a  candidate  this  year,  on  ac- 
count of  the  infirmities  of  age,  William  Plumer  was  the  candi- 
date nominated  by  the  Democracy  to  defeat  John  Taylor  Oilman, 
the  Federal  candidate.  Personal  attacks  were  made  on  the 
character  of  Mr.  Plumer.  He  was  charged  with  having  once 
been  a  zealous  Baptist  preacher,  and  then  an  unbeliever ;  once 
a  Federalist,  then  a  Democrat.  He  was  known  as  an  advocate 
of  equal  justice  to  all  sects,  both  in  court  and  legislature,  and 
the  charges  as  to  his  liberality  of  creed  were  thought  to  be  no 
disadvantage  to  him.  The  Congregational  clergy  were  mostly 
Federalists  ;  the  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  other  minor  sects 
were  arrayed  against  them.  So  many  votes  were  thrown  away 
by  Republicans  who  remembered  Plumer  as  a  Federalist,  and 
by  Federalists  who  thought  Judge  Smith  had  not  been  fairly 
dealt  with,  that  the  election  was  thrown  into  the  legislature. 
William  Plumer  was  elected  governor  by  one  hundred  and  four 
votes  against  eighty-two  for  Gilman.  All  branches  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, including  the  Council  and  the  judiciary,  were  now 
Republican.  The  day  before  the  meeting  of  the  legislature 
Governor  Plumer  rode  on  horseback  from  Epping  to  Concord. 
The  governor's  inaugural  address  is  said  to  have  been  very 
eloquent  and  impressive,  and  was  received  both  in  and  out  of 
the  State  with  much  favor.  It  was  delivered  a  few  days  only 
before  the  declaration  of  war  with  England,  a  measure  that 
seemed  both  just  and  necessary  to  the  governor.  Hall,  Upham, 
and  Smith  were  the  three  Republican  councillors,  Franklin  and 
Chase  were  the  Federal  councillors.  It  had  been  the  custom 
for  councillors,  before  this  date,  to  favor  their  own  nominations 
to  important  offices,  a  custom  which  Governor  Plumer  allowed 
to  fall  into  disuse.  His  councillors,  however,  dictated  to  him 
the  nomination  of  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  against  his 
better  judgment. 

In  July  Governor  Plumer  perfected  the  organization  of  the 
detached  militia,  forming  what  was  known  as  the  Eastern 
Brigade  under  Brigadier-general  Clement  Storer  of  Portsmouth, 


l8l2]  WAR    OF    l8l2.  491 

and  the  Western  Brigade  under  Brigadier-general  John  Mont- 
gomery of  Haverhill,  the  whole  division  commanded  by  Major- 
general  Henry  Butler  of  Nottingham.  Fort  McClary  protect- 
ing the  Kittery  Navy  Yard,  was  garrisoned  by  a  detachment 
of  New  Hampshire  troops  under  Timothy  Upham  of  Ports- 
mouth, who  had  been  commissioned  major  in  the  regular  army, 
—  a  timely  precaution,  for  British  vessels  were  cruising  off  the 
coast  and  had  even  entered  the  outer  harbor.  So  great  was  the 
alarm  that  the  women  and  children  and  valuables  of  every  kind 
were  sent  from  Portsmouth  into  the  interior  for  safety.  The 
force  of  militia  not  only  allayed  these  fears,  but  prevented  illicit 
commerce  with  the  enemy,  who  paid  good  prices  for  fresh 
provisions.  This  trade  is  supposed  to  have  been  carried  on  by 
the  citizens  of  Vermont  and  Maine. 

The  seat  of  war,  aggravated  by  the  horrors  of  Indian  atroci- 
ties, was  along  our  northern  and  western  frontiers.  There 
Colonel  James  Miller  of  Temple  was  doing  good  service  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Detroit. 

At  the  presidential  election  in  the  fall  Madison  was  re-elected 
by  Southern  and  Western  votes,  receiving  none  north  of  Penn- 
sylvania except  six  given  by  the  legislature  of  Vermont  at  a  time 
when  the  people  would  have  given  them  to  Clinton.  In  regard 
to  national  issues  at  this  time,  as  John  Ouincy  Adams  said, 
"the  two  great  parties  had  crossed  over  the  valley  and  taken 
possession  of  each  other's  mountain."  The  course  pursued  by 
the  leading  Federalists  at  this  time,  in  associating  the  defeat  of 
an  American  by  a  British  force  as  the  overthrow  of  their  adver- 
saries, identified  them  in  the  popular  estimation  with  the  ene- 
mies of  their  country  and  led  to  the  final  disruption  of  their 
party.  Many  worthy  citizens  were  seen  to  rejoice  over  British 
victories,  and  to  mourn  over  those  of  their  own  country,  as,  half 
a  century  later,  many  conducted  themselves  during  the  Rebellion. 

^  At  the  November  session  of  the  legislature  the  governor's 
address  was  mainly  devoted  to  the  subject  of  the  war  then  pro- 
gressing. He  was  in  harmony  with  the  administration,  unlike 
the  chief-magistrates  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.     Both 

'  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


492 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[l8l2 


Houses  returned  answers  to  the  speech,  approving  of  the  war, 
and  of  "  the  prompt  and  patriotic  manner  in  which  the  call  of 


the  president  respecting  the  militia  was  complied  with."  The 
P^ederalist  minority  voted  against  the  answers  in  both  branches, 
its  chief  protest  being  directed  against  the  power  claimed  by  the 


I8l2] 


WAR    OF    l8l2. 


493 


president  of   calling  out  the  militia,  and  placing   them    under 
officers  of  the  United  States.     The  majority   declared  that    the 

■pa 


/4^*2^-^ 


^((aLr^kcI^  liGHt. 


war  was  just,  but  referred  to  Napoleon  as  "that  scourge  of  na- 
tions," and  were  opposed  to  any  alliance  with  him.  The  minority 
did   not  deem  the    war  to    have  been    necessary,    but    upheld 


494  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l8l2 

the  governor  in  his  policy  to  protect*  the  frontiers.  The  effort 
to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  office  of  United  States  senator  was 
unavailing,  as  Mr.  Sanborn  of  Epsom,  who  held  the  tie  vote  in 
the  Senate,  could  not  agree  with  his  party  associates  as  to  the 
nominee.  The  governor  returned  one  law  and  two  resolves  to 
the  legislature,  with  his  objections  to  them,  and  both  were 
dropped.  The  building  of  the  old  State's  Prison  was  undertaken 
this  year,  and  several  changes  made  in  the  criminal  code.  Before 
this  there  had  been  eight  offences  punishable  with  death :  only 
two  were  allowed  to  remain  on  the  statute  book  —  murder  and 
treason  ;  and  the  old  punishments  of  the  whip  and  pillory  were 
changed  to  imprisonment  in  the  State's  Prison  or  in  the  county 
jail.  Aside  from  the  militia  very  many  citizens  of  the  State 
volunteered  to  join  the  regular  army,  or  enlisted  in  privateers- 
men.  Lieutenant-colonel  Moody  Bedel  opened  a  recruiting  office 
at  Concord  in  May,  and  in  September  sent  three  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  recruits  to  join  his  regiment,  the  iith  United 
States  infantry,  at  Burlington.  The  regiment  was  mainly  from 
New  Hampshire. 

John  McNeil  of  Hillsborough  and  John  W.  Weeks  of  Lancaster 
were  captains  in  this  regiment.  In  July  of  the  next  year  the 
regiment  was  consolidated  with  the  2ist,  in  which  Jonathan  East- 
man of  Concord  was  a  lieutenant. 

In  November,  1812,  eleven  companies  of  volunteers  had  their 
rendezvous  at  Concord,  and  were  organized  as  the  "  Firjt  Regi- 
ment of  New  Hampshire  Volunteers,"  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Aquila  Davis  of  Warner,  but  in  the  following  January 
the  regiment  was  disbanded,  the  enlisted  men  being  distributed 
to  regiments  in  the  regular  army.  Most  of  the  soldiers  were 
joined  to  the  45th  United  States  regiment,  of  which  Aquila 
Davis  was  lieutenant-colonel.  At  the  expiration  of  their  term 
of  enlistment,  at  the  end  of  one  year,  many  re-enlisted,  and 
the  45th  regiment  was  mainly  recruited  in  New  Hampshire. 
The  pay  of  a  private  was  $10,  of  a  corporal  $11,  oi  a  sergeant 
$12. 

In  December  a  voluntary  corps  of  infantry  was  organized, 
composed  of  such  men  as  were  not  liable  by  law  to  do  military 


i8i3j 


WAK    OI'     l'Sl2. 


495 


duty,  but  were  to  be  called  on  for  service  only  in  case  of  inva- 
sion. 

^  In  January,  1813,  Captain  Edmund  Freeman  of  Lebanon  and 


u 

o 


i)Ul    M  ^'m*' 


\  llwt? "' 


•i 


company  were  detached  from  the  Western  Brigade  to  relieve 
Captain  Mahurin's  command  at  Stewartstown.    In  April  Captain 

I  Adjutant-general's  Reports,  1868. 


4g6  HISTORY    OF,  NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1813 

William  Marshall's  company  of  "  Sea  Fencibles  "  was  stationed 
at  Little  Harbor  for  the  defence  of  Portsmouth.  As  British 
cruisers  were  hovering  continually  upon  the  coast,  the  people  of 
Portsmouth  became  alarmed,  and  in  May  called  a  town  meeting 
to  provide  for  defence.  After  considerable  discussion  their  repre- 
sentatives were  instructed  to  lay  before  the  legislature  the  ex- 
posed situation  of  the  town  and  harbor.  At  the  meeting  Dan- 
iel Webster  made  one  of  his  characteristic  speeches.  He  said : 
"  Talk  is  not  what  the  crisis  demands.  The  forts  near  the  town 
want  repairs,  want  men  to  defend  them  when  repaired.  The 
government  of  the  United  States  and  the  State  government 
have  been  applied  to  for  men  to  repair  and  defend  these  forts  ;  but 
we  know  not  that  either  will  attend  to  our  application.  But  ct\& 
thing  we  do  know,  the  crisis  demands  labor,  and  we  can  /al^ctr, 
we  can  repair  the  forts.  And  then  we  know  another  thing,  wa 
can  defend  them.  Now,  I  propose  that  every  man  who  wanti 
these  forts  repaired,  wants  these  forts,  aye,  the  town  of  Povt'i- 
mouth,  defended,  appear  on  parade  to-morrowmorning  with  piclf. 
axe,  spade,  and  shovel,  and  that  they  go  to  the  Islands  and  ra 
pair  the  forts."  The  meeting  adjourned  with  a  hurrah  for  pick, 
axe,  spade,  and  shovel.  The  next  morning  hundreds  of  the  pa- 
triotic men  of  Portsmouth  gathered  upon  the  parade,  and  with 
Mr.  Webster,  duly  armed  with  a  shovel,  proceeded  to  the  forts, 
commenced  their  work,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  had  com^ 
pleted  the  repair  of  the  fortifications,  forts  Washington  and 
Sullivan,  on  either  side  of  the  narrows. 

1  At  the  annual  election  in  March,  1813,  ex-governor  John  Tay^ 
lor  Oilman  was  elected  governor,  and  was  inaugurated  in  June. 
The  minority  of  18 12  had  now  become  the  majority.  Governor 
Gilman  was  a  patriot  and  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  conser- 
vative in  his  views  as  to  the  war,  although  the  standard  bearer  of 
the  opposition  to  the  war.  No  one  could  find  fault  with  his 
message :  — 

"  The  consequences  of  the  war  cannot  be  foreseen,  and  there 
are  divers  opinions  respecting  the  necessity  of  the  war,  as  well 
as  the  causes  which  induced  our  government  to  make  the  declar- 

'■■■■■'*  *  Adjutant-general's  Reports,  i868. 


i8i3] 


WAR    OF     l8l2. 


497 


ation.  We  arc  bound  to  support  our  system  of  national  govern- 
ment and  the  laws  emanating  therefrom  ;  but  this  by  no  means 
hinders  the  right  of  free  inquiry,  or  the  full  expression  of  senti- 
ments upon  the  measures  of  government. 

"  It  is  not  doubted  that  we  have  had  great  causes  of  complaint 


DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


against  both  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  perhaps  at  some 
former  period  much  greater  against  one  or  both  of  these  govern- 
ments than  existed  against  the  British  at  the  time  of  the  declar- 
ation of  war. 


498  HI^TOKV    OF    i\E\V    JIAMPSIIIKE.  [iS^S 

"  While  we  demand  redress  for  injuries  received  from  others,  we 
should  suitably  regard  their  just  expectations  from  us ;  and  may 
we  not,  without  being  liable  to  the  charge  of  justifying  the  con- 
duct of  Great  Britain,  inquire  whether  they  have  no  just  cause  of 
complaint  against  our  government  ?  whether  our  professions  of 
strict  and  impartial  neutrality,  in  the  important  contest  between 
Great  Britain  and  France,  had  been  constantly  maintained  ?  and 
whether  there  had  not  been  a  manifest  difference  in  our  resent- 
ments, and  in  the  language  and  manner  of  seeking  redress  for 
wrongs,  exhibiting  an  unwarrantable  partiality  for  France?" 
This  message  voiced  the  sentiments  of  the  P'edcralists  of  that 
day. 

^The  spring  elections  of  1813  were  conducted  with  great  zeal 
and  vigor  on  both  sides,  but  with  less  personal  abuse  of  Governor 
Plunier  than  in  the  preceding  year.  His  dignified  and  impartial 
conduct  in  office  had  inspired  even  his  opponents  with  a  respect 
for  him.  The  worst  charges  against  him  were  his  ordering  out 
the  detached  militia,  supporting  the  war,  and  vindicating  the 
national  government.  The  result  of  the  canvass  was  the  election 
of  Governor  Gilman  by  a  very  small  majority  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  votes  out  of  more  than  thirty-five  thousand  thrown.  There 
were  few  or  no  scattering  votes.  One  of  Governor  Plumer's  last 
official  acts  was  stationing  a  guard  at  Little  Harbor.  His  pro- 
clamations for  Fast  and  Thanksgiving  were  of  such  a  patriotic 
order  that  ministers  in  neighboring  States,  who  were  Republi- 
cans, read  them  in  place  of  those  from  their  own  Federal 
governors. 

The  accession  of  the  Federal  party  to  power  was  followed  by 
a  reorganization  of  the  courts  of  law.  An  Act  of  the  legislature 
abolished  the  Superior  and  Inferior  Courts  ;  turned  out  all  the 
old  judges  ;  and  established  a  Supreme  Court  and  a  Circuit 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  place  of  the  old  courts.  Jeremiah 
Smith  was  appointed  chief  justice,  and  Arthur  Livermore  and 
Caleb  Ellis  associate  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  able  men 
and  gv^od  judges,  whose  administration  gave  strength  to  their 
party  and  improved  the  courts.      But  the  act  of  the  legislature 

'  Willi.m.  Pliimer.Jr. 


1813J  WAR  or    181  J.  499 

was  thought  unconstitutional  by  the  Republicans,  and  next  to  the 
war  most  divided  the  two  parties.  Twenty-one  judges  were  at 
once  removed  from  office  in  a  way  unknown  to  the  constitution 
and  contrary  to  its  express  provisions,  as  decided  by  at  least  two 
of  the  new  judges.  "In  the  counties  of  Strafford,  Rockingham, 
and  Hillsborough  the  old  judges  attempted  to  hold  courts  at  the 
same  time  with  the  new  ones.  In  the  two  latter  counties,  the 
sheriffs,  Butler  and  Pierce,  who  were  Republicans,  took  part 
with  the  old  court."  Whereupon  Governor  Oilman  called  the 
legislature  together  and  removed  the  refractory  sheriffs,  and  the 
new  judges  met  with  no  further  obstructions. 

At  the  June  session  of  the  legislature,  18 13,  Jeremiah  Mason 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  The  legislature  first 
chose  Dr.  John  Goddard,  a  merchant  of  Portsmouth,  originally 
a  physician,  a  man  of  ability  and  high  character  ;  but  having 
no  taste  for  public  life  he  declined  the  honor.  The  legislature 
next  made  choice  of  Mr.  Mason. 

Mr.  Mason  was  a  firm  Federalist,  and  one  of  the  ablest  law- 
yers in  his  own  or  any  other  age.  At  the  time  of  his  election 
he  was  forty-five  years  of  age  and  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame.  He 
was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  and  had  finished 
his  legal  studies  in  Vermont  and  as  a  young  man  had  settled 
first  in  Westmoreland  and  later  in  Walpole.  He  saw  an  ope- 
ning in  Portsmouth  and  settled  there  in  1797,  soon  after  marrying 
Mary,  daughter  of  Colonel  Robert  Means,  of  Amherst,  and  at 
once  took  a  leading  rank  among  the  lawyers  of  the  State.  After 
Judge  Smith  was  elevated  to  the  bench  he  was  the  leading  law- 
yer in  the  State.  He  was  attorney-general  for  three  years.  In 
1807  Daniel  Webster  removed  from  Boscawen  to  Portsmouth, 
and  for  the  next  nine  years  divided  with  Mr.  Mason  the  leading 
business  of  the  State.  As  a  general  rule  they  were  retained  on 
opposite  sides  in  every  important  case,  until  Mr.  Webster's 
removal  to  Boston  in  18 16.  Their  great  powers  were  joined  with 
those  of  Jeremiah  Smith's  in  the  famous  Dartmouth  College 
causes.  Governor  Plumer  offered  Mr.  Mason  the  appointment 
of  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but  he  declined  the  honor. 
Mr.  Mason  removed  to  Boston  in  1832,  where  he  died  sixteen  years 


500  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1813 

later.  In  1813  Mr.  Mason  and  Mr.  Webster  were  considered  the 
strongest  men  in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  for  already  the 
latter's  greatness  was  beginning  to  be  recognized.  Mr.  Webster 
had  already  been  elected  to  the  House.  Mr.  Mason  was  from  his 
judgment  and  prudence  peculiarly  fitted  for  public  office  in  times 
when  party  spirit  ran  high.  "  There  was  nothing  impassioned 
in  his  temperament  or  fanatical  in  his  understanding.  His 
mind  was  judicial  in  its  tone,  and  he  had  no  taste  for  extreme 
propositions  or  extreme  measures.  His  self-control  was  perfect. 
He  was  no  politician  and  no  aspirant  for  political  distinction, 
but  he  took  a  keen  interest  in  public  affairs  and  was  a  patriot 
in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  He  reverenced  the  character 
and  the  principles  of  Washington,  and  fully  appreciated  the  in- 
estimable services  he  had  rendered  to  the  country.  Some  Fed- 
eralists let  their  opposition  to  the  war  carry  them  beyond  the 
bounds  alike  of  prudence  and  patriotism,  but  Mr.  Mason  was 
not  one  of  these ;  nor  was  his  friend  Mr.  Webster,  Their 
coarse  illustrated  the  proper  functions  of  an  opposition  in  time 
of  war,  under  a  constitutional  government."  ^ 

The  almost  exclusive  business  of  Congress  during  the  winter 
of  1813  and  1814,  "was  the  providing  of  men  and  money  for 
carrying  on  a  war  into  which  the  country  had  been  plunged  with 
little  of  forethought  and  less  of  preparation."  The  party  opposed 
to  the  war,  though  weak  in  numbers,  was  powerful  in  ability  and 
influence  ;  but  the  force  of  the  opposition  was  not  so  great  a 
difficulty  in  carrying  on  the  war  as  was  the  cold  and  languid  sup- 
port of  its  friends.  It  was  in  truth  a  politicians'  war,  and  the 
popular  heart  neverwas  for  it  or  in  it.  That  intense  public  spirit 
which,  during  our  civil  contest,  made  all  efforts  easy  and  all  sac- 
rifices light,  was  wholly  wanting.  Federalists  and  Democrats 
abused  each  other  with  equal  virulence,  but  the  energies  of  both 
went  no  farther  ;  the  two  nerves  of  war  —  iron  and  gold,  men  and 
money  —  were  hard  to  come  at.  The  brilliant  successes  of  our 
navy  had  not  been  enough  to  counteract  the  depressing  influence 
of  the  disasters  and  misfortunes  which  had  attended  our  arms  on 
land ;  and  a  general  feeling  of  despondency  and  anxiety  hung 

*  Life  of  Mason. 


I  8  14]  WAR    OF     I  8  12.  501 

over  the  country,  and  made  the  task  of  carrying;  on  the  govern- 
ment and  keeping  up  the  war  one  of  no  small  difficulty.^ 

In  August  the  people  of  Portsmouth  became  apprehensive  of 
an  attack,  and  were  furnished  with  arms  and  ammunition  by  the 
governor.  In  the  west  the  war  was  conducted  with  varying 
success  through  the  year.  The  retaking  of  Detroit  and  Mich- 
igan, and  Commodore  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Eric,  balanced 
many  reverses  of  American  arms.  At  Detroit  Colonel  Lewis 
Cass,  a  native  of  Exeter,  became  distinguished.  He  was  born 
in  1782;  at  an  early  age  settled  in  Ohio;  and  in  1807  was  ap- 
pointed marshal  of  the  State.  In  18 13  he  was  appointed 
brigadier-general  and  later  governor  of  Michigan  Territory. 
He  was  afterwards  secretary  of  war  in  General  Jackson's  cabi- 
net;  minister  to  France  in  1836;  United  States  senator  in 
1845  ;  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  in  1848  ;  re-elected  to  the 
Senate  in  1851;  President  Buchanan's  secretary  of  state  in 
1857,  resigning  in  January,  1861.  He  died  in  1866.  He  was  a 
brave  soldier,  an  accomplished  gentleman,  a  true  patriot,  and  an 
able  statesman,  who  reflected  credit  upon  his  native  State. 

During  the  year  General  Timothy  Upham  distinguished  him- 
self as  a  brave  officer  during  an  attempted  attack  on   Montreal. 

British  ships  of  war  remained  off  the  coast  of  the  United 
States  during  the  winter  of  1813  and  18 14,  their  rendezvous 
being  at  the  Bermuda  Islands  and  at  Gardner's  Bay,  at  the  east 
end  of  Long  Island,  while  the  coast  of  eastern  New  England 
was  reached  by  an  easy  run  of  their  cruisers  from  Halifax,  their 
naval  depot  upon  the  coast  of  North  America. 

The  attack  of  the  British,  in  April,  18 14,  upon  the  fleet  of 
vessels  collected  for  safety  in  the  Connecticut  river  greatly 
alarmed  the  people  of  Portsmouth,  and  in  answer  to  their  de- 
mands, companies  under  command  of  Captains  Shackford  and 
Marshall  were  immediately  stationed  in  the  neighborhood.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  month  Admiral  Cochrane,  from  his  rendez- 
vous at  the  Bahamas,  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  the  whole 
coast  of  the  United  States  in  a  state  of  blockade,  thus  including 
New  England,  before  excepted.     Forthwith  British  cruisers  ap- 

•  Life  of  Mason. 


53-  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l8l4 

pcared  in  Massachusetts  Bay  and  captured  and  burned  some 
tliirty  or  forty  coasting  vessels,  producing  great  consternation  in 
Portsmouth.  A  demand  was  made  for  a  force  of  a  thousand  men 
for  the  protection  of  the  town  ;  and  in  May  Governor  Langdon 
detached  eight  companies  of  the  miUtia  and  placed  them  under 
the  command  of  Major  Edward  J.  Long,  of  Portsmouth,  to  de- 
fend the  town  and  harbor.  Among  the  officers  were  Captain 
Andrew  Pierce,  Jr.,  of  Dover,  and  Captain  Bradbury  Bartlett, 
of  Nottingham. 

When  the  legislature  assembled  in  June,  1814,  the  governor 
laid  before  them  his  doings  in  a  special  message  ;  and  a  special 
committee  was  appointed  upon  the  subjects  of  the  detached 
militia  and  the  maritime  defence.  To  this  committee  was  re- 
ferred the  correspondence  of  the  governor  with  the  secretary  of 
war ;  and  the  letters  of  the  latter  were  so  objectionable  on 
account  of  their  omissions  that  the  committee  recommended 
the  disbandment  of  six  of  the  eight  militia  companies  detached 
in  May  and  stationed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua.  This 
was  done  because  the  general  government  did  not  acknowledge 
the  service  done  by  the  militia.  Their  report  was  accepted  and 
acted  upon  by  the  governor.  In  the  meanwhile  the  greatest 
excitement  existed  at  Portsmouth.  They  had  been  for  weeks 
in  the  expectation  of  an  immediate  attack  upon  the  town,  by 
the  British,  whose  cruisers  were  continually  hovering  about  our 
-coast.  Alarms  had  been  frequent  as  to  the  landing  of  the 
enemy,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  had  their  valuables  packed 
ready  for  transportation  into  the  interior.  After  ten  o'clock  in 
the  evening  of  June  21,  messengers  brought  the  intelligence  that 
a  British  force  was  landing  at  Rye  and  were  about  to  march 
upon  Portsmouth.  Alarm  bells  were  rung  and  signal  guns  fired. 
The  militia  companies  turned  out  with  alacrity  and  prepared  for 
the  attack.  Teams  and  people  on  foot,  loaded  with  packages 
and  bundles,  filled  the  streets,  making  with  all  haste  for  the 
country.  Drums  beating,  the  clatter  of  horses'  hoofs  on  the 
pavement,  the  crying  of  children,  the  shrieking  of  women,  made 
the  confusion  Babel-like. 

A  martial  spirit  pervaded  all  ranks,  and  they  glowed  with  ardor 


i8i4] 


WAR    OF     1812. 


503 


to  be  led  to  the  place  of  danger.     In  a  short  time  order  prevailed 
to  some  extent  and  scouts  were  sent  out  to  reconnoitre.   It  proved 


a  false  alarm.  From  Portsmouth  the  alarm  spread  into  the  inte- 
rior, and  great  excitement  existed  throughout  the  State,  not 
allayed  until  the  rei)ort  was  contradicted. 


504  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1814 

In  September  Governor  Gil  man  yielded  to  the  popular  demand 
for  active  preparations  for  defence,  and  detached  twenty-three 
regiments  of  the  militia,  two  days  later  ordering  the  entire  body^ 
infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery,  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to 
march  at  a  moment's  warning.  These  orders  were  sent  by  express 
throughout  the  State,  and  were  obeyed  with  the  greatest  alacrity. 
So  great  was  the  enthusiasm  among  the  people  that  whole  com- 
panies volunteered,  and  a  draft  had  to  be  made  of  those  who 
should  stay  at  home.  Sixteen  companies  of  troops  from  the 
interior  were  joined  to  the  two  regiments  belonging  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  coast,  and  were  all  formed  into  a  brigade  under 
command  of  Brigadier-general  John  Montgomery,  and  of  the 
commander-in-chief.  Governor  Gilman. 

The  detached  troops  were  judiciously  posted  in  case  of  an 
attack.  Forts  Constitution  and  McClary,  and  Forts  Washington 
and  Sullivan  at  the  Narrows,  filled  with  regulars  and  militia,  de- 
fended the  main  entrance  to  the  harbor.  A  battery  at  Little 
Harbor  was  supported  by  two  regiments,  and  artillery  at  the 
South  Ropewalk,  while  a  considerable  force  was  stationed  at  the 
Plains  to  prevent  a  surprise  from  Greenland  or  Rye.  All  the 
forces  could  be  concentrated  on  any  part  of  the  line  of  defence. 
Governor  Gilman  took  the  command  in  person,  and  with  his  staff 
was  watchful  of  every  point  and  most  assiduous  in  his  labors 
*o  prepare  a  vigorous  reception  for  the  enemy.  George  Sullivan, 
!3radbury  Cilley,  Edward  J.  Long,  and  Daniel  Gookin  were  his 
aides. 

A  British  officer,  after  the  war,  told  Colonel  Walbach  that  he 
went  up  the  Piscataqua  and  reconnoitred  the  town,  disguised 
as  a  fisherman,  to  find  out  the  feasibility  of  an  attack  with  a  view 
of  destroying  the  Navy  Yard  and  the  town  of  Portsmouth.  On 
his  returning  to  the  fleet  and  reporting  that  the  town  was  swarm- 
ing wi'^^  soldiers  and  well  defended,  the  British  commander  aban- 
doned the  project.  The  danger  being  past,  the  enemy  having 
withd.-iwn  to  the  southward,  the  main  part  of  the  troops 
were  cMscharged  early  in  October,  leaving  a  small  force  as  a  gar- 
rison Mntil  winter. 

In    the   neighborhood    of  Niagara  Falls,  during  the   summer, 


1 8 14]  WAR  OF    1812.  50J 

Major  John  McNeil  of  Hillsborough  is  credited  with  routing  the 
enemy  at  the  battle  of  Chippewa.  At  Lundy's  Lane  Major 
McNeil's  horse  was  killed  under  him  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  he 
was  severely  wounded  in  the  right  knee,  but  would  not  leave 
the  field.  Here  the  gallant  Colonel  Miller,  of  Temple,  when 
ordered  to  storm  the  British  battery,  replied  "  I'll  try,  Sir,"  and 
in  the  face  of  a  galling  fire,  and  in  a  hand-to-hand  conflict,  cap- 
tured seven  pieces  of  elegant  brass  cannon  and  held  them  against 
several  attempts  of  the  enemy  to  recover  them.  He  was  im- 
mediately promoted  to  the  rank  of  general.  In  the  sortie  from 
Fort  Erie  a  few  weeks  later  General  Miller  again  distinguished 
himself,  as  did  Colonel  Moody  Bedel  and  Lieutenant-colonel 
Upham.  During  the  year  the  Americans  lost  the  city  of  Wash. 
ington,  drove  the  British  forces  from  Lake  Champlain,  and  re- 
pulsed them  at  New  Orleans  early  the  following  year. 

A  treaty  of  peace  had  been  concluded  at  Ghent  in  December, 
18 14,  and  was  announced  by  special  messenger,  while  the  people 
were  rejoicing  over  the  victory  at  New  Orleans  ;  and  the  news 
was  nowhere  more  welcome  than  to  the  inhabitants  of  New 
Hampshire. 

^The  Federalists  carried  all  branches  of  the  State  government 
in  1 8 14  except  the  Council,  in  which  were  three  Republicans. 
They  re-elected  Governor  Gilman  by  a  majority  of  little  over  -n 
hundred  votes  out  of  nearly  forty  thousand  thrown.  The  pres. 
sure  of  war  brought  about  this  result,  many  Republicans  fearing, 
that  if  Mr.  Plumer  was  elected  he  would  call  out  the  militia 
The  Congregational  clergy  of  New  England  took  an  active  part  in 
politics  as  they  had  done  from  the  first,  preaching  political  sermons 
on  Fast  and  Thanksgiving  days,  and  often  on  other  days.  They 
had  been  zealous  Whigs  during  the  Revolution,  and  had  been  as 
zealous  Federalists  during  the  early  days  of  the  Republic,  their 
assistance  being  relied  upon  by  the  leaders  of  that  party.  They 
had  given  great  offence  to  the  Republicans,  many  of  whom  for 
this  reason  withdrew  from  their  societies  and  joined  the  Baptists, 
Methodists,  and  other  sects.  Mr.  Plumer  issued  a  pamphlet 
entitled  "  An  Address  to  the  clergy  of  New  England  on  their 

«  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


506  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1814 

opposition  to  the  Rulers  of  the  United  States,  by  a  Layman." 
The  work  received  a  very  wide  circulation  in  the  newspapers, 
aside  from  three  thousand  copies  of  the  pamphlet,  and  attracted 
much  attention.  Governor  Strong's  letter  inviting  New  Hamp- 
shire to  join  with  Massachusetts  in  sending  delegates  to  the  Hart- 
ford convention  reached  Governor  Gilman  after  the  adjournment 
of  the  legislature,  and  the  governor  could  not  convene  the  legis- 
lature without  the  advice  of  his  Council,  the  majority  of  whom 
were  Republicans  and  opposed  to  the  measure.^  The  Hartford 
convention, which  met  in  December,  1814,  consisted  of  delegates 
appointed  by  the  legislatures  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and 
Rhode  Island,  and  members  appointed  by  two  county  conven- 
tions in  New  Hampshire,  and  one  in  Vermont,  and  conducted 
their  proceedings  with  closed  doors  and  a  mutual  pledge  of  invi- 
olate secrecy  as  to  all  propositions,  debates,  and  proceedings,  ex- 
cept the  final  report.  The  character  of  this,  as  well  as  the  boldly 
announced  views  of  the  promoters  of  the  convention,  left  little 
doubt  that  a  revolution  was  contemplated  unless  their  demands 
were  acceded  to.  Among  their  claims  they  wanted  :  "  no  natur- 
alized citizen  to  hold  any  civil  office  ;  no  president  to  be  elected 
a  second  time;  no  State  to  furnish  two  presidents  in  succession." 
They  provided  for  a  new  convention  to  meet  in  Boston  in  June 
following,  in  case  the  war  should  continue. 

»  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

STR UGGLE  FOR   TOLERA  TION,    1 8 1 5  -  1 8 19. 

The  Federalists  Disband  as  a  Party  —  Dartmouth  College  —  Sep- 
tember Storm  —  Middlesex  Canal  —  Dartmouth  University  —  State 
House  —  Chief  Justice  Richardson  —  Daniel  Webster  —  Baptist 
Denomination  —  President  Monroe's  Visit  —  Governor  Samuel 
Bell  —  Bristol  —  The  Town  House  —  The  Toleration  Act — Colo- 
nial Laws  for  the  Support  of  the  Ministry  and  Public  Schools. 

"pEACE^  ended  nearly  all  causes  of  party  differences  in  the 
State  and  country.  Impressment  ceased  with  the  European 
wars,  as  did  French  decrees  and  British  Orders  in  Council,  non-in- 
tercourse, embargo,  and  the  war  in  America.  During  the  war  the 
Republicans  were  said  to  have  been  under  French  influence, 
the  Federalists  under  British  influence.  One  party  sympathized 
with  England,  the  other  party  admired  Napoleon.  It  was  not 
until  after  the  18 12  war  that  a  truly  American  feeling  obtained 
the  entire  ascendency  in  this  country. 

The  Federal  party  died  with  the  war.  It  had  gone  out  of 
power  in  the  country  in  1801,  and  its  northern  and  southern 
members  had  become  estranged.  It  was  never  a  popular  party. 
The  Hartford  convention  brought  such  odium  upon  it  that  men 
became  ashamed  of  the  name.  At  the  same  time  the  Republi- 
can party  lost  its  identity,  having  "eliminated  some  of  its  worst 
errors,  both  of  theory  and  practice  "  and  "  absorbed  into  itself  much 
of  what  was  best  "  of  the  principles  of  the  Federalists.  "  The  era 
of  good  feeling,  which  commenced  with  Mr.  Monroe's  adminis- 
tration, led  to  a  speedy  oblivion  of  old  feuds  ;  "  and  for  the  eight 
years  which  followed  party  lines  were  obliterated.  When  once 
more  parties  were  formed  under  the  leadership  of  Adams  and 

'  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


508  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1815 

Jackson,  "  many  old  Federal  leaders  were  found  to  be  Demo- 
crats, and  as  many  old  Republicans  took  rank  as  Whigs."  The 
•old  questions  had  been  settled,  and  the  new  ones  of  tariff,  in- 
ternal improvement,  and  the  extension  or  restriction  of  slavery 
arose.  The  old  party  feeling  in  New  Hampshire  did  not  subside 
until  after  the  March  elections  of  1815,  and  Governor  Gilman 
was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  thirty-five  votes,  so  close  and 
<loubtf  ul  was  the  contest.  During  the  summer,  the  trouble  long 
brewing  in  the  affairs  of  Dartmouth  College  resulted  in  an  open 
rupture  between  the  president,  John  Wheelock,  and  the  trustees. 
He  applied  to  the  legislature  for  an  investigating  committee  ; 
they,  without  waiting  for  the  report  of  the  legislative  committee, 
removed  Dr.  Wheelock  from  his  office  of  president  and  trustee, 
and  inaugurated  his  successor,  Rev.  Francis  Brown ;  and  the 
affairs  of  the  college  entered  into  the  politics  of  the  State  in 
the  next  election. ^ 

*  A  destructive  tempest  took  place  on  Saturday,  September  23,  1815,  and  sur- 
passed, in  extent  and  violence,  any  wind  that  has  blown  over  New  England 
■during  the  present  century. 

The  day  was  rainy,  and  the  wind  came  from  an  easterly  quarter,  we  think 
the  south-east.  In  Concord,  although,  from  its  situation  in  the  valley  of  the 
Merrimack,  the  damage  was  less  than  in  more  exposed  places,  yet  here  build- 
ings were  unroofed,  growing  crops  damaged,  and  wood  and  timber-trees  torn 
up  by  the  roots,  which,  at  their  present  valuation,  would  be  worth  many 
thousands  of  dollars.  The  rotten  trunks  of  trees  blown  down  in  that  memo- 
rable gale  have  hardly  yet  disappeared  from  forests  in  this  city;  a  circum- 
stance to  be  accounted  for  in  this  wise  :  sixty  years  ago  wood  was  of  so  little 
value  that  people  neglected  to  remove  these  fallen  trees  until  they  fell  into 
such  decay  as  to  be  worthless. 

^  The  wind  commenced  in  the  morning  at  north-east.  At  about  noon  it 
■changed  to  south-east,  and  for  two  hours  seemed  to  threaten  everything  with 
ruin.  The  sturdy  oak,  the  stately  elm,  and  the  pliant  poplar  were  alike  vic- 
tims to  its  fury.  The  destruction  of  orchards  and  buildings  has  been  great. 
There  is  scarcely  an  apple  left  on  the  standing  trees.  Many  cattle  have  been 
Tvilled  by  falling  trees.  Had  this  violent  wind  occurred  in  the  season  of  vege- 
tation  there  is  no  calculating  its  effects.     It  might  have  produced  a  famine. 

*  Sheds,  trees,  fences,  etc.,  were  blown  down,  buildings  unroofed,  and  limbs 
and  fragments  of  trees  strewed  in  every  direction.  It  continued  with  una- 
(bated  fury  nearly  two  hours. 

I  John  M.  Shirley.  »  Asa  McFarland. 

3  Ne^v  Hampshire  Patriot.  *  ArtzAersi  Cabinet. 


i8i5l 


STRUGGLE  FOR  TOLERATION. 


509 


^In  l8i4the  obstructions  in  the  Merrimack  had  been  sur- 
mounted, so  that  canal  boats,  locking  into  the  river  at  Chelmsford, 
had  been  poled  up  stream  as  far  as  Concord. 

Firewood  and  lumber  always  formed  a  very  considerable  item 


SHOT  OF  LUMBER  COMING  OUT  OF  A  LOCK. 


in  the  business  of  the  canal.  The  navy  yard  at  Charlestown 
and  the  ship  yards  on  the  Mystic  for  many  years  relied  upon  the 
canal  for  the  greater  part  of  the  timber  used  in   shipbuilding  ; 


PUSHING  AGAINST  THE  CURRENT. 

and  work  was  sometimes  seriously  retarded  by  low  water  in  the 
Merrimack,  which  interfered  with  transportation.  The  supply  of 
oak  and  pine  about  Lake  Winnipiseogee,  and  along  the  Merri- 
mack and  its  tributaries,  was  thought  to  be  practically  inexhaus- 

•  General  George  Stark. 


5IO  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1816 

tible.  In  the  opinion  of  Daniel  Webster,  the  value  of  this  tim- 
ber had  been  increased  ^5,000,000  by  the  canal.  Granite  from 
Tyngsborough,  and  agricultural  products  from  a  great  extent  of 
fertile  country,  found  their  way  along  this  channel  to  Boston  ; 
while  the  return  boats  supplied  taverns  and  country  stores  with 
their  annual  stock  of  goods.  The  receipts  from  tolls,  rents,  etc., 
were  steadily  increasing,  amounting  in  18 12  to  ;^  12,600,  and  in 
1816  to  $32,600. 

Yet,  valuable,  useful,  and  productive  as  the  canal  had  proved 
itself,  it  had  lost  the  confidence  of  the  public,  and,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  of  the  proprietors  themselves.  The  reason  for  this 
state  of  sentiment  can  easily  be  shown.  The  general  depression 
of  business  on  account  of  the  embargo  and  the  war  of  18 12  had 
its  effect  upon  the  canal.  In  the  deaths  of  Governor  Sullivan 
and  Colonel  Baldwin,  in  the  same  year,  1808,  the  enterprise  was' 
deprived  of  the  wise  and  energetic  counsellors  to  whom  it  owed 
its  existence. 

The  aqueducts  and  most  of  the  locks,  being  built  of  wood, 
required  large  sums  for  annual  repairs ;  the  expenses  arising 
from  imperfections  in  the  banks,  and  from  the  erection  of  toll- 
houses and  public-houses  for  the  accommodation  of  the  boatmen, 
were  considerable ;  but  the  heaviest  expenses  were  incurred  in 
opening  the  Merrimack  for  navigation.  From  Concord  to 
the  head  of  the  canal  the  river  has  a  fall  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-three  feet,  necessitating  various  locks  and  canals.  The 
Middlesex  Canal  Corporation  contributed  to  the  building  of  the 
Wiccasee  locks  and  canals,  $12,000;  Union  locks  and  canals, 
$49,932  ;  Hookset  canal,  $6,750;  Bow  canal  and  locks,  $14,115. 

1  Before  1816  the  quarrel  in  the  management  of  Dartmouth 
College  had  been  between  Federalists  and  Congregationalists, 
although  Dr.  Wheelock  leaned  towards  the  Presbyterians  in  his 
sympathies.  In  the  spring  elections  of  18 16  Mr.  Plumer  received 
not  only  the  support  of  the  Republicans,  but  of  the  Federalists 
who  were  friends  of  Dr.  Wheelock,  and  was  elected  governor, 
receiving  over  twenty  thousand  votes,  while  his  opponent,  James 
Sheafe  of  Portsmouth,  received  more  than  two  thousand  less. 

'  John  M.  Shirley. 


l8l6]  STKUCGLK    FOK    TOLKK ATION.  5II 

Sheafe  had  been  a  Tory,  and  was  imprisoned  during  the  Revohi- 
tion,  but  had  come  into  popular  favor  again,  and  at  this  time  was 
the  richest  man  in  the  State.  He  had  been  elected  a  Uni-ted 
States  senator  in  1802  ;  Mr.  Plumer  having  been  elected  to  fill 
out  his  unexpired  term.  The  interest  felt  in  politics  then  is 
known  from  the  fact  that  the  votes  numbered  one  in  six  of  the 
inhabitants. 

Mr.  Webster  favored  the  design  of  creating  a  "  University  of 
New  Hampshire,"  to  be  located  at  Concord,  to  settle  the  college 
quarrel.  Governor  Plumer  proposed  in  his  message  a  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  college,  thus  placing  it  under  legislative  control  —  a 
proposition  which  met  with  favor  with  the  great  Republican  lead- 
ers of  the  country  and  was  favorably  acted  upon  by  the  legislature. 
His  recommendation  to  remit  ta.xes  on  manufacturing  establish- 
ments, on  being  adopted,  led  to  a  large  increase  of  business  in  the 
State.  His  idea  of  establishing  Congressional  districts  was  after- 
wards put  in  force.  The  legislature  complied  with  his  wishes  and 
freely  granted  charters  to  all  religious  denominations  ;  and  re- 
duced official  salaries. 

^The  most  important  measure  undertaken  was  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  Courts.  The  Judiciary  Acts  of  1813,  being  con- 
sidered unconstitutional  by  the  Republican  majority  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  were  promptly  repealed,  and  the  new  judges,  de  facto 
if  not  dejure,  were  addressed  out  of  office,  and  the  same  course  was 
taken  as  to  the  old  judges,  leaving  the  Commonwealth  without  a 
judiciary.  A  similar  course  in  regard  to  the  federal  sheriffs  was 
proposed,  but  not  acted  upon.  The  appointment  of  seventeen 
new  judges  after  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature  was  a  diffi- 
cult task,  as  the  governor  did  not  wish  the  court  to  be  wholly 
partisan,  but  only  one  of  his  appointments  offered  to  Federalists 
was  accepted.  William  M.  Richardson  was  appointed  chief  jus- 
tice, although  the  office  was  offered  to  Jeremiah  Mason,  the  lead- 
ing lawyer  in  the  State,  and  a  firm  Federalist.  Levi  Woodbury, 
who  was  then  secretary  of  state  and  boarding  with  the  governor 
at  the  house  of  Isaac  Hill,  was  appointed  a  judge  in  place  of 
George  B.  Upham,  who  refused  the  office  from  political  motives.' 

>  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


5t2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1816 

Samuel  Bell  was  the  other  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  ap- 
pointed by  the  governor. 

A  little  entry  in  Governor  Plumer's  private  diary  under  date 
July  4,  1 8 16,  "  Fixed  the  site  for  the  State  House,"  is  thought  to 
be  the  only  record  of  that  important  event.  In  his  address 
to  the  legislature  at  an  adjourned  meeting  in  November  he  ad- 
verted to  it  and  aroused  opposition  to  himself  in  his  own  party. 

"The  location  of  the  new  State  House,  whether  north  or  south 
of  a  given  line,  on  the  main  street  in  Concord,  was  a  question 
in  which  it  might  have  been  thought  few  would  take  much  in- 
t^est,  except  the  dwellers  on  that  street.  Yet  it  excited  a 
furious  contest,  not  only  in  the  town,  but  among  the  members 
of  the  legislature  and  through  the  State.  As  the  spot  selected 
by  the  governor  and  Council  was  at  a  considerable  distance 
south  of  the  old  State  House,  the  people  at  the  North  End, 
with  whom  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  legislature  had 
hitkerto  boarded,  were  likely,  by  the  new  location,  to  lose 
thenceforth  this  monopoly.  The  clamor  which  they  raised  was 
in  proportion  to  their  supposed  interest  in  the  question ;  and  it 
was.  soon  found  that  many  of  the  members  were  deeply  infected 
with  the  feelings  and  the  prejudices  of  their  landlords  on  this 
subject.  'Representatives  of  their  respective  boarding-houses 
rather  than  of  the  State,'  as  a  member  expressed  it.  The  spot 
selected  was  denounced  as  a  quagmire  and  a  frog  pond."  ^  The 
governor  and  Council  were  sustained  by  the  legislature,  how- 
ever, and  it  was  afterwards  admitted  that  no  better  spot  could 
have  been  selected. 

By  Act  of  the  legislature  Dartmouth  College  was  changed  to 
Dartmouth  University,  the  number  of  trustees  was  increased 
from  twelve  to  twenty-one,  and  a  board  of  twenty-five  overseers 
was.  created.  Both  political  parties  and  all  prominent  religious 
sects  were  represented  on  these  boards.  The  Act  provided  for 
perfect  freedom  of  religious  opinions  among  the  officers  and 
students  of  the  university,  and  was  part  of  the  plan  to  bring 
the  institution  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  State.^  The  old 
board  of  trustees  resisted  this  Act,  and,  appeal  being  made  to 

*  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


J 


i8i6] 


STRUGGLE    FOR    TOLERATION. 


5^3 


the  courts,  it  was  decided  that  the  trustees  must  yield.  The 
matter,  however,  was  finally  carried  before  the  Supreme  Caurt 
of  the  United  States,  where  the  old  board  of  trustees  were  sus- 


ST/^TE  HOUSE    CONCORD. 


tained,  and  where  it  was  practically  ruled  that  a  legislature 
could  not  overturn  the  charter  granted  by  the  king — a  tri- 
umph for  the  trustees,  but,  in  the  minds  of  many,  a  serious  blow 


514  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1816 

to  Dartmouth  College,  which  missed  its  opportunity  to  become 
a  great  university  under  the  auspices  of  the  Commonwealth. 
Timothy  Farrar.  and  afterwards  John  M.  Shirley,  published  vol- 
umes on  this  controversy  easily  accessible,  while  numberless 
pamphlets  were  issued  on  the  same  subject. 

At  the  September  term  of  the  court.  1817,  the  case  of  Dart- 
mouth College  was  tried  before  Chief  Justice  Richardson  and 
Judge  Bell  at  Exeter.  Mason,  Smith,  and  Webster  argued  the 
cause  for  the  trustees,  Sullivan  and  Bartle*  lor  the  State.  "  These 
were  all  members  of  the  Rockingham  bar,  when  it  was  literally 
'  an  arena  of  giants.'  Of  this  bar  Judge  Story  said  that  it  had 
'vast  law  learning  and  prodigious  intellectual  power.'"  ^  Mason, 
at  this  time  fifty  years  old,  was  from  Connecticut,  but  read  law 
and  commenced  practice  in  Vermont.  "  He  was  six  feet  seven 
inches  in  height,  and  proportionately  large  in  other  respects. 
His  intellectual  exceeded  his  physical  stature.  Webster,  with  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  man,  deliberately  wrote  down  that  as 
a  lawyer,  as  a  jurist,  no  man  in  the  Union  equalled  Mason,  and 
but  one  approached  him."  ^  Mason  loved  his  family  and  the  law  : 
for  the  sake  of  the  former  he  resigned  his  position  as  United 
States  senator.  He  was  denied  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  ora- 
tor, but  this  great  man  "on  his  feet  in  the  court  room  was  seem- 
ingly an  inspired  Euclid."  ^ 

Smith,  then  fifty-eight  years  old,  was  "  possessed  of  great  and 
accurate  learning,  and  of  great  natural  abilities,  but,  like  Mason, 
he  was  no  orator,"  ^ 

Webster,  at  thirty-five,  the  "  Great  Black  Giant  of  the  East," 
was  in  full  possession  of  his  great  powers. 

Sullivan,  forty-three  years  of  age,  was  from  a  race  of  soldiers,  ora- 
tors, and  lawyers.  He  was  for  many  years  attorney-general,  as 
his  father  was  before  him  and  his  son  after  him.  He  was  a  classi- 
cal scholar,  "  well  read  in  the  law ;  an  excellent  special  pleader  ; 
swift  to  perceive,  prompt  to  act,  and  full  of  resources.  He 
relied  too  little  on  his  preparation,  and  too  much  upon  his  ora- 
tory, his  power  of  illustration  and  argument.  But  neither  the 
court,  the  jury,  nor  the  people  ever  grew  weary  of  listening  to 

»  John   M.    Shirlf). 


l8l6]  STRUGGLE  FOR  TOLERATION.  515 

his  silver  tones  or  his  arguments,  that  fell  like  music  on  the 
ear.    '■ 

Bartlett  was  from  a  family  "  eminent  for  its  physicians, 
preachers,  and  jurists."  He  was  at  thirty-one  "indefatigable  in 
preparation,  eloquent  in  the  highest  sense,  ready,  witty,  and  a 
popular  idol."  ^ 

Webster,  who  had  the  closing  argument,  so  wrought  upon  the 
court  that  it  adjourned  in  tears,  and  tradition  affirms  that  it  was 
the  greatest  effort  of  his  life.  The  counsel  for  the  State  were 
overmatched,  but  they  won  their  case. 

"  Chief  Justice  Richardson  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  Massachusetts  in  1812,  and  was  subse- 
quently re-elected ;  but,  being  averse  to  political  life,  resigned 
and  removed  to  Portsmouth,  in  his  native  State,  in  18 14.  From 
his  appointment,  in  18 16,  till  his  death,  in  1838,  he  was  chief 
justice  of  the  highest  court.  Physically  he  was  as  imposing  as 
he  was  great  intellectually.  Like  Marshall's,  his  eyes  were  black, 
piercing,  and  brilliant ;  "  his  hair  was  black  as  a  raven's  wing. 
He  had  refined  and  simple  tastes  ;  he  had  a  full,  high,  and  broad 
forehead.  "  In  learning  and  industry  he  ranked  with  Chief 
Justice  Parsons.  He  was  a  great  and  honest  judge."  He  did 
not  owe  his  eminence  to  subtility  in  judicial  fence.  "His  reas- 
oning and  his  heart  alike  were  as  open  and  ingenuous  as  the  light 
of  day.  He  was  reverenced  by  the  people  of  the  State  as  no 
other  judge  ever  was."  ^ 

Judge  Bell,  father  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Bell,  belonged  to 
a.  family  famous  for  their  talent.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Dart- 
mouth College,  and  had  been  a  trustee.  He  was  judge  until  he 
was  elected  governor  in  18 19,  and  afterwards  for  twelve  years  a 
United  States  senator.  "  He  was  a  man  of  "immense  erudition 
and  great  business  capacity,  a  thorough  lawyer,  and  possessed 
of  great  moral  courage."  ^ 

Judge  Woodbury  was  some  years  less  than  thirty  at  the  time 
of  his  appointment.  He  succeeded  Governor  Bell  as  chief  mag- 
istrate. He  was  afterwards  United  States  senator,  secretary  of 
the  navy,  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  one  of  the  justices  of  the 

'  John  M.  Sliirley. 


5l6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1816 

Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  from  1845  until  his  death 
in  1 85 1.  He  was  a  possible  and  very  probable  candidate  for  the 
presidency. 

According  to  Jeremiah  Mason,  "three  more  men  so  well  qual- 
ified as  the  present  judges,  and  who  would  accept  the  office, 
could  not  be  found  in  the  State."  ^ 

The  trustees  of  the  college  had  for  a  considerable  time  pur- 
sued a  course  calculated  to  render  them  unpopular  with  a  ma- 
jority of  the  people.  Possessing,  under  their  charter  from  the 
King,  the  power  of  removing  members  of  their  board  and  ap- 
pointing their  own  successors,  "  they  had  confided  the  exclusive 
control  of  an  institution  designed  for  the  common  benefit  to 
members  of  a  single  religious  sect  and  a  single  religious  party. 
Funds  bequeathed  to  the  college  for  the  establishment  of  a  pro- 
fessorship had  been  applied  to  purposes  partaking  of  a  sectarian 
character.  John  Wheelock,  himself  a  liberal  benefactor  of  the 
college,  and  the  son  of  its  illustrious  founder,  had  been  removed 
by  a  summary  exercise  of  the  powers  of  the  trustees."  ^ 

"  Mr.  Mason  felt  the  deepest  interest  in  the  Dartmouth 
College  case,  and  argued  it  with  all  the  energy  of  conviction. 
In  his  view  it  was  not  simply  a  controversy  between  two  corpo- 
rations as  to  which  was  entitled  to  certain  rights  and  property, 
but  the  question  went  deeper  than  this.  It  went  deeper  than 
the  relations  between  the  States  and  the  general  government, 
even  to  the  foundations  of  civil  society  itself.  He  believed  the 
Act  of  the  legislature  of  New  Hampshire  to  be  a  piece  of  legis- 
lative usurpation,  and  that  the  State  had  no  more  right  to  trans- 
fer the  property  of  Dartmouth  College  to  another  corporation 
than  they  would  have  to  take  his  house  from  him  without  paying 
for  it,  and  give  it  to  another  man." 

^  Dartmouth  College  had,  in  its  earlier  years,  a  somewhat  re- 
markable and  romantic  history.  Its  founder,  Eleazer  Wheelock, 
was  no  ordinary  man.  He  was  an  eminent  preacher,  a  man  of 
broad  plans,  of  high  enthusiasm,  of  indefatigable  toil,  and  of 
great  executive  ability.     Everyone  of  these  qualities  was  put  to 

'John  M.   Shirley.  *  Barstow's  History  of  New  Hampshire. 

3  Rev.  S.  C.  Bartlett,  D.  D,,  LL.  D. 


J 


l8l6]  STRUGGLE  FOR  TOLERATIOX.  517 

the  severest  test  in  his  arduous  enterprise.  His  original  concep- 
tion of  an  Indian  school  exhibited  well  the  wisdom  of  his  judg- 
ment, which  anticipated  the  results  of  the  latest  experience. 
For  his  plan  was  to  train  Indian  youth  of  both  sexes,  so  sepa- 
rated from  all  their  savage  environments  as  to  mould  them  fully 
into  the  habits  of  Christian  civilization,  and  send  them  back  to 
their  own  country,  in  company  with  English  young  men  also 
educated  by  him  as  missionaries,  that  their  united  efforts  might 
raise  the  savage  tribes  "to  the  same  habits  of  life."  There  has 
been  little  advance  upon  the  wisdom  of  the  plan. 

When  the  Indian  school  expanded  into  a  college,  and  caused 
its  transfer  to  another  locality,  the  labor  and  care  thrown  upon 
him  were  enormous  :  an  extended  and  incessant  correspondence  at 
home  and  abroad,  the  necessity  of  devising  ways  and  means  for 
every  separate  part  of  the  enterprise,  material  and  literary,  an 
exhausting  attention  to  all  the  minutiae  of  business,  the  struggle 
of  a  settlement  in  an  unbroken  forest,  remote  from  supplies,  and, 
at  times,  the  oppression  of  debt. 

From  Lebanon,  Conn.,  in  August,  1770,  he  pushed  his  way  to 
Hanover,  to  make  ready.  In  a  short  time  he  was  followed  by 
a  part  of  his  family,  who  with  difficulty  made  their  way  over  the 
wretched  roads  in  "a  coach,"  the  gift  of  a  London  friend,  and  by 
two  pupils  who  came  on  foot.  This  company  entered  a  dense 
pine  forest,  containing  "  two  or  three  log  huts,"  and  no  house  on 
that  side  of  the  river  within  two  miles.  They  felled  six  acres 
of  forest,  and  the  fallen  trees  "  in  all  directions  covered  the 
ground  to  about  the  height  of  five  feet."  One  of  those  trees, 
says  Dr.  David  McClure,  who  avers  that  he  measured  it,  reached 
the  almost  incredible  length  of  "  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet, 
from  the  butt  to  the  top  ;"  and."  the  sun  was  invisible  by  reason 
of  the  trees  till  it  had  risen  many  degrees  above  the  horizon." 
Many  of  the  company  at  first  "slept  on  the  ground  with  boughs 
of  trees  for  beds,  sheltered  by  a  few  boards  raised  over  them  on 
poles."  Here  at  once  began  the  labor  of  clearing  the  ground, 
of  erecting  buildings,  of  digging  wells  (the  first  attempt  unsuc- 
cessful), and  even  of  erecting  a  saw-mill  and  a  grist-mill.  These 
mills  failed  to  serve  any  valuable  purpose,  and  "he  was  obliged 


5l8    .  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1816 

to  send  a  great  distance  into  Massacliusetts  and  Connecticut 
for  necessary  provisions."  The  process  was  often  attended  with 
-unavoidable  delays,  "  the  supplies  were  scanty,  and  they  sub- 
mitted to  coarse  fare."  Dr.  Wheelock  sometimes  conducted 
morning  and  evening  prayers  in  the  open  air.  He  was  cheered 
in  the  first  hard  winter  by  a  religious  revival.  The  snow  that 
lay  "four  feet  deep"  did  not  chill  out  the  warmth  of  poetic  fire. 
We  have  an  interesting  record  of  that  early  time  in  ■  a  consider- 
able poem  written  by  Levi  Frisbie,  then  a  senior  in  college  pre- 
paring for  missionary  work.     The  following  is  an  extract :  — 

"  For  now  the  king  of  day,  at  distance  far, 
In  southern  signs  drove  his  refulgent  car, 
On  northern  climates  beamed  a  shorter  day, 
And  shot  obliquely  his  diminished  ray. 
Grim  winter,  frowning  from  tlie  glistening  Bear, 
Unbarred  his  magazines  of  nitrous  air. 
And,  clad  in  icy  mail,  of  rigid  form, 
Menac'd  dark,  dismal  days  of  dreadful  storm. 
Forlorn  thus  youthful  Dartmouth  trembling  stood, 
Surrounded  with  inhospitable  wood  ; 
No  silken  furs  on  her  soft  limbs  to  spread, 
No  dome  to  screen  her  fair,  defenceless  head. 
On  every  side  she  cast  her  wishful  eyes. 
Then  humbly  raised  them  to  the  pitying  skies. 
Thence  grace  divine  beheld  her  tender  care. 
And  bowed  her  ear  propitious  to  the  prayer. 
Soon  changed  the  scene;  the  prospect  shone  more  fair; 
Joy  lights  all  faces  with  a  cheerful  air; 
The  buildings  rise,  the  work  appears  alive, 
Pale  fear  expires,  and  languid  hopes  revive, 
Grim  winter's  surly  blasts  forbear  to  blow, 
And  heaven  locked  up  her  magazines  of  snow." 

The  poem,  which  could  not  have  been  written  later  than  the 
September  following  this  "  grim  winter,"  concludes  thus  :  — 

"Thus  Dartmouth,  happy  in  her  sylvan  seat. 
Drinks  the  pure  pleasures  of  her  fair  retreat. 
Her  songs  of  praise  in  notes  melodious  rise 
Like  clouds  of  incense  to  the  listening  skies; 
*  Her  God  protects  her  with  paternal  care 

From  ills  destructive,  and  each  fatal  snare; 

And  may  He  still  protect,  and  she  adore 

Till  heaven,  and  earth,  and  time,  shall  be  no  more."  4^ 


I8l6]  STRUGGLE    FOR    T(  )I.KKAJ  ION.  519 

The  eclat  attending-  Dr.  Wheelock's  Indian  school,  both  at 
home  and  in  England,  where  George  III.  had  been  a  donor  of 
two  hundred  pounds,  created  a  very  considerable  competition 
concerning  its  location,  when  removed  from  Connecticut. 
Among  the  comj^jcting  places  were  Albany,  N.  Y.  ;  Pittsfield 
and  Stockbridge,  Mass.  ;  Hebron  and  Norwich,  Conn.,  and  many 
others.  Hanover  was  chosen  for  several  reasons,  among  which 
api^ear  to  have  been  the  feasibility  of  securing  large  tracts  of 
land  ;  its  proximity  to  the  Indian  tribes  ;  the  desirableness  of 
furnishing  ministers  to  the  new  settlement  in  the  Connecticut 
valley,  to  which  Hanover  was  regarded  as  somewhat  "central," 
and  "  most  convenient  for  transportation  up  and  down  the  river." 
Perhajjs  quite  as  influential  as  any  other  reason  was  the  power- 
ful aid  and  influence  of  John  Wentworth,  royal  governor  of  New 
Hampshire.  The  first  commencement  was  attended  by  the  gov- 
ernor. At  the  second  commencement,  also,  he  was  accompanied, 
or  expected  to  be,  by  the  speaker  and  several  members  of  the 
assembly,  his  secretary,  the  high  sheriff  of  Hillsborough  county, 
the  collector  of  Salem,  Rev.  Dr.  Langdon,  and  various  other 
prominent  persons. 

The  war  of  the  Revolution  made  havoc  not  only  with  Wheel- 
ock's plans  for  the  Indian  tribes,  but  with  the  financial  condition 
of  the  college.  By  a  wise  foresight,  when  the  charter  was  pro- 
cured from  the  King,  it  had  been  made  the  charter,  not  of  an  Indian 
school  alone,  but  of  a  college,  and  as  a  college  it  has  done  its  great 
work.  Its  founder  died,  worn  out  with  cares  and  labors,  within 
nine  years  of  its  establishment,  but  he  had  made  it  a  power  in  the 
land.  For  the  first  thirty  years  more  than  three  quarters  of  its 
students  came  from  outside  New  Hampshire.  They  were  from 
the  whole  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  from  Massachusetts,  Maine, 
Vermont,  New  York.  Not  less  than  nine  or  ten  younger  col- 
leges have  since  been  established  within  the  region  from  which 
Dartmouth  then  drew  its  students. 

It  would  take  a  small  volume  to  trace  out  the  various  sources 
of  interest  connected  with  the  college  from  its  romantic  origin 
to  the  present  time,  or  to  do  justice  to  its  remarkable  work.  Of 
nearly  five  thousand  graduates,  over  two  thousand  are  now  living. 


520  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1816 

These  men  have  come  from  all  parts  of  tlie  country,  and  have  done  their 
A\ork  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  world  and  in  every  form  of  useful  activity. 
While  some  nine  hundred  of  them  as  ministers  have  preached  the  Gospel  at 
Home,  a  goodly  number,  among  them  Goodell,  Poor,  and  Temple,  have  car- 
ried it  abroad,  to  Africa,  China,  Japan,  Turkey.  India,  Syria,  Persia,  the 
islands  of  the  ocean,  and  the  Indians  of  North  America.  They  have  aided  in 
translating  the  Bible  into  the  Armeno-Turkish,  the  Hawaiian,  and  the  Japan- 
ese languages.  Six  of  them  have  been  members  of  the  Cabinet  of  the  United 
States,  six  have  represented  the  government  at  foreign  courts,  and  a  goodly 
number  have  been  foreign  consuls.  Two  of  them  have  sat  on  the  supreme 
bench  of  the  United  States  —  one  as  chief  justice  —  and  many  others  (26)  have 
been  its  district  judges  and  district  attorneys.  The  college  has  graduated 
fortj'-seven  judges  of  State  supreme  courts  (including  twenty  chief  justices), 
more  than  sixty  judges  of  superior,  county,  and  common  pleas  courts,  besides 
a  great  number  of  probate  and  police  judges,  one  major-general  of  the  United 
States  army,  a  superintendent  of  West  Point,  thirteen  brigadier-generals, 
thirteen  colonels,  thirteen  lieutenant-colonels,  twelve  majors,  two  adjutants, 
thirty-three  captains,  and  numerous  other  commissioned  officers  (lieuten- 
ants, surgeons,  chaplains)  of  United  States  volunteers.  Thirty-two  have 
been  presidents,  and  a  hundred  and  eighty  professors,  of  colleges  and  profes- 
sional schools;  twenty-three  have  been  governors  of  States  and  Territories,  at 
least  sixty-five  representatives  and  sixteen  senators  in  Congress,  thirty-one 
speakers  of  State  legislatures,  and  eighteen  presidents  of  State  Senates. 

The  graduates  of  the  college  have  been  greatly  distinguished  in  the  legal 
profession,  and  perhaps  even  more  so  in  educational  work.  The  late  Dr.  T. 
H.  Taylor  declared  that  in  the  latter  respect  the  record  of  Dartmouth  was,  in 
proportion  to  her  numbers,  superior  to  that  of  any  other  college  in  the 
country.  Her  teachers  and  superintendents  have  been  dispersed  through  the 
land,  and  one  of  her  graduates  was  at  the  head  of  the  Bureau  of  Education, 
while  the  two  oldest  and  best  fitting-schools  of  New  England  (Andover  and 
Exeter)  have  been  in  charge  of  Dartmouth  men. 

The  indebtedness  of  New  Hampshire  to  its  one  ancient  college  has  never 
been  half  told  nor  understood.  About  nineteen  hundred  natives  of  the  State 
have  graduated  at  the  college,  besides  a  great  number  who  pursued  part  of  the 
course  of  study.  Far  the  greater  part  of  them  have  been  young  men  of  mod- 
erate and  even  straitened  circumstances,  and  probably  a  majority  have  been 
farmers'  sons.  They  have  come  from  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  towns, 
which  contain  thirteen-fourteenths  of  the  population  of  the  State,  and  have 
been  trained  for  spheres  of  usefulness,  often  very  eminent.  Meanwhile  the 
college  has  furnished  teachers  for  the  academies  and  high  schools  and  for  the 
district  schools  through  every  corner  of  the  State  for  a  hundred  years.  A 
great  multitude  of  joung  persons,  who  never  saw  the  inside  of  the  college, 
have  been  taught,  as  was  Horace  Greeley  and  Zachariah  Chandler,  by  Dart- 
mouth students.  Who  has  not  felt  their  stimulating  influence  in  the  school, 
and  the  pulpit,  at  the  bar,  and  on  the  bench,  in  the  medical  profession,  and 
through  the  press.^     We  can  trace  more  than  two  hundred  atul  twenty  of  them 


iSl/]  STRUGGLE    FOR    TOLERATIOiN.  521 

as  New  Hampshire  pastors  (without  reclioning  many  evangelists)  of  all  the 
several  Protestant  denominations,  and  over  three  hundred  and  thirty  teachers 
of  academies  and  high  schools. 

Probably  more  than  four  thousand  winter  schools  have  been  taught  b\' 
them.  During  fifty  years  past  the  college  has  furnished  the  State  eighteen 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  eleven  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and 
nine  governors.  Five  of  the  seven  present  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  are 
of  the  number. 

But  the  men  of  distinction  are  not,  after  all,  the  chief  glory  of  the  institu- 
tion. The  highest  work  of  the  college  consists  in  its  having  trained  a  great 
host  of  men  of  nobly  balanced  characters  and  clear-cut  intellects  for  quiet, 
steadv,  powerful  usefulness  in  every  department  of  life  and  labor — in  this 
State,  in  the  country,  in  the  world.  But  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  its 
chief  benefits,  direct  and  indirect,  have  been  conferred  upon  the  rural  popu- 
lation of  New  Hampshire.  It  has  taken  a  great  company  of  farmers'  sons, 
like  the  Chases  and  the  Websters,  and  other  poor  boys,  and  while  raising 
them  to  power  and  eminence,  has  meanwhile  sent  them  forth  into  the  acade- 
mies and  district  schools  in  every  portion  of  the  State  to  teach  the  boys  that 
could  not  go  to  college,  and  give  them,  too,  the  teaching  of  the  ablest  men 
the  country  has  produced.  For  more  than  a  century  Dartmouth  College  has 
thus  been  the  normal  school  of  New  Hampshire;  and  no  region  in  the  world, 
probably,  can  point  to  a  more  remarkable  set  of  schoolmasters  than  she  has 
thus  furnished  to  the  population. 

In  this  sketch  there  has  not  been  room  to  say  anything  of  the  brilliant  his- 
tory of  the  Dartmouth  Medical  School,  with  its  1389  graduates,  who  have  not 
only  filled  the  State  with  the  beneficent  fruits  of  their  careful  training,  but 
have  honored  their  noble  profession  everywhere ;  of  the  excellent  record  of 
the  Chandler  Scientific  School,  founded  for  "  instruction  in  the  practical  and 
useful  arts  of  life,"  with  its  requisites,  its  aim,  and  its  sphere  all  so  carefully 
defined  by  the  will  of  its  founder,  to  do  a  most  useful  work,  as  to  hold  it  un- 
alterably to  its  specific  function  ;  of  the  Thayer  School  of  Civil  Engineering, 
admirably  devised  by  perhaps  the  ablest  superintendent  that  West  Point  has 
had,  of  which  the  graduates,  though  few  in  number  hitherto,  are  making  an 
enviable  mark;  nor  of  the  Agricultural  College  adjacent,  with  its  excellent 
course  of  purely  English  education.     They  are  all  doing  their  work  well. 

The  election.s  of  1817  were  decided  on  personal  issues.  Gov, 
ernor  Plumer  was  opposed  by  members  of  his  own  party  ;  but 
when  the  votes  were  counted  it  was  found  that  he  had  a  major- 
ity of  over  three  thousand  votes.  Mason  was  the  candidate  of 
the  Federalists.  In  June  the  new  State  House  was  approaching 
completion.  Mary  Dyer,  the  ex-Shakeress,  commenced  at  the 
June  session  of  the  legislature  her  warfare  with  the  society, 
which  was  destined  to  continue,  with  memorials  to  the  legisla- 
ture  and  publications  against  them,  for  more   than  thirty-five 


522  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1817 

years.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  energy  and  decision  of  char- 
acter, whose  "  sharp  tongue  and  shrewd  wit  were  more  than  a 
match  for  Joseph  (Dyer)  and  his  brethren."  ^ 

The  adjournment  of  the  legislature  was  followed  by  President 
Monroe's  visit  to  New  Hampshire  on  his  tour  through  the  North- 
ern States.  He  received  everywhere  the  most  flattering  atten- 
tions from  all  classes.  It  was  the  first  visit  of  a  Southern  presi- 
dent to  New  England  after  Washington's  tour. 

The  party  were  very  favorably  impressed  with  the  towns  and 
villages  on  the  route  from  Portsmouth  to  Concord,  and  with  their 
reception;  and  no  doubt  the  passage  of  the  imposing  coach  of 
state  was  long  remembered  by  the  inhabitants  as  a  notable  event- 
Quite  different  was  the  journey  of  Governor  William  Plumer,. 
who  rode  on  horseback  to  and  from  his  Epping  home  and 
Concord. 

Dr.  Abel  Blanchard  died  in  October,  1817,  leaving  the  most  of 
his  property  for  the  foundation  and  maintenance  of  a  seminary 
of  learning  —  Pembroke  Academy. 

The  new  academy  building  was  dedicated  to  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation in  May,  18 19  ;  the  next  day  the  school  was  opened  under 
the  care  of  Rev.  A.  W.  Burnham,  princi})al,  and  the  institution 
was  successfully  launched  on  its  career  of  usefulness. 

^  "  If  one  goes  back  to  the  year  1755,  he  comes  to  the  time  from  which  to  date 
the  commencement  of  the  history  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  New  Hamp. 
shire.  In  that  year  the  first  Baptist  c'lurch  now  in  existence  in  the  State  was 
formed  in  the  town  of  Newton,  the  county  of  Rockingham.  It  was  a  time 
when  tlie  '  standing  order,'  as  i'  \\as  termed,  was  the  dominant  religious 
power  witiiin  our  borders,  and  \j  whose  mandates  all  were  expected  to  render 
obedience.  In  this  organizr.ion  one  finds  an  illustration  of  the  union  of 
church  and  state.  The  town,  in  connection  with  the  church,  called  and 
settled  the  minister,  paid  his  salary  in  money  or  in  those  things  that  he 
needed  to 'supply  his  wants,  built  the  meeting-house  and  the  parsonage,  levied 
the  rates  upon  the  inhabitants,  and  all  were  expected  to  pay  or  suffer  the 
penalty  prescribed  by  law.  The  Baptists  in  the  State,  in  the  last  century, 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  battle  for  religious  toleration,  as  the  records  of  the 
church  in  Newton  and  other  churches  amply  attest. 

"  Near  the  middle  of  the  eighteentli  century,  a  remarkable  man  came  from 
England  to  our  country,  and  exerted  a  great  influence  in  the  religious  world. 
It  was  George  Whitefield,  the  friend  and  contemporary  of  John  Wesley.     One 
»  William  Plumer,  Jr.  2  How.ird  M.  Cooke. 


l8l7]  STRUGGLE  FOR  TOLERATION.  523 

of  the  important  results  that  followed  his  labors  in  New  England  was  the 
breaking  down,  in  a  degree,  of  tiie  power  of  the  standing  order;  and  this 
result  contributed  indirectly  to  the  spread  of  Baptist  sentiments  and  the  in- 
crease of  Baptist  churches ;  so  that  while  in  1739,  one  hundred  years  from  the 
organization  of  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  there  were  but 
thirty-eight  churches  of  the  faith  in  the  land,  in  17S3,  or  in  less  than  half  a 
century,  there  were  three  hundred  and  nine. 

"The  brilliant  example  and  great  success  of  Whitefield  and  his  followers 
had  taught  the  utility  of  the  itinerant  system  of  preaching.  In  our  own  State, 
several  Baptist  ministers,  at  nearly  the  same  time,  entered  its  borders,  at  dif- 
ferent points,  and  commenced  their  labors.  Among  the  more  prominent  and 
successful  of  these  was  Rev.  Ilezekiah  Smith,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in 
Haveriiill,  Mass.  He  made  missionary  tours  in  various  directions,  accom- 
panied by  some  of  the  members  of  his  church.  In  the  course  of  his  journey- 
ings,  Mr.  Smith  visited  the  town  of  Concord.  His  success  in  other  places 
aroused  hostility  to  him  and  his  mission,  and  called  for  a  special  warning 
from  Rev.  Timothy  Walker,  the  pastor,  at  that  time,  of  the  Old  North  Church. 
This  was  given  in  a  sermon,  afterwards  published,  entitled,  'Those  who 
have  the  form  of  Godliness,  but  deny  the  power  thereof.'  It  does  not  appear 
that  Mr.  Smith  was  anywise  daunted  by  this  ministerial  fulmtnation  ;  and  il 
is  probable  his  labors  in  Concord,  at  that  time,  were  indirectly  the  means  ol 
the  formation,  some  years  later,  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Concord. 

"  Concord,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  was  a  pleasant 
town,  with  a  population  ot"  two  thousand  and  fifty-two.  A  resident  here  in 
those  3'ears  passing  up  Main  street  to-day,  and  viewing  the  handsome  and 
substantial  business  blocks  that  adorn  the  city,  could  not  fail  to  note  the 
change  which  this  lapse  of  time  has  made  in  its  appearance.  A  change  as 
great  as  that,  however,  has  taken  place  in  less  than  eight  decades,  in  the 
opinions  and  practice  of  the  people  in  matters  of  religious  observance. 
Within  the  limits  of  the  city  there  are  now  at  least  seventeen  public  places  of 
worship,  representing  nine  different  denominations.  But  in  the  early  years 
of  the  century,  all  or  nearly  all  the  people  of  the  town  met  in  the  same 
church,  and  listened  to  the  same  minister.  How  famous  was  then  the  Old 
North  Meeting-House,  the  place  whither  the  families  went  up  to  worship 
on  the  Sabbath.  The  Puritan  method  of  observance  was  still  in  vogue,  and 
'going  to  meeting,'  as  it  was  termed,  was  a  universal  custom,  and  one  not 
to  be  lightly  esteemed  or  disregarded.  This  unity  of  sentiment  and  practice, 
which  had  prevailed  from  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  in  172J,  was  des- 
tined to  have  an  end.  In  1818  the  initiatory  steps  were  taken  for  the 
formation  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Concord.  The  record  states  that 
'on  the  20th  of  May,  181S,  a  number  of  persons  residing  in  Concord,  and 
belonging  to  Baptist  churches  elsewhere,  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Richard 
Swain,  in  said  town,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  degree  of  fellow- 
ship existed  among  them  in  the  faith  and  order  of  the  gospel,  and  also  to 
consider  what  were  the  prospects  of  forming  a  church  agreeable  to  the  prin- 
ciples and  practice  of  the  Apostles  of  our  Lord.     After  a  free  and  full  discus 


524  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^^^9 

sion  of  the  first  object  before  them,  the  following  persons  gave  to  each  other 
an  expression  of  their  Christian  fellowship,  viz. :  James  Willey,  John  Hoyt, 
Sarah  Bradley,  Deborah  Elliot,  Sally  Swain,  and  Nancy  Whitney.' 

"  On  the  2Sth  of  the  same  month,  the  record  also  says,  '  an  adjourned  ses- 
sion was  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Parker,  at  which  meeting  three 
iiisters  related  their  Christian  experience,  and  made  a  brief  statement  of  their 
views  of  Christian  doctrine,  after  which  those  present  expressed  to  them  their 
Christian  fellowship.'  The  next  act  of  that  meeting  was  '  to  listen  to  the 
Christian  experience  of  Mr.  Oliver  Hart,  and  to  agree  to  receive  him  to  the 
fellowship  of  the  church  when  he  shall  have  been  baptized.'  At  this  meeting, 
members  from  the  church  in  Bow  were  present,  by  invitation,  to  advise  in 
reference  to  the  constitution  of  a  church.  These  brethren,  having  examined 
the  subject,  unanimously  advised  this  small  band  of  Christians  to  organize. 

"  On  the  23d  of  September,  181S,  a  council  of  neighboring  churches  was 
lield  at  the  house  of  Rev.  William  Taylor,  and  a  church  constituted,  number- 
ing fourteen  members.  The  public  services  in  recognition  of  this  church 
were  attended  at  the  Green  house.  Rev.  John  B.  Gibson  preached  the 
sermon,  Rev.  Otis  Robinson  of  Salisbury  gave  the  hand  of  fellowship,  and 
Rev.  Henry  Veazey  of  Bow  offered  prayer.  For  over  seven  years  this  church 
■did  not  possess  a  house  of  worship,  but  was  accustomed  to  hold  services  on 
the  Sabbath  in  the  school-house,  which  stood  upon  the  site  of  the  high  school 
building.  In  1825  a  church  edifice  was  erected,  dedicated  on  December  28th 
of  that  year,  and  opened  for  public  worship  in  January,  1826." 

"The  March  elections  of  1818  were  conducted  with  much  less 
than  their  usual  zeal  and  acrimony.  Many  Federalists  voted  for 
the  Republican  candidate,  others  for  Jeremiah  Smith  or  William 
Hale.  Governor  Plumer  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  over  six 
thousand  votes  over  all  other  candidates."  Governor  Plumer  in 
his  address  referred  to  the  law  for  the  imprisonment  of  debtors, 
and  recommended  its  repeal  or  radical  change.  The  bill  for  les- 
sening the  hardships  of  poor  debtors  was  passed  with  the  utmost 
difficulty :  "  and  yet  it  was  a  few  years  only  before  the  total 
abolition  of  imprisonment  for  debt  was  enacted  with  the  entire 
approbation  of  the  people."^ 

At  the  Republican  legislative  caucus  in  June,  after  Samuel 
Bell  was  nominated  for  governor,  the  majority  nominated  Gov- 
ernor Plumer  for  United  States  senator.  At  the  balloting  the 
minority  of  the  Republicans  supported  Parrott,  the  Federalists 
Jeremiah  Smith,  thus  bringing  three  candidates  into  the  field. 
The  Federalists  gave  their  support  to  the  minority   candidate, 

'  William   Plumer,  Jr. 


1 


iSlQJ  STRUGGLE  FOR  TOLERATION.  52$ 

and  Parrott  was  elected.     It  was  understood   that  the  Governor 
allowed  his  name  to  be  used  to  defeat  Butler. 

In  Governor  Plumer's  diary,  under  date  of  June  30,  occurs  the 
following  entry :  "The  lawyers  in  the  House  were  unitedly 
•opposed  to  it  [the  bill  exempting  the  bodies  of  debtors  from 
arrest  on  executions  issued  from  justices  of  the  peace].  Second 
and  third  rate  lawyers,  as  many  of  these  are,  make  bad  legislators." 
Governor  Plumer  exercised  a  great  influence  over  legislative  bod- 
ies and  at  the  same  time  preserved  his  self-respect  and  indepen- 
dence. He  made  his  appointments  carefully,  and  was  very  popular 
in  the  State  during  a  public  life  of  nearly  thirty  years.  He  retired 
from  office  with  the  respect  of  all  parties  and  with  no  fewer 
personal  enemies  than  a  man  of  decided  character  and  fearless 
disposition  would  ordinarily  have.  He  lived  over  thirty  years  at 
Epping  after  his  retirement,  in  correspondence  with  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  party  and  nation,  until  he  was  the  last  survivor  of 
his  generation. 

Samuel  Bell  was  elected  governor  in  1819. 

^  It  is  doubtful  if  any  race  has  done  more  to  fix  the  character  of 
our  institutions,  to  stimulate  and  direct  real  progress,  and  to  de- 
velop the  vast  resources  of  the  United  States,  than  that  portion 
of  our  earlier  population  known  as  the  Scotch-Irish.  Their  re- 
markable energy,  thrift,  staidness,  and  fixed  religious  views  made 
their  settlements  the  centres  of  civilization  and  improvement,  in 
Colonial  times  ;  that  their  descendants  proved  sturdy  props  of  the 
great  cause  that  ended  in  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
is  a  matter  of  history.  Of  this  stock.  New  Hampshire  has 
chosen  three  governors,  lineal  descendants  from  John  Bell. 

The  name  of  Bell  occupies  a  proud  place  in  the  history  of 
New  Hampshire.  No  other  single  family  of  our  State  has 
wielded  for  so  long  a  period  such  an  influence  in  the  executive, 
legislative,  and  judiciary  departments  of  our  State  government 
as  the  descendants  of  the  emigrant  John  Bell,  who  purchased  a 
tract  of  land  in  Londonderry,  in  1720,  about  a  year  after  the 
original  settlers  purchased  the  township.  His  son,  John,  born 
in  Londonderry  in  August,  1730,  was  a  man  of  considerable  im- 

'  John  Templeton. 


526  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1819 

portance,  and  held  many  responsible  offices.  He  married  and 
had  five  children,  two  of  whom  filled  the  office  of  governor  of 
New  Hampshire.  He  died  in  1825.  in  the  ninety-fifth  year  of 
his  age. 

Of  John's  children,  two  died  young  ;  the  third,  Jonathan,  en- 
gaged in  trade  in  Chester,  and  died  in  1808. 

The  fifth  son,  Samuel,  was  born  in  February,  1770.  He  was 
a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  class  of  1793.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  popular  public  men  of  his  day.  In  1805-6  he  was 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  president  of  the  Senate 
in  1807-8,  and  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  from  18 16  to  18 19. 
He  was  elected  governor  in  18 19,  and  was  three  times  re- 
elected without  organized  opposition.  In  1823  he  was  elected 
United  States  senator,  which  office  he  held  till  1835.  ^^ 
married  and  had  a  family  of  nine  children.  His  death  occurred 
in  December,  1850. 

January  and  February,  1819,  were  very  warm,  with  very  little 
snow  —  the  ground  being  bare  the  whole  time,  and  no  sledding  ; 
all  business  and  journeys  were  performed  with  wagons.^ 

Bristol  was  chartered  in  June,  18 19. 

It  was  formed  from  portions  of  Bridgewater  and  New  Chester  (Hill). 
Bj  the  Act  of  incorporation  James  Minot,  Ichabod  C.  Bartlett,  and  Joseph 
Flanders,  or  any  two  of  them,  were  authorized  to  call  the  first  annual  towri 
meeting  in  March  following.  They  united  in  this  call,  and  at  the  first  annual 
meeting,  March  14,  1820,  Joseph  Flanders  was  elected  moderator,  James 
Minot  clerk,  and  Joseph  Flanders,  Moses  W.  Sleeper,  and  John  Clough 
selectmen.  Ichabod  C.  Bartlett  was  chosen  treasurer,  and  James  Minot  repre- 
sentative to  the  General  Court.  The  citizens  of  the  new  town  seem  to  have 
started  out  with  practical  unanimity  of  political  sentiment,  so  far  as  State 
affairs  were  concerned,  as  upon  the  vote  for  governor  at  this  meeting,  ninety- 
one  ballots  were  cast  for  Samuel  Bell,  five  for  John  Orr,  two  for  Robert 
Smith,  and  one  for  David  Sterret.  The  same,  or  even  greater,  unanimity  in 
this  regard  was  manifested  several  years  later,  when,  in  1S27,  there  were  one 
hundred  and  seven  votes  cast  for  Benjainin  Pierce,  and  one  for  Sherburne 
Lock. 

Among  the  other  officers  elected  at  this  first  town  meeting  were  two  "tith- 
ingmen."  These  were  Timothy  Eastman  and  David  Truel.  Peter  Hazelton 
was  chosen  constable.  The  record  of  the  meeting  also  informs  us  that  it  was 
voted  to  raise  $150,  in  addition  to  what  the  law  requires,  for  the  support  of 

>MS.  Diary. 


38 tq]         struggle  for  toleration.  527 

schools,  $600  for  the  repair  of  highway,  and  $350  to  defray  town  charges.  It 
also  appears  that  "  the  collection  of  taxes  was  hid  oft'  for  three  cents  on  a  dol- 
lar, by  Walter  Sleeper."  This  would  be  regarded  as  a  pretty  extravagant 
percentage  in  these  days,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  amount  to  be 
collected  was  comparatively  small.' 

New  Chester,  which  formerly  included  Bridgewater  (the  latter 
incorporated  in  1788),  was  granted  in  August,  1759,  to  John 
Tolford,  Matthew  Thornton,  and  others,  but  no  settlement  was 
made  for  several  years. 

In  a  case  in  the  Hillsborough  court,  May,  1803,  Smith,  C.  J., 
by  which  John  Muzzy  brought  action  against  Samuel  Wilkins 
and  others  who  acted  as  assessors  for  the  parish  of  Amherst  in 
1795,  and  by  whom  Muzzy  was  imprisoned  because  he  would  not 
pay  his  tax  of  seventy-five  cents  toward  the  settled  minister's 
salary,  it  was  decided  that  Muzzy,  being  a  Presbyterian,  was  ex- 
empt from  the  tax,  since  Presbyterians  were  a  different  sect 
under  the  constitution  and  the  laws  from  the  Congregationalists, 
and  were  to  be  recognized  as  such.  The  judge  said  that  the 
constitution  was  designed  to  secure  to  every  man  the  free  enjoy- 
ment of  his  own  opinion  on  religious  subjects.  All  denomina- 
tions were  to  be  equally  under  the  protection  of  the  law,  securing 
to  them  even  safety  from  persecution.  William  Plumer  was 
early  a  prominent  "Protestant,"  and  freely  a  legal  helper  to 
those  against  whom  cases  were  entered.  It  was  necessary  to 
have  such  a  champion,  for  the  collectors  of  church  taxes  did  not 
scruple  in  their  methods.  Barstow,  in  his  "  History  of  New 
Hampshire,"  tells  of  a  case  in  which  the  cow  of  a  poor  laborer 
was  sold  at  vendue  in  default  of  paying  church  taxes  ;  nor  was 
household  furniture  or  even  dishes  exempted  from  the  stern 
parish  collector.  Acts  of  incorporation  would  be  granted  the 
Congregational  church  but  be  denied  to  other  denominations. 
The  advent  of  Quakers,  Freewill  Baptists,  Methodists,  Univer- 
salists,  and  other  sects  was  working  a  revolution.  They  entered 
the  courts,  and  could  always  find  in  Governor  Plumer,  at  least, 
able  and  willing  counsel  in  those  legal  contests. 

In  the  constitutional  convention  of  1791  he  tried  hard  to,  carry 

«  H.  H.  Metcalf. 


528  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l^IQ 

a  provision  giving  full  liberty  to  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  one's  own  conscience.  But  this  liberty  was  not  then 
granted,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  could  the  opponents  of  it  carry 
a  provision  to  tighten  the  principles  of  the  constitution  of  1784. 
He  did  succeed  in  that  convention  in  getting  a  motion  carried 
to  abolish  the  religious  test  for  office-holders,  but  this  failed  in 
the  vote  of  the  people  on  it.  But  so  great  had  become  the  pres- 
sure from  the  increase  of  other  persuasions,  and  the  spirit  of 
deeper  insight,  that  the  legislature  of  1804  granted  the  right  to 
Freewill  Baptists  to  be  considered  a  distinct  religious  sect  or 
denomination,  with  all  the  privileges  of  such  agreeable  to  the 
constitution.  The  next  year  the  Universalists  obtained  a  sim- 
ilar recognition,  and  in  1807  the  Methodists  shared  the  same 
favor.  1 

In  1 8 16  the  legislature  passed  an  Act  that  the  property  of 
ministers,  which  before  had  been  exempted,  should  be  taxed. 
The  same  year  Rev.  Dan.  Young,  of  Lisbon,  a  located  Methodist 
minister,  having  been  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Senate, 
brought  in  a  bill  repealing  the  old  obnoxious  laws  by  which  a 
town  could  vote  to  settle  a  minister  and  then  pay  his  salary  by 
taxes  ;  and  in  place  of  that  law  offered  a  bill  "  by  which  all  per- 
sons voluntarily  associating  to  build  a  house  of  worship,  or  hire 
a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  should  be  held  to  the  fulfilment  of  their 
contract,  but  no  person  should  be  compelled  to  go  into  such  a 
contract."  That  year  he  was  able  to  secure  only  three  votes 
besides  his  own  for  the  bill.  The  next  year  the  same  bill  re- 
ceived exactly  one  half  of  the  votes  of  the  Senate.  The  third 
year  it  went  through  by  a  large  majority,  but  was  tied  in  the 
House.  In  18 19,  having  been  sent  up  again  from  the  Senate, 
the  House  by  a  majority  vote  carried  it,  and  thus  the  power  was 
taken  from  the  towns  to  assess  taxes  on  all  to  support  the  min- 
istry, and  relegated  to  such  as  voluntarily  entered  the  church  or 
society. 

Dr.  Whipple,  of  VVentworth,  in  the  House,  seems  to  have  had 
much  to  do  in  framing  the  bill  and  in  its  final  success  ;  so  it  is 
known  in  some  authorities  as  the  Whipple  bill.     By  the  bill  any 

'  William  Plumer,  Jr. 


i8i9] 


STRUGGLE  FOR  TOLERATION. 


529 


one,  also,  could  separate  himself  from  any  such  society  or  organ- 
ization, or  from  obligations  of  the  town,  by  leaving  a  written 
certificate  with  the  clerk  of  such  a  purpose,  and  that  he  was  of 
another  persuasion.  Men  of  the  old  regime  deemed  it  all  a  re- 
peal of  the  Christian  religion,  thinking  it  meant  also  an  abolition 
of  the  Bible,  and  that  they  might  as  well  burn  that  book.  But 
experience  soon  convinced  them  of  the  great  worth  to  both  state 
and  church  to  have  them  separate.  Some  slight  changes  were 
made  a  few  years  later  in  this  Act,  but  none  affecting  its  purpose 
of  completest  religious  freedom. 


SQUAM    LAKE  AND   MOUNT  CHOCORUA. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

ERA   OF  GOOD-WILL,   1819-1828. 

Power-Loom  at  Amoskeag  —  Shelburne  —  New  Hampton  Hurricane 
—  Levi  Woodbury  —  David  L.  Morril  —  Great  Freshet  —  Mili- 
tia—  General  Lafayette's  Visit  —  The  Farmer  —  Governor  Ben- 
jamin Pierce  and  Family  —  John  Bell  — Franklin. 

"VJO  single  invention,  perhaps,  has  ever  virrought  such  wonders 
in  the  civilized  world  as  the  power-loom.  Strange  to  say, 
it  was  the  work  of  an  English  clergyman,  Rev.  Dr.  Cartwright, 
who  invented  it  in  1787.  The  use  of  the  power-loom  was  com- 
menced at  Amoskeag  Falls  in  18 19.    . 

The  Scotch-Irish  at  Nutfield,  afterwards  Londonderry,  and 
the  English  at  Penacook,  now  Concord,  pressed  their  claims 
for  the  possession  of  the  falls  as  a  fishing  place.  No  doubt 
it  was  a  prize  worthy  of  an  earnest  struggle.  Concord  claimed 
it  under  their  grant  from  Massachusetts ;  while  the  Scotch- 
Irish  founded  their  claim  on  the  authority  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Province.  The  advantage,  however,  was  on  the  part  of  the 
Irish.  Their  settlement  was  nearer,  in  numbers  much  larger, 
and  they  had  possession.  The  first  settlers  in  the  neighborhood 
came  from  Londonderry  in  1731.  No  doubt  the  fishing  interest 
was  the  principal  attraction.  The  shad,  the  salmon,  and  the  lam- 
prey eel,  the  last  of  which  the  late  William  Stark  so  poetically 
eulogized,  were  the  fish  there  caught.  If  Stark  has  not  very 
greatly  exceeded  even  poetical  licence,  we  may  realize  the  mag- 
nitude ot  the  fishing  interest  at  that  day.      He  says  :  — 

"  From  the  eels  they  formed  their  food  in  chief. 
And  eels  were  called  the  I)err\  field  beef; 
It  was  often  said  that  their  onJA  care, 


I819]  ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL.  53I 

And  their  only  wish,  and  their  only  prayer, 
For  the  present  world,  and  the  world  to  come, 
Was  a  string  of  eels  and  a  jug  of  ruin." 

If  all  this  could  be  said  of  the  eel,  we  leave  some  future  poet 
to  extol  the  value  of  the  shad  and  the  salmon. 

Saw  and  grist  mills  were  built  at  Amoskeag  at  a  very  early- 
date,  but  the  first  interest  of  sufficient  importance  to  demand 
much  notice  was  the  digging  of  the  canal.  This  was  substantially 
the  work  of  one  man,  Samuel  Blodget,  an  officer  under  Governor 
Wentworth,  a  keeper  of  the  King's  woods,  and  collector  of  duties 
on  spirituous  liquors.  He  came  to  the  neighborhood  in  175 1, 
and  bought  a  farm  on  Black  brook,  two  miles  from  Amoskeag. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  versatility  of  talent :  farmer,  merchant, 
manufacturer  of  potash,  lumber-dealer,  sutler  in  the  army  in 
the  French  and  Indian  war.  He  went  to  Europe,  and  there  was 
engaged  in  raising  sunken  ships,  and  finally,  after  having  accu- 
mulated quite  a  fortune  for  that  day,  returned,  and  in  May, 
1794,  when  seventy  years  of  age,  commenced  the  great  work  of 
his  life,  what  is  known  in  history  as  the  Blodget  canal,  around 
Amoskeag  Falls.  The  work,  however,  was  attended  with  many 
difficulties,  and  his  whole  fortune  of  thirty  or  forty  thousand 
dollars  was  all  expended  before  it  was  completed.  He  then 
solicited  assistance  from  his  friends,  and  applied  to  the  legis- 
latures of  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts  for  grants  of  lot- 
teries to  raise  funds  ;  but  as  late  as  1803  he  wrote  :  "  It  is  very 
painful  indeed  to  me  to  reflect  on  a  ten  years'  ardent  exertione 
at  this  stage  of  my  life,  sparing  no  pains  in  my  power,  with  the 
utmost  stretch  of  invention  to  finish  this  canal,  the  expense  of 
^60,000  already  having  been  devoted  to  it,  and  the  work  not  yet 
completed." 

By  continued  exertions,  however,  the  canal  was  completed  in 
1807,  about  the  time  of  Mr.  Blodget's  death.  This  work,  when 
we  take  into  view  all  the  difficulties  connected  with  the  prose- 
cution of  a  new  enterprise,  stands  almost  unrivalled  in  the  his- 
tory of  New  England. 

It  is,  however,  the  manufacture  of  cloth  which  now  distin- 
guishes, and  will  for  a  long  time   to    come,  Amoskeag.     The 


532  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^819 

river  here  falls  fifty  feet,  and  the  power  is  immense.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  canal,  it  was  a  single  mind  that  led  the  way  in  the 
development  of  this  great  enterprise.  Benjamin  Pritchard  was 
here  the  moving  power.  We  first  hear  of  him  as  a  resident  of 
New  Ipswich,  and  engaged  in  manufacturing  there.  Machinery 
was  used  in  that  town  for  spinning  cotton  by  water  power  in 
1803,  and  was  the  first  in  the  State. 

Mr.  Pritchard  paid  his  last  tax  in  New  Ipswich  in  1807,  and 
in  March,  18 10,  we  find  his  mill  in  operation  at  Amoskeag.  The 
property  was  then  owned  by  a  joint-stock  company,  divided  into 
one  hundred  shares.  At  the  first  meeting  fifty-five  shares  were 
sold,  of  which  Mr.  Pritchard  took  twenty-five.  The  building 
which  was  then  erected  was  about  forty  feet  square  and  two 
stories  high.  The  only  machinery  placed  in  it  was  for  spinning, 
and  the  only  machine  then  used  for  that  purpose  was  the  jenny. 
This  machine  was  first  put  in  operation  in  England  in  1767, 
and  was  the  earliest  improvement  in  spinning  after  the  one- 
thread  wheel,  doing  its  work  substantially  on  the  same  plan, 
only  instead  of  one  it  drew  out  several  threads  at  the  same 
time. 

The  water  to  carry  this  machinery  at  Amoskeag  was  taken 
from  the  mill-dam  of  Ephraim  and  Robert  Stevens.  They  gave 
bonds  to  the  amount  of  two  thousand  dollars,  as  the  obligation 
reads,  to  furnish  "  so  much  water  as  shall  be  sufficient  for  carry- 
ing an  old-fashioned  undershot  corn-mill  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year  and  at  all  days  in  the  year,  so  long  as  water  is  needed  for 
carrying  on  the  manufacturing  of  cotton  and  wool  at  that 
place."  For  this,  they  were  to  receive  ten  dollars  annually. 
Five  years  later  twelve  dollars  per  annum  were  paid  for  furnish- 
ing water  sufficient  to  run  the  Amoskeag  cotton  and  woollen 
mill. 

From  1 8 10  to  18 19  spinning  was  the  only  work  done  there. 
It  is  interesting  to  learn  how  this  now  simple  operation  was 
then  performed.  After  the  cotton  was  received,  it  was  given 
out  into  families,  in  lots  of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  pounds, 
to  be  picked.  This  was  done  by  first  whipping  the  cotton  in  a 
rude  frame.     This  whipping  machine  was  a  unique  article,  per- 


I 


1820]  ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL.  535 

haps  thirty  inches  square,  across  which  common  cod  hne  was 
woven  at  right  angles,  leaving  spaces  of  half  an  inch ;  on  three 
sides  were  placed  boards,  and  the  whole  raised  on  posts  breast 
high.  On  this  the  cotton  was  placed  and  whipped  with  two 
sticks  like  the  common  ox-gourd.  This  old  whipping  machine 
operated  by  a  boy,  has  given  place  to  the  picker  of  our  day. 

Some  years  after  the  manufacture  of  yarn  was  commenced, 
perhaps  because  the  market  was  more  than  supplied,  the  com^ 
pany  introduced  the  weaving  of  cloth.  This  was  done  on  hand- 
looms  in  the  neighborhood.  The  agent  of  Amoskeag  mills, 
Jotham  Gillis,  carried  out  yarn  for  this  purpose.  It  was  before 
the  days  of  railroads,  even  before  carriages,  if  we  except  the  old 
"  one-horse  shay,"  and  Mr.  Gillis,  upon  horse-back,  would  ride  six 
miles  away,  with  bundles  of  yarn  tied  about  his  saddle.  This 
order  of  things  continued  till  18 19,  when  the  power-loom  was 
introduced,  only  five  years  after  its  introduction  into  the  coun- 
try. The  first  was  put  in  operation  at  Waltham,  Mass.,  by  Mr. 
Adams,  the  father  of  Phineas  Adams,  the  late  agent  of  the  Stark 
mills.  The  loom  had  then  been  in  operation  in  England  from 
twenty  to  twent3'-five  years. ^ 

In  1820  Jeremiah  Mason  was  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  as  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee 
drew  and  secured  the  passage  of  a  law  changing  the  judiciary 
system  of  the  State,  abolishing  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
transferring  most  of  its  jurisdiction  to  the  Superior  Court,  and 
constituting  a  Court  of  Sessions.  Early  in  the  June  session 
Governor  Bell  received  from  the  governor  of  Virginia  "The  Vir- 
ginia Report  and  Resolutions  on  the  Missouri  Question,"  which 
he  transmitted  to  the  legislature  for  their  action.  They  set 
forth  in  forcible  and  earnest  language  the  doctrines  as  to  the 
sovereignty  of  the  States  and  the  limited  powers  of  Congress. 
The  answer  of  the  New  Hampshire  legislature  was  written  by 
Mr.  Mason,  and  was  a  masterly  treatment  of  the  constitutional 
questions  involved,  ending  with  the  resolution  :  "  That  in  the 
opinion  of  this  legislature  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
has  by  the  Constitution  the  right,  in  admitting  new  States  inta 

>  Rev.  C.  W.  Wallace,  D.  D. 


5j4  history  of  new  Hampshire.  [1820 

the  Union,  to  prescribe  the  ^prohibition  of  slavery,  as  one  of  the 
■conditions  on  which  such  State  shall  be  admitted,"  and  that  "the 
existence  of  slavery  within  the  United  States  is  a  great  moral 
as  well  as  political  evil,  the  toleration  of  which  can  be  justified 
by  necessity  alone,  and  that  the  further  extension  of  it  ought  to 
1)6  prevented  by  the  due  exercise  of  the  power  vested  in  the 
general  government." 

Hon.  Jeremiah  Mason  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  December,  1820,  and  while  standing  in  the  gallery. 
Judge  Nesmith  heard  him  state  the  proposition  that  in  his  ex- 
perience he  knew  of  no  little  lazv  cases,  that  all  alike,  whatever 
the  amount  involved  might  be,  turned  upon  the  same  golden 
hinges  of  justice.  And  it  was  sometimes  as  difficult  to  ascertain 
the  true  merits  of  a  case,  or  trace  the  accurate  boundaries  of 
right  and  wrong,  where  only  five  dollars  might  be  involved,  as 
where  thousands  were  at  stake.  The  question  then  pending 
before  the  House  referred  to  the  amount  of  litigated  claims  of 
which  a  certain  court  should  by  law  have  jurisdiction. 

Mr.  Mason's  personal  appearance  was  very  imposing.  His 
height  was  over  six  feet  and  six  inches.  His  weight  about  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds.  His  uncommon  size  natur- 
ally attracted  the  wonder  of  beholders.  His  arguments  to  the 
jury  were  never  tedious,  always  commanding  their  close  atten- 
tion, being  remarkable  specimens  of  plain,  clear,  direct,  compre- 
hensive, logical  reasoning,  generally  addressed  to  the  understand- 
ing rather  than  to  the  passions  of  the  hearer.  He  presented 
clear  ideas  aptly  and  forcibly  expressed.  He  managed  well  an 
unwilling,  untruthful  witness.  In  his  quiet  and  easy  way  he 
would  turn  such  a  witness  inside  out  without  letting  him  know 
what  he  was  about. ^ 

The  township  of  Shelburne,  which  lies  in  Coos  county,  north- 
east of  the  White  Mountains,  was  chartered  by  George  HI.  to 
Mark  Wentworth,  and  six  others.  The  date  of  the  grant  was 
1 77 1,  and  included  Shelburne  Addition,  now  known  as  Gorham. 
It  was  surveyed  in  the  same  year  by  Theodore  Atkinson,  who 
spent    a  number  of    months  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountains. 

'  Hon.  George  W.  Nesmith. 


l820]  ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL.  535 

The  population  in  1820,  when  it  was  incorporated,  was  205,  wliile 
in  1870  it  was  only  250. 

The  first  permanent  settlers  were  Hope  Austin,  Daniel  and 
Benjamin  Ingalls,  who  moved  there  in  1771.  The  next  year 
Thomas  Wheeler,  Nathaniel  Porter,  and  Peter  Poor  came  there, 
and  were  afterward  killed  by  the  Indians.  In  1781  came  Moses 
Messer,  Captain  Jonathan  Rindge,  and  Jonathan  and  Simeon 
Evans.  Captain  Rindge  is  well  remembered  by  the  old  resi- 
dents in  town  as  one  of  the  most  respected  of  the  early 
settlers. 

The  early  history  is  filled  with  incidents  of  toil  and  hardships 
which  the  pioneers  were  forced  to  undergo.  Mr.  Hope  Austin, 
•with  his  family,  consisting  of  a  wife  and  three  children,  moved 
into  town  at  a  time  when  the  ground  was  covered  with  five 
feet  of  snow.  All  the  way  from  Bethel,  a  distance  of  twelve 
miles,  they  walked,  Mr.  Austin  and  two  hired  men  drawing  the 
furniture  on  hand  sleds,  while  Mrs.  Austin  carried  her  youngest 
child,  an  infant  of  nine  months,  in  her  arms,  with  Judith,  aged 
six,  and  James,  aged  four,  trudging  by  her  side.  When  they 
arrived  at  their  new  home  they  found  simply  the  walls  of  a  log- 
cabin,  without  roof  or  floor.  To  shelter  them  from  the  rains 
and  snows  they  cut  poles  and  laid  across  the  walls.  On  these 
they  laid  shingles,  covering  a  space  only  large  enough  for  a  bed. 
In  this  they  lived  until  the  next  June.  At  the  time  of  the  In- 
dian massacre  in  August,  —  spoken  of  in  Segar's  narrative,  — 
they  fled  to  Fryeburg,  where  they  remained  until  the  next  March. 

Deacon  Daniel  Ingalls  was  well  known  and  highly  esteemed 
throughout  the  mountain  region  for  his  piety  and  benevolence, 
and  his  death  was  received  by  all  with  sadness. 

His  two  sons,  Moses  and  Robert,  settled  in  Shelburne.  They 
were  both  distinguished  as  being  kind-hearted  men,  and  a  valu- 
able addition  to  the  young  colony.  Moses  was  brave  and  dar- 
ing, and  a  keen  lover  of  hunting. 

Robert  Fletcher  Ingalls  was  undoubtedly  the  first  temperance 
reformer  in  New  Hampshire.  He  formed  a  band  known  as  the 
"  Cold  Water  Army,"  embracing  the  youth  of  both  sexes,  and 
worked  for  the  cause  until  the  day  of  his  death.      On  the  4th  day 


536  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l82l 

of  July  before  he  died  he  took  part  in  the  exercises,  delivering 
an  address  which  is  remembered  to  this  day. 

After  the  unsuccessful  attempt  against  Quebec,  in  which  the 
gallant  and  lamented  Montgomery  lost  his  life,  many  of  the 
American  soldiers  deserted,  and  endeavored  to  find  their  way 
home  through  the  forests  of  Canada.  Twelve  of  these  soldiers 
succeeded  in  finding  their  way  to  Shelburne  late  in  the  fall  of 
1776,  where  they  were  discovered  by  a  negro  in  the  employ  of 
Captain  Rindge,  nearly  exhausted.  After  becoming  recruited 
they  gave  an  account  of  their  sufferings  from  the  time  they  left 
Quebec.  They  followed  the  Chaudiere  river  for  a  long  distance, 
crossed  the  highlands,  and  came  to  the  Magalloway  river,  down 
which  they  passed  to  its  confluence  with  Clear  Stream,  at 
Errol. 

Here  they  left  one  of  their  number,  named  Hall,  too  weak  to 
proceed  farther.  Captain  Rindge  and  Moses  Ingalls  immediately 
started  in  quest  of  him,  and  after  a  long  search  he  was  found 
lying  across  his  gun,  near  where  his  comrades  left  him.  He  had 
dragged  himself  to  the  bank  to  drink,  and,  his  head  hanging 
over  a  little  descent,  he  was  unable  to  raise  it  from  weakness,  and 
so  drowned.  They  buried  him  on  the  bank,  and,  as  a  memorial, 
changed  the  river's  name  from  Clear  to  Hall's  Stream. 

The  New  Hampton  Institution  has  a  model  location  in  a 
quiet  village,  amid  New  Hampshire  hills  and  rural  scenery, 
and  among  people  who  fully  appreciate  the  advantages  of  hav- 
ing a  college  or  seminary  in  their  midst.  It  was  established  in 
1 82 1,  and  soon  became  widely  known  as  a  theological  school  for 
divinity  students  preparing  for  the  Baptist  ministry. 

In  1829  a  female  department  was  added. 

In  1852  the  institution  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Freewill 
Baptist  denomination  ;  and  for  sixteen  years,  or  until  it  was  re- 
moved to  Lewiston,  Me.,  in  1870,  it  was  the  seat  of  a  Biblical 
school.  In  1866  a  commercial  department  was  added  to  the 
school. 

The  hurricane  in  the  Kearsarge  region,  in  September,  1821, 
was  the  most  destructive  tornado  of  which  there  is  any  record 
as  having  swept  over  any  portion  of  New  England,  and,  in  pro- 


53^  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  [l822 

portion  to  its  extent,  infinitely  more  destructive  tlian  the  "great 
wind"  of  September,  1815. 

'"About  six  o'clock,  after  a  warm  day,  a  dark  cloud  was 
observed  to  rise  in  the  north  and  north-west,  illuminated  by  in- 
cessant flashes  of  vivid  lightning.  Houses  and  barns,  fences 
and  trees,  were  levelled  to  the  ground  and  the  debris  carried 
long  distances.     Several  lives  were  lost." 

The  literary  fund,  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  schools,  was 
established  in  182 1,  by  imposing  a  tax  of  one-half  of  one  per 
cent,  upon  the  banks  of  the  State. 

In  June,  1822,  Hon.  Samuel  Dinsmoor,  senior,  of  Keene,  was 
nominated  for  governor  by  the  Democrats  or  Republicans,  in 
the  legislature  of  that  year ;  candidates  for  governor  and  for 
Congress  being  then  nominated  in  June  by  members  of  the 
legislature. 

In  the  winter  before  the  election  Levi  Woodbury,  then  one  of 
the  justices  of  the  Superior  Court,  was  nominated  for  governor 
by  an  irregularly  constituted  assemblage  of  people  in  attendance 
upon  a  term  of  court  in  session  at  Portsmouth.  The  Patriot 
sustained  the  nomination  of  the  legislative  convention,  and 
came  out  in  strong  rebuke  of  this  procedure  at  Portsmouth, 
which  really  was  an  open  revolt,  by  so  many  Democrats  as  par- 
ticipated in  the  nomination  of  Judge  Woodbury,  against  the 
regular  nomination  of  the  party  the  preceding  June.  But  the 
Portsmouth  transaction  was  countenanced,  if  not  shaped,  by  the 
Plumers  of  Epping,  Judge  Butler  of  Deerfield,  the  North  End 
Democrats  in  Concord,  and  other  equally  conspicuous  and  in- 
fluential politicians  in  various  parts  of  the  State.  Although 
the  Federal  party  had  been  disbanded,  yet  thousands  who  were 
members  of  it  naturally  sympathized  with  any  procedure  in 
conflict  with  the  Patriot,  and,  with  nearly  one  accord,  went  into 
the  support  of  Judge  Woodbury,  who  was  chosen  over  General 
Dinsmoor  by  4026  majority  in  1823. 

There  were  jealousies  between  North  End  Democrats  and 
their  down-town  political  brethren  so  long  ago  as  fifty  years. 
They  at  the  North   End  regarded  those  beneath  the  shadow 

»  N.  H.  Patriot. 


1823]  ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL.  539 

of  the  State  House  as  desirous  of  giving  law  to  tiie  Democratic 
party.  The  last-named  men  were  spoken  of  as  "  Parliament- 
corner  politicians,"  a  term  which  included  Isaac  Hill,  William 
Low,  Joseph  Low,  Richard  Bartlett,  Jacob  B.  Moore,  and  a  few 
other  active  and  influential  men  south  of  the  present  City  Hall. 
Those  North  End  gentlemen  of  the  same  party  who  were  be- 
coming, if  not  alienated  from,  at  least  jealous  of  their  down- 
town brethren,  and  who  immediately  or  more  remotely  partook 
of  this  feeling,  were  John  George,  Robert  Davis,  Samuel  Coffin, 
Abiel  Walker,  Francis  N.  Fiske,  Charles  Walker,  Samuel  Spar- 
hawk,  and  other  less  conspicuous  men.  There  were  also 
Democrats  in  other  portions  of  New  Hampshire  who  had  be- 
come jealous  of  the  "Parliament  corner"  leaders,  and  this,  at 
first,  slight  misunderstanding  or  disaffection  culminated  in  the 
commencement  of  the  journal  known  as  the  Nezv  HainpsJiire 
Statesman,  January  6,  1823,  a  paper  that  is  one  of  the  very 
few  which,  growing  out  of  a  mere  feud  among  local  politicians, 
became  a  permanent  establishment.  Luther  Roby,  then  in 
business  at  Amherst,  moved  to  Concord,  and  became  printer 
and  publisher  of  the  Statesman,  and  Amos  A.  Parker,  then  in 
the  practice  of  law  at  Epping,  was  engaged  to  conduct  it. 

The  Statesman  of  course  advocated  the  election  of  Judge 
Woodbury  ;  indeed,  when  it  was  commenced  it  was  understood 
that  a  rebellion  was  on  foot  against  the  nominee  of  the  June 
convention.  But  the  triumph  of  the  North  End  gentlemen  was 
transitory,  for  one  of  the  first  important  appointments  by  Gov- 
ernor Woodbury  was  that  of  Hon.  Richard  H.  Ayer,  of  Hook- 
sett,  to  be  sheriff  of  the  newly  formed  county  of  Merrimack. 
This  was  a  suitable  selection  —  fitness  being  the  standard  —  but 
one  which  created  disappointment,  indeed  displeasure,  through- 
out the  ranks  of  those  by  whose  votes  Judge  Woodbury  was 
made  governor.  Mr.  Ayer  was  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Hill,  and 
exerted  all  his  power  to  thwart  the  election  of  Governor  Wood- 
bury, who,  in  fact,  by  this  and  other  procedures,  turned  his  back 
upon  his  supporters,  and  distinctly  indicated  to  them  that  he 
should  henceforth  seek  promotion  in  another  quarter.  He  was 
governor  only  one  year.^ 

'  -Asa  McFarland. 


540  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1823 

Levi  Woodbury  was  the  son  of  the  Hon.  Peter  Woodbury,  and  was  born 
at  Francestown,  on  the  226  of  December,  1789.  He  was  of  the  oldest  Massa- 
chusetts stock,  being  descended  from  John  Woodbury,  who  emigrated  from 
Somersetshire,  in  England,  in  the  year  1624,  and  was  one  of  the  original  set- 
tlers of  Beverly,  Mass.  Peter  Woodbury  removed  from  Beverly  to  Frances- 
town  in  1773.  His  son  Levi  entered  Dartmouth  College  in  October,  1805. 
After  his  graduation  with  honor  in  1809,  in  September  of  that  year,  he  began 
the  study  of  law  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  pursuing  it  at  Boston,  Exeter,  and 
Francestown;  and  in  September,  1812,  commenced  practice  in  his  native  vil- 
lage. He  soon  obtained  a  high  rank  at  the  bar,  with  an  extensive  business. 
His  first  public  service  was  upon  his  election  as  clerk  of  the  Senate  of  New 
Hampshire  in  June,  1816.  In  December  of  the  same  year  he  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State;  and  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  his  position  was  seen  the  inherent  fore*  of  his  abilities, 
aided  by  his  constant  and  never-ceasing  habits  of  application. 

In  June,  1819,  he  married  Elizabeth  W.  Clapp,  of  Portland,  and,  re- 
moving to  Portsmouth  soon  after,  except  when  absent  on  public  duties  re- 
-sided  in  that  city.  In  March,  1823,  he  was  chosen  governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  re-elected  in  1824. 

In  1825  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  representatives  from  Portsmouth  in  the 
legislature,  and  elected  speaker  upon  the  assembling  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. This  was  his  first  seat  in  any  deliberative  assembly;  but  his 
knowledge  of  parliamentary  law,  aided  by  his  dignity  and  urbanity  of  manner, 
served  to  enable  him  to  fill  the  office  in  a  commendable  manner. 

At  the  same  session  he  was  elected  a  senator  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States.  His  senatorial  term  was  completed  in  March,  1831,  and  in  that 
month  he  was  chosen  State  senator  from  his  district ;  but  before  the  legislature 
assembled  he  was,  in  May,  1831,  appointed  secretary  of  the  navy,  and  re- 
signed the  senatorship  June  4th  of  that  year,  and  served  till  June  30,  1834, 
an  the  secretaryship. 

In  July,  1834,  Governor  Woodbury  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, and  served  until  the  election  of  General  Harrison  to  the  Presidency. 
He  was  again  elected  a  senator  in  Congress  for  the  term  of  six  years,  com- 
mencing March  4,  1841.  He  served  until  November,  1845.  During  that 
vear  President  Polk  had  tendered  Governor  Woodbury  the  embassy  to  the 
court  of  St.  James,  but  the  appointment,  for  domestic  reasons,  was  declined. 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Justice  Story,  Mr.  Woodbury  was  commissioned  an 
associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  after  subse- 
quently entering  upon  the  duties  of  this  high  office,  continued  therein  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  September  4,  1851. 

Judge  Woodbury,  in  the  various  public  positions  he  was  so  constantly 
•called  to  fill,  showed  himself  abundantly  capable  for  the  discharge  of  their 
•duties. 

As  a  legislator  he  was  painstaking  and  industrious,  as  a  judge  studious 
and  indefatigable  in  his  labors,  and  as  a  cabinet  minister  comprehensive 
and  yet  exact  in  his  knowledge  of  details.     His  life  was  one  of  uninterrupted 


1824]  ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL.  54I 

•work,  and  his  death  at  the  age  of  sixtj-one  deprived  the  country  of  an  up- 
right judge  and  an  eminent  public  man.  Of  his  children,  his  only  son  is 
Charles  Levi  Woodbury,  a  prominent  lawyer  in  practice  in  Boston,  who  re- 
tains the  family  mansion  at  Portsmouth.  One  daughter  married  Hon. 
Montgomery  Blair,  who  was  postmaster-general  under  President  Lincoln, 
and  another  was  the  wife  of  Captain  Gustavus  V.  Fox,  formerly  of  the  United 
States  navy,  who  rendered  to  the  country  such  signal  service  by  his  practical 
knowledge  as  assistant  secretary  during  the  war.' 

In  1824  David  L.  Morril  was  elected  governor  by  the  legisla- 
ture.  He  was  born  in  Epping  in  June,  1772,  was  educated  at 
E.xeter  Academy,  studied  medicine,  and  entered  into  practice  in 
Epsom,  in  1793.  He  commenced  to  study  theology  in  1800,  and 
was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church  in  Goffstown  in  1802,  but  re- 
signed his  charge  in  181 1,  and  again  commenced  to  practise  med- 
icine. In  1808  he  was  elected  representative  from  Goffstown,  and 
re-elected  every  year  till  18 17.  In  June,  18 16,  he  was  chosen 
speaker  of  the  House,  and  the  same  session  was  chosen  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  for  six  years.  In  1823  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  New  Hampshire  Senate  and  was  presi- 
dent of  that  body.  In  1825  he  only  lacked  a  few  votes  of  re- 
election. He  settled  in  Concord  in  1831,  where  he  remained  a 
highly  respected  and  useful  citizen  until  his  death  in  January, 
1846. 

Mr.  Mason  was  a  candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate  in 
1824.  There  was  a  strong  desire  on  the  part  of  his  friends  that  he 
should  resume  the  place  he  had  formerly  filled  with  so  much 
honor  to  himself  and  so  much  usefulness  to  the  country.  Poli- 
tics were  in  a  transition  state,  and  votes  were  determined  mainly 
by  personal  preferences  for  the  four  candidates  for  the  presidency, 
—  Mr.  Adams,  General  Jackson,  Mr.  Crawford,  and  Mr.  Clay,  all 
of  whom  were  members  of  the  old  Republican  party.  All  the 
New  England  States,  New  Hampshire  included,  supported  Mr. 
Adams  ;  and  Mr.  Mason,  who  distinctly  preferred  him  to  any  of  his 
rivals,  once  more  found  himself  on  the  side  of  the  majority. 
Eleven  of  the  State  senators  had  been  Republicans,  and  a  majority 
of  the  House  had  been  of  the  same  party.  At  the  June  session  Mr. 
Mason  was  the  strongest  candidate,  but  the  election  was  put  off 

'  History  of  Rockingham  County.  , 


542  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1824 

until  the  November  session.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Eastman,  a 
State  senator  and  a  brother-in-law  of  Levi  Woodbury,  had  been 
elected  to  Congress.  The  House  gave  Mr.  Mason  a  two-thirds 
majority:  the  Senate  voted  for  William  Plumer,  Jr.  The  action 
of  the  House  was  communicated  to  the  Senate  in  the  form  of 
a  resolution  naming  the  person  chosen.  The  Senate  concurred 
in  passing  the  House  resolution  with  an  amendment  striking 
out  the  words  "Jeremiah  Mason"  and  inserting  "William 
Plumer,  Jr."  Mr.  Mason  was  standing  before  the  fire  in  the 
Representatives'  Hall,  and  when  William  H.  Y.  Hackett,  assis- 
tant clerk  of  the  Senate,  having  delivered  the  message  to  the 
House,  went  by  him  Mr.  Mason  said,  "  Good  morning,  Mr. 
Hackett,  I  see  you  propose  a  trifling  amendment."  The  Senate 
afterwards  voted  for  John  F.  Parrott  and  Samuel  Dinsmoor.  Late 
in  December  a  vote  was  taken  in  the  Senate  which  was  a  tie,  al- 
though seven  members  had  pledged  themselves  to  vote  for  Mr. 
Mason,  and  the  legislature  adjourned  without  electing  anybody  to 
the  position.  Levi  Woodbury  was  elected  senator  at  the  next 
session  of  the  legislature,  but  Mr.  Eastman,  to  whom  was  at- 
tributed the  defeat  of  Mr.  Mason,  was  not  re-elected  to  Con- 
gress. Mr.  Woodbury  was  at  that  time  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Adams, 
but  soon  became  a  zealous  and  trusted  adherent  of  General 
Jackson. 1 

The  most  destructive  freshet  in  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack,, 
taking  place  outside  the  season  when  crops  were  upon  the  earth, 
was  that  of  February,  1824.  It  was  a  complete  demolisher  of 
bridges,  from  the  mountains  in  northern  New  Hampshire,  and 
from  the  sources  of  the  Contoocook  river,  in  the  southern  portion 
of  the  State,  on  to  the  sea.  The  volume  of  water  which  passed 
down  the  valley  in  the  rise  of  February,  1824,  was  vastly  less 
than  what  flowed  in  any  given  time  in  the  freshet  of  1869  ;  but 
enormous  quantities  of  ice  swept  all  before  them.  Both  the 
bridges  which  then  spanned  the  Merrimack  in  Concord, —  the 
"Federal"  and  the  "Lower,"  as  they  were  called  —  were  de- 
stroyed, as  would  have  been  a  dozen  others  had  they  stood  in 
the  way  of  the  devastating   flood.     The   facts   were  these  :  A 

'  Life  of  Mason. 


1825]  ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL.  543 

warm  and  copious  rainfall  set  in  when  the  ice  had  not  been  at  all 
weakened  by  any  mild  days.  It  was  as  thick  and  strong  as  in 
January.  The  warm  rain  fell  upon  a  great  body  of  snow,  and  the 
rain  and  dissolving  snow  were  suddenly  precipitated  into  the 
streams.  The  effect  was  speedily  seen,  as  it  had  been  appre- 
hended by  men  who  had  long  been  conversant  with  freshets. 
Enormous  fields  of  thick-ribbed  ice  were  broken  into  great  frair- 
ments  and  driven  with  unusual  and  irresistible  velocity  down  the 
swollen  river. 

Very  few  general  elections  take  place  when  a  party  does  not 
suffer  because  of  absence  from  the  polls  of  voters  in  sympathy 
with  it.  In  November,  1824,  in  Concord  and  Pembroke,  men 
enough  remained  away  from  the  polls  to  have  elected  Ezekiel 
Webster  a  member  of  Congress.  The  choice  was  by  general 
ticket,  and  Mr.  Webster  needed  only  about  one  hundred  more 
votes. 

In  1825  there  were  at  least  seven  if  not  eight  military  organi- 
zations in  Concord,  as  follows  :  One  company  of  cavalry,  in 
which  were  from  sixty  to  seventy  mounted  men  ;  one  of  artillery, 
forty  to  fifty  men  ;  a  company  of  light  infantry,  about  forty  men  ; 
and  four  companies  of  militia  (men  dressed  in  their  every-day 
apparel),  with  guns,  knapsacks,  and  cartridge-boxes.  One  of 
these  last  named  companies  was  composed  of  men  residing  in 
the  centre  part  of  the  town  ;  another,  of  those  in  the  south-west 
part  and  Millville ;  a  third  in  West,  and  a  fourth  in  East,  Con- 
cord. There  was  a  company  known  as  the  Borough  riflemen, 
composed  of  men  living  in  the  north-western  part  of  the  town, 
including  the  neighborhood  then  known  as  The  Borough  ;  but 
whether  all  the  preceding  were  then  in  existence  the  writer  is 
uncertain. 

The  fields  of  Mars,  in  Concord  and  Pembroke,  where  these 
troops  made  manifest  the  valor  they  would  have  displayed  if 
called  into  the  service  of  the  country,  are  many.  The  earliest 
recollection  of  a  militia-muster  was  upon  what  was  known  as  the 
lower  interval,  in  East  Concord,  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago.  It 
was  a  notable  day.  Two  companies  of  cavalry,  two  of  artillery, 
several  of  light  infantry,  arid  ten  to  fifteen  companies  of  men 


544  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1825 

with  arms,  but  not  dressed  in  uniform,  from  Canterbury,  Loudon, 
Concord,  Chichester,  and  Pembroke,  and  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, upon  the  ground  in  numbers  greater  even  than  the  troops, 
were  assembled.  The  exhilarating  effect  of  the  spectacle,  espe- 
cially upon  young  folks,  can  be  readily  imagined.^ 

As  the  war  with  England,  declared  by  Congress,  June,  1812, 
became  a  more  and  more  distant  event,  the  military  spirit  de- 
clined, and  those  full  companies  of  cavalry,  artillery,  light  infan- 
try, and  riflemen,  which  had  made  so  excellent  an  appearance 
from  time  to  time  on  Main  street,  began  to  "languish  —  and 
languishing  did  die,"  one  by  one,  until  the  military  organization 
of  New  Hampshire  was  virtually  dissolved. 

A  part  of  the  visit  of  General  Lafayette  to  the  State  shall  be 
described  in  the  words  of  his  youthful  companion,  Colonel  A.  A. 
Parker,  aide-de-camp  of  Governor  David  L.  Morril,  lately  living 
at  a  venerable  old  age,  and  in  the  full  possession  of  his  faculties, 
in  Glastonbury,  Connecticut. 

General  Lafayette  had  made  a  journey  through  the  Southern 
and  Western  States,  and  had  received  demonstrations  of  welcome 
from  everybody.  At  Boston  the  ceremonies  of  his  reception 
had  been  imposing,  joined  in  by  all  New  England  ;  and  he  had 
assisted  in  laying  the  corner-stone  of  Bunker  Hill  monument, 
June  17.  The  governor  of  Massachusetts  had  insisted  upon 
escorting  the  hero  to  the  State  line  at  Methuen,  where  he  was 
received  by  Colonel  Parker. 

The  party  consisted  of  General  the  Marquis  Gilbert  Motier  de 
Lafayette,  George  Washington  Lafayette,  his  son,  Emile  Lavo- 
siur,  his  private  secretary,  his  servant,  who  seemed  to  be  a  very 
capable  man  of  all  work,  the  driver,  Mr,  Nathaniel  Walker,  and 
Colonel  Parker;  the  equipage  consisted  of  "three  carriages,  a 
barouche  drawn  by  four  horses  with  flags  in  their  headstalls,  a 
four-horse  stage-coach,  and  a  two-horse  covered  carriage  for  bag- 
gage." 

"  We  found  the  scenes  on  the  route  in  Massachusetts  repro- 
duced in  New  Hampshire  ;  for  at  all  the  hotels,  stores,  viLages, 
and  cross-roads,  multitudes  had  assembled  to  greet  him  as  he 

'  Asa  McFarland. 


1825]  ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL.  545 

came.  It  was  in  the  rosy  month  of  June,  and  roses  were  abund- 
ant, especially  in  and  about  our  carriage,  in  the  shape  of  wreaths 
and  bouquets.  At  times  our  carriage  became  so  much  incum- 
bered that  we  had  to  throw  them  overboard  —  in  some  solitary 
places. 

"  Our  route  lay  through  Suncook  village,  at  the  south  end  of 
Pembroke.  There  Major  Caleb  Stark,  son  of  Major-general 
John  Stark,  lived  ;  and  as  he  had  a  slight  acquaintance  with  Gen. 
eral  Lafayette  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  had  written  to  him  a 
request  that  he  would  call  at  his  house,  as  he  very  much  wished 
to  see  him  and  introduce  him  to  his  family.  We  called,  and  on 
introducing  him  to  the  general,  he  seized  his  hand  and  began  an 
animated  speech  about  Revolutionary  times,  which  did  not  seem 
soon  to  terminate.  His  family  were  standing  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  room,  waiting  to  be  introduced,  but  he  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  them  I  was  acquainted  with  the  major,  but  not 
with  his  family,  and  could  not  introduce  them  myself.  In  this 
.lilemma  the  spirited  Miss  Harriet  Stark,  no  longer  able  to 
orook  delay,  came  forward,  seized  General  Lafayette's  hand,  and 
said  :  •  Permit  me  to  introduce  myself  to  you  as  the  eldest 
^^aughter  of  Major  Caleb  Stark,  with  whom  you  are  talking,  and 
the  grand-daughter  of  Major-general  John  Stark,  the  hero  of 
Bennington  ;  and  now  permit  me  to  introduce  you  to  my  mother, 
brothers,  and  sisters  '  —  which  she  did,  with  her  usual  prompt- 
ness and  energy. 

"  When  we  were  seated  in  the  carriage.  General  Lafayette 
said  :  *  Miss  Harriet  Stark  does  indeed  inherit  all  the  fire  and 
.spirit  of  her  grandfather,  and  would  have  been  a  heroine  had  she 
Hved  in  the  exciting  scenes  of  the  Revolutionary  times.' 

"Near  the  close  of  a  beautiful  summer  day  (Tuesday,  June 
21),  one  of  the  longest  in  the  year,  we  entered  upon  the  long 
main  street  of  Pembroke.  The  sun,  having  moved  round  his 
long  circle  in  the  sky,  was  resting  in  crimson  robes  on  the  west- 
ern hills,  and  soon  retired  for  the  night.  Not  so  Pembroke 
village  ;  that  was  wide  awake,  and  gave  the  general  as  enthusi- 
astic a  welcome  as  he  had  received  anywhere  on  the  route. 
Sometimes,  it  seemed,  the  less  the  numbers  the  greater  the  zeal. 


546  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1825 

"  We  had  used  due  diligence  and  had  travelled  rapidly  when 
not  hindered ;  but  our  coming  had  been  so  well  advertised  by 
the  well-known  Walker,  the  stage-driver  on  the  route,  that  it 
was  known  to  all  people,  far  and  near.  And  so  it  was  that  we 
were  not  only  detained  at  villages,  hotels,  and  cross-roads,  but 
even  at  a  single  cottage.  Our  approach  seemed  to  have  been 
watched  ;  and,  at  the  report  of  a  musket  or  bugle  blast,  people 
would  rapidly  appear  from  their  lounging  places,  where  none 
were  visible  before;  and  the  general  must  needs  pause  a  mo- 
ment, take  by  the  hand  those  near  by,  and  speak  a  few  words. 
Infancy  and  age  were  alike  presented,  and  the  halt  and  the  lame 
were  sitting  in  easy  chairs  before  the  cottage  doors.  At  one  of 
these  cottages  an  invalid  old  lady,  'cadaverous  and  pale,'  was 
brought  by  two  men,  in  her  arm-chair,  to  the  carriage ;  she 
seized  the  general's  hand  with  both  of  hers,  and  with  tearful  eyes 
exclaimed,  '  Bless  the  Lord  ! ' 

"At  Fiske's  Hotel,  on  the  main  street  of  Pembroke,  five  miles 
from  Concord,  we  rested  for  the  night.  A  large  concourse  of 
people  gave  the  general  a  hearty  welcome,  and  shook  hands 
with  him,  and  he  made  a  short  speech.  On  my  suggesting  to 
the  most  active  men  that  the  general  had  had  a  long  and 
fatiguing  day,  and  needed  rest,  the  people  promptly  retired,  and 
Pembroke  village  could  never  have  been  more  quiet.  After  sup- 
per the  general  leaned  back  in  his  easy  chair  and  carried  on  a 
long  and  agreeable  conversation  with  his  escort  before  retiring." 

The  next  day  (June  22,  1825)  a  committee  of  the  legislature, 
then  in  session  at  Concord,  consisting  of  Hon.  Stephen  P.  Web- 
ster, of  the  Senate,  and  four  members  of  the  House,  came  down 
in  a  coach-and-six  to  escort  the  general  to  Concord.  Six  white 
horses  were  attached  to  the  barouche,  in  which  were  General 
Lafayette  and  Mr.  Webster  ;  and  the  procession,  made  up  of  a 
long  line  of  carriages,  proceeded  on  their  way,  bemg  met  on  the 
Concord  line  by  twenty  independent  companies  of  the  New 
Hampshire  militia,  under  the  command  of  General  Bradbury 
Bartlett. 

Lafayette's  personal  appearance  at  the  time  is  thus  sketched  : 
"  He  is  now  about  sixty-eight  years  of  age;  with  a  fresh  and 


1825] 


ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL. 


547 


vigorous  constitution  for  one  of  his  years  —  though  it  was 
severely  tried  in  the  dungeons  of  Ohnutz.  He  lost  all  his  hair 
during  that  confinement,  and  now  wears  a  wig."  The  account 
closes  with  anecdotes  and  reminiscences  of  the  general,  and  is 
altogether  deeply  interesting,  showing  that  the  journalists  of 
that  day  were  as  appreciative  of  a  special  occasion,  and  quite  as 
sure  to  seize  its  salient  points,  as  are  those  of  the  present  day, 
with  all  their  superior  facilities. 

ORDER    OF    PROCESSION, 

Oil  the  introduction   of  General  Laf.wette  into  the  Town  of  Concord,  and 

to  the  Legislature. 

[Corrected.] 

J^"The  following  shall  be  the  Order  of  Procession  on  the  introduction  of 
General  L.\fayette  into  the  Town  of  Concord,  and  to  the  Legislature. 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  (consisting  of  Messrs.  Webster  and 
Bowers,  of  the  Senate;  Messrs.  Bradlev,  Fisk,  Peabody  of  E.,  Parker  of  G., 
March,  Hayes,  Barrett,  Webster  of  B.,  Rogers  of  O.,  Bellows,  Baker,  Carey, 
Flanders  of  B.,  Mahurin,  and  Meserve,  of  the  House),  with  the  Marshals, 
shall  move  from  the  front  of  the  State  House  at  half-past  five  o'clock  on 
Wednesday  morning,  June  22d. 

Shall  arrive  at  Pembroke  at  7  o'clock. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  will  be  introduced  to  the  General  and 
Suite  by  his  Excellency's  Aides. 

The  Chairman  will  then  address  the  General,  and  introduce  the  members 
of  the  Committee  and  Marshals. 

Procession  shall  move  from  Pembroke  at  half-past  seven,  in  the  following 
order :  — 

MARSHALS 

Rogers.  Perkins.  Marston. 


I 


Whittemore. 


Committee  of  Arrangements. 

Chief  Marshal  Parker. 

GENERAL    LAFAYETTE 

And  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 

(In  a  Barouche.) 

The  General's  Suite. 
(In  Carriages.) 

Aides  of  His  Excellency. 


Chamberlain.      (      Gentlemen  of  Distinction,  Strangers, 

■<  and  Citizens, 

Locke.  (  In  Carriages  and  on  Horses. 


J 

Darling. 

Chad-wick. 
Clarke. 


548  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1825 

At  the  line  of  Concord,  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  from  the  citizen* 
of  Concord  will  be  introduced  to  the  General  bj  the  Marshal,  and  then  take 
their  place  in  the  procession  next  to  the  Aides  of  his  Excellency. 

A  national  salute  will  be  fired  from  the  military  upon  the  hill  beyond  the 
bridge. 

Procession  shall  be  received  at  the  same  place  by  the  military  escort,  under 
the  command  of  General  Bartlett. 

The  band  of  musick  shall  follow  the  military  escort,  and  precede  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements;  and  in  this  form  the  procession  shall  move  to  the 
north  end  of  Main  street,  wheel  and  return  down  Main  street  to  the  General's- 
quarters  at  Colonel  Kent's. 

The  General  shall  be  escorted  in  the  same  manner  from  his  quarters,  up 
Main  street  to  opposite  the  State  House,  and  a  national  salute  shall  be  fired 
on  the  moving  of  the  procession. 

The  militaiy  shall  then  form  a  line  from  the  front  gate  to  the  Capitol,  ten 
feet  from  each  side  of  the  gravel  walk. 

Committee  of  Arrangements  will  dismount  and  form  between  the  barouche 
and  the  gate  two  deep.  The  General  and  his  suite  will  alight  from  their  car- 
riages, the  General  being  supported  by  Senators  Webster  and  Bowers  —  they 
will  move  to  the  Capitol,  followed  by  the  General's  suite  and  his  Excellency's 
aides. 

After  entering  the  south  door  of  the  Representatives'  Chamber,  the  com- 
mittee will  open,  the  General  shall  be  announced  by  the  Marshal,  and  the 
Legislature  shall  rise  and  receive  him.  He  will  then  be  presented  by  the 
Marshal  to  the  Governor  and  Council,  Senate,  and  House  of  Representatives; 
after  which  the  Governor  shall  make  an  address  to  the  General,  in  behalf  of 
the  Legislature. 

The  Marshal  will  then  introduce  him  to  the  Governor,  who  will  introduce 
him  to  the  Council.  The  Governor  will  introduce  him  to  the  President  of  the 
Senate,  who  will  introduce  him  to  the  Senators.  The  Governor  will  intro- 
duce him  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  who  will  intro- 
duce him  to  the  members. 

When  the  General  shall  be  introduced  into  the  Representatives'  Chamber, 
the  Governor  will  be  seated  in  the  Speaker's  chair,  —  the  Council  at  the  right 
of  the  Governor  in  the  wall  seat  —  and  the  Senate  on  the  left  of  the  Speaker's 
chair.  On  the  right  of  the  Speaker,  on  the  floor,  in  settees,  the  Secretary 
and  Treasurer,  Adjutant  and  Commissary  General,  the  Attorney-General, 
Judges  of  the  Courts,  Senators,  and  Representatives  to  Congress. 

The  Speaker  of  the  House  will  be  seated  in  a  chair  in  front  of  the  centre 
division  of  the  House. 

The  General  will  be  conducted  to  his  seat  at  the  right  of  the  Governor  and 
his  suite,  to  the  seat  in  front  of  the  Council. 

The  General  will  be  escorted  in  the  same  way,  supported  by  the  Governor, 
to  the  area  of  the  Capitol,  where  the  Revolutionary  oflnicers  and  soldiers  will 
be  introduced  to  him  by  the  Marshal. 

He  will  be  escorted  and  supported  in  the  same  manner  by  the  Governor  to 
the  dinner  table. 


1825]  ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL.  549 

From  the  table  he  shall  be  escorted  and  supported  in  like  manner  to  his 
barouche  —  and  accompanied  in  the  barouche  by  the  Governor  to  his  quar- 
ters. 

The  military  will  then  be  discharged. 

At  seven  o'clock  the  General  will  hold  a  levee  on  the  area  of  the  Capitol, 
for  the  introduction  of  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

After  the  levee,  the  Capitol  will  be  illuminated. 

Marshals  Cartland,  French,  Bell,  and  Ha7n  will  have  charge  of  the  State 
House  and  Yard.' 

In  1825  farmers  were  simply  farmers  and  nothing  more.  Thiey 
raised  nearly  all  the  supplies  for  their  own  tables,  and  largely  for 
their  clothing,  which  was  manufactured  from  the  raw  materials 
in  their  homes.  Wheat  was  much  more  generally  grown  then 
than  now,  but  not  in  sufficient  quantities  to  furnish  bread  for  the 
household.  Flour  was  rarely  bought  by  the  barrel ;  and  barley, 
rye,  and  Indian  corn  were  extensively  used.  In  those  earlier 
days  flour  bread  was,  with  large  numbers  of  families,  dignified 
with  the  name  of  "cake,"  and  considered  a  luxury  for  use  on 
extra  occasions,  when  company  was  entertained.  A  story  is  told 
in  one  of  the  old  Rockingham  county  towns  which  illustrates  this 
fact.  A  high-toned  gentleman,  known  as  the  "  Squire,"  called 
at  a  farm-house  one  day,  on  sonae  business,  and  when  he  had 
finished  his  errand  and  had  remounted  at  the  door,  the  good 
housewife,  wishing  to  impress  the  squire  with  the  dignity  and 
thrift  of  her  family,  said  to  him  :  "  Squire,  won't  you  stop  and 
have  some  flour  bread  and  butter.''"  thinking  it  now  too  late  for 
him  to  accept  her  invitation.  To  her  chagrin  the  doughty  squire 
•  replied  :  "Thank  you,  marm,  I  don't  care  if  I  do,"  and  promptly 
dismounted  and  entered  the  house.  The  poor  woman  could  only 
explain  that  to  her  surprise  she  found  the  flour  bread  all  out,  and 
offered  him  the  best  she  had,  some  Indian  bannock.  A  string  of 
bannocks,  eight  or  ten  in  number,  would  be  set  upon  tins  in  front 
of  the  fire  in  the  broad  fireplace,  there  being  room  then  left  in 
the  corner  for  one  to  sit  and  look  straight  up  the  chimney  into 
the  blue  heavens.  There  was  very  little  market  for  farm  pro- 
duce in  those  days,  except  in  the  larger  towns  ;  long  journeys 
had  to  be  made,  mostly  to  such  as  were  known  as  "sea-ports,"' 

*  Copy  of  official  program. 


550  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1827 

as  there  were  no  interior  towns  of  sufficient  population  to  be 
centres  of  such  trade.  Every  farmer  kept  a  flock  of  sheep,  and 
wool  constituted  a  large  portion  of  the  clothing.  It  was  carded, 
spun,  and  woven  at  home,  and  made  into  garments  for  both  sexes. 
The  best  clothes  for  men  and  boys  were  made  of  what  was 
called  "fulled  cloth."  This  was  made  at  home,  of  the  finest 
material,  and  taken  to  the  mills  known  as  "fulling-mills,"  where 
it  was  put  through  a  process  of  thickening,  dyeing,  and  finishing. 
The  women  used  to  wear  gowns  of  cloth  which  was  called 
"pressed  woollen."  This  was  simply  home-made  flannel,  taken 
to  the  mills  above-named  and  pressed  so  as  to  present  a  glossy 
surface. 

Every  farmer  had  a  small  patch  of  flax.  This  was  pulled  and 
spread  out  in  rows  on  the  ground,  "rotted"  and  then  "  broken  " 
and  "swingled,"  and  was  prepared  for  the  combing,  carding,  and 
the  "  little  wheel,"  as  the  machine  was  called,  on  which  the  flax 
was  spun,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  larger  machine  for  spinning 
wool.  It  was  woven  into  cloth  for  table  covers,  towelling,  sheet- 
ing, and  shirting.  The  "tow,"  which  was  the  coarse  portion 
combed  out  on  the  "hatchel,"  was  spun  into  a  coarse  yarn,  of 
which  a  cloth  was  made  for  summer  suits  for  men  and  boys. 
The  tow  shirt,  so  commonly  worn,  was,  when  new,  an  instrument 
■of  torture  to  the  wearer,  as  it  was  full  of  prickling  spines  left 
from  the  woody  part  of  the  stalk. 

Benjamin  Pierce  was  elected  governor  in  1827.  He  was  born 
^n  Chelmsford  in  December,  1757. 

Two  days  after  the  encounter  between  the  patriots  and  the 
13ritish  soldiers  at  Lexington,  Benjamin  Pierce,  then  eighteen 
years  old,  was  holding  the  plough  in  his  uncle's  field  in  Chelms- 
ford when  the  news  of  that  event  arrived.  He  immediately  left 
the  plough,  took  his  uncle's  gun  and  equipments,  and  started  for 
l^oston.  There  he  enlisted  ;  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill,  remained  in  the  service  during  the  war,  and  was  on  the 
staff  of  George  Washington  until  the  final  disbandment  of  the 
American  army  at  West  Point  in  1784.  He  settled  in  Hills- 
Lorough  in  1786,  and  earnestly  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
He  took  great  interest  in  military  affairs,  holding  offices  in  the 


1827]  ERA    OK    GOOD-WILL.  55  f 

militia  from  colonel  to  general  of  brigade.  In  1798  he  refused 
a  colonel's  commission  in  the  regular  army.  He  was  also 
called  upon  to  fill  many  political  offices,  such  as  representative, 
counsellor,  and  presidential  elector.  He  finally  was  chosen  gov- 
ernor of  New  Hampshire  in  1827—9.  His  public  services  in  one 
capacity  and  another  extended  over  fifty  years.  At  his  death, 
which  took  place  in  April,  1839,  ^"^^  when  in  his  eighty-second 
year,  he  was  vice-president  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 
He  was  patriotic,  brave,  noble-minded,  and  charitable  ;  a  bene- 
factor to  his  country,  and  a  blessing  to  his  State  and  society,  — 
and  no  one  memory  associated  with  the  past  history  of  Hillsbor- 
ough brings  up  higher  feelings  of  respect  and  veneration  than 
that  of  General  Benjamin  Pierce. 

'  When  high  sheriff  of  Hillsborough  county  his  duties  called  him  at  one 
time  to  Ainherst,  where  he  found,  imprisoned  in  the  jail,  three  Revolutionary 
soldiers.  Interesting  himself  in  their  behalf  he  learned  the  prisoners  had 
served  their  country  well  and  f.iithfully — had  honorable  discharges,  but  at 
the  close  of  the  Revolution,  Like  hundreds  of  their  comrades,  were  penniless. 
Thej  had,  after  long  and  weary  dajs  of  travel,  reached  their  homes,  where 
a  merciless  creditor  secured  their  arrest  and  imprisonment  for  debt.  Ascer- 
taining these  facts,  he  instantly  discharged  their  liability,  and,  taking  the 
keys  from  the  jailor,  unlocked  the  prison  doors,  and,  leading  the  old  veteran.s 
from  confinement,  pointing  to  the  blue  sky  above  them  said:  "Go,  breathe 
the  free  air!  There  can  be  no  true  republican  liberty  when  such  men  as  you 
are  consigned  to  prison  for  such  a  cause." 

'["he  Pierce  mansion  in  Hillsborough  stands  in  the  midst  of  grounds  which 
in  former  years  were  laid  out  with  elegant  taste,  and  embellished  with  fruit 
trees  and  shrubbery.  Several  handsome,  stately  trees  embower  the  venerable 
roof.  Around  the  front  side  of  the  building  extends  a  broad  and  generous 
piazza.     Surely  none  ever  gave  a  more  genial  welcome. 

The  founder  of  this  mansion  was  a  great  man  in  his  day,  and  with  but  one 
exception  was  probably  the  most  popular  governor  ever  elected  in  New 
Hampshire.  Even  to-day,  after  the  lapse  of  forty  years,  his  very  name 
touches  the  heart  almost  to  a  burst  of  enthusiasm.  His  personal  appearance, 
as  it  has  been  preserved  by  the  portraits  on  the  walls  of  the  mansion  and  in 
the  State  House  at  Concord,  is  indicative  of  the  man.  There  is  something 
of  the  look  of  a  Jackson  in  thac  face.  The  jaws  have  the  same  lion-like  solidity, 
the  lips  are  firm,  and  the  nose  identical  with  that  same  feature  which  we 
observe  in  the  portrait  of  the  hero  of  the  hermitage,  but  the  eyes  have  a  merry- 
gleam,  and  the  rubicund  visage  and  the  thick-set,  portly  figure  tell  more 
plainly  than  words  can  of  the  frank,  fearless,  good  uaturcd,  good  living,  hos- 

'  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


552  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1827 

pitable  squire,  whose  name  could  ralh'  more  a  oters  to  the  polls  than  that  of 
any  other  man  in  the  State,  after  John  T.  Oilman. 

Grand  as  the  house  is,  one  would  hardly  think  that  it  had  been  the  scene  of 
so  much  romance  and  glory.  Yet  there  is  no  dwelling  within  our  State  that 
can  evoke  more  significant  associations  than  does  this  rural  mansion.  Here 
dwelt  the  embryo  statesman  and  president,  Franklin  Pierce,  eon  of  Governor 
Pierce,  through  all  his  boyhood  days.  Out  of  these  windows  looked  the  eyes 
that  were  to  gaze  on  the  splendors  of  the  White  House,  and  the  varied  scenes 
of  foreign  lands.  In  this  very  yard  rang  the  voice  which  was  to  stir  listening 
senates  with  its  tones.  Around  this  place  centres  all  of  the  associations  con- 
nected with  his  youthful  years.  Here  was  the  theatre  of  his  early  sports, 
here  his  school-days  began,  here  he  had  his  first  visions  of  future  eminence, 
or  of  the  possibility  of  it.  Through  this  very  door  he  passed  with  his  college 
honors  upon  him,  the  friend  of  Stowe,  of  Hawthorne,  of  Longfellow,  and 
others  equally  known  to  fame.  Here,  also,  he  came  with  the  trappings  of 
state  upon  him,  surrounded  by  a  galaxy  of  the  noblest  Americans.  Great 
men,  statesmen,  writers,  divines,  and  soldiers  have  been  domiciled  under  this 
roof.  Nearly  all  of  the  leading  men  of  New  Hampshire,  for  fifty  years,  vis- 
ited at  Squire  Pierce's  house.  Isaac  Hill,  the  Athertons,  Ebenezer  Webster, 
^udge  Woodbury,  John  T.  Oilman,  Samuel  Bell,  and  Governor  Steele  were 
*nore  than  once  guests  of  the  governor.  And,  afterwards,  Hawthorne,  Dr. 
-Yppleton,  the  McNiels,  and  others  came  to  see  t^he  young  lawyer,  their  friend. 
John  McNiel,  in  particular,  was  often  a  visitor  there,  coming  every  Sunday 
:^.ight  to  pay  his  addresses  to  a  certain  staid,  beautiful  maid,  who  afterwards 
became  his  wife. 

The  school  system  of  the  State  was  entirely  reorganized  in  1827. 
The  law  provided  for  the  election  of  a  superintending  school 
committee,  who  were  required  to  examine  and  license  teachers, 
visit  and  inspect  schools,  to  select  school-books,  and  report  in 
writing  upon  the  condition  of  the  schools  at  the  annual  town- 
meeting.  They  were  empowered  to  withdraw  certificates  and 
dismiss  teachers  and  scholars,  and  they  were  allowed  pay  for  ser- 
vices rendered.  District  or  prudential  committees  were  consti- 
tuted the  legal  agency  to  hire  teachers,  to  provide  board  for  the 
teacher,  fuel,  and  to  repair  and  take  care  of  the  school-house. 
The  inhabitants  of  a  district  were  authorized  to  raise  money  by 
tax  to  build  and  repair  the  school-houses.^ 

November  9,  10,  11,  1827,  were  three  of  the  coldest  days  ever 
known  at  the  time  of  year.     The  Merrimack  river  froze  over. 

The  election- in  the  year  182S  resulted  in  the  choice  of  John 
Bell  of  Chester  for  o-overnor.      He  was  a  brother  of  Governor 


1 828]  KKA    OF    GOOD-WlLl..  553 

Samuel  Bell,  and  the  father  of  Governor  Charles  H.  Bell.  He 
was  born  in  July,  1765,* was  educated  in  Londonderry,  and  com- 
menced business  by  engaging  in  the  Canadian  trade,  occasioning 
frequent  journeys  to  the  business  centres  of  that  province,  which 
with  the  slow  transit  of  those  days  was  no  light  task.  Later  he 
established  business  in  Chester,  where  he  continued  to  reside  till 
his  death  in  1836.  He  had  an  active  interest  in  politics,  and  in 
18 17  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council,  to  which 
he  was  four  times  re-elected.  In  1823  he  was  appointed  high 
sheriff  of  Rockingham  county.  He  was  elected  governor,  in 
1828,  at  a  time  when  the  contending  political  interests  took 
sides  with  the  rival  candidates  for  the  presidency,  Jackson  and 
Adams,  discarding  old  party  ties  and  names.  Mr.  Bell  was  a 
staunch  supporter  of  Adams.  The  struggles  for  supremacy  be- 
tween the  adherents  of  Adams  and  Jackson  were  more  bitter 
than  those  between  the  old  parties,  and  the  factions  were  so 
evenly  matched  in  numbers  that  candidates  for  office  had  to  be 
selected  with  wise  discrimination. 

In  the  summer  of  1828  Mr.  Mason  was  chosen  president  of 
the  branch  bank  of  the  United  States  at  Portsmouth,  and  insti- 
tuted many  reforms  in  the  management  of  the  institution. 

The  town  of  Franklin  was  incorporated  December  24,  1828. 
The  territory  of  the  town  was  formerly  in  the  towns  of  Salis- 
bury, Andover,  Sanbornton,  and  Northfield,  and,  prior  to  1823, 
in  the  three  counties  of  Hillsborough,  Rockingham,  and  Strafford, 
which  joined  near  where  the  Pemigewasset  and  Winnipiseogee 
unite  to  form  the  Merrimack  river,  and  where  the  present  thriv- 
ing village  of  Franklin  is  located. 

In  the  summer  of  1748  the  first  settlement  of  the  town  was 
made  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Webster  place  :  a  fort  was  built, 
and  occupied  four  months.  Upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  garri- 
son to  the  lower  settlements,  Philip  Call  and  his  son  Stephen 
remained,  and  thus  became  the  first  permanent  residents  of  the 
town.  In  1749  the  Masonian  proprietors  granted  the  town  as 
Stevenstown.  Nathaniel  Maloon  and  Sinkler  Bean  were  the 
first  settlers  in  the  western  part  of  the  town,  residing  on  the 
Blackwater,  on  the  South  Road,  so  called.     In  1754  the  former, 


554  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1828 

with  his  wife  and  three  children,  were  taken  captives  to  Canada 
by  Indians  and  disposed  of  to  the  French,  with  whom  they 
remained  for  several  years.  Call's  wife  was  killed  by  the 
Indians  in  August,  1754.  Her  husband  witnessed  the  event 
while  hidden,  unarmed,  in  the  bushes.  Her  daughter-in-law, 
with  her  grand-child,  escaped  death  by  concealment  in  the 
chimney.  Her  descendants  are  among  the  residents  of  the 
town  to  this  day.  Peter  and  John  Bowen  settled  on  the  "  Bur- 
leigh place,"  about  1748.  John  Webster  and  Ebenezer  Web- 
ster, cousins,  settled  in  the  town,  1759-60;  the  former  was  a 
settler  in  Boscavven  in  1754.  The  latter  was  the  father  of 
Ezekiel  and  Daniel  Webster.  They  built  a  grist-mill  on  French 
brook,  near  the  Shaw  place.  The  earliest  tombstone  preserved 
in  town  is  in  the  lower  graveyard  near  the  Webster  place,  and 
is  to  commemorate  one  Ephraim  Collins  who  died  in  1767,  after 
a  residence  in  town  of  at  least  fifteen  years.  Jacob  Morrill, 
Tristan  Quimby,  and  Benjamin  Sanborn  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  the  lower  village. 

Aside  from  the  grist-mill  and  one  house  there  was  no  settle- 
ment in  the  present  upper  village  until  after  the  Revolution. 

Ebenezer  Eastman  may  be  called  the  father  of  the  village. 
He  came  from  Concord  in  the  year  1790,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven.  He  possessed  property,  ability,  and  enterprise.  He 
built  a  saw-mill,  kept  a  tavern,  conducted  a  farm,  and  was  exten- 
sively engaged  in  lumbering.  The  "Webster  House  "  was  his 
old  homestead.  He  owned  several  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the 
vicinity.  He  died  in  1833  in  the  brick  house  south  of  Judge 
Nesmith's.  Several  families  followed  Mr.  Eastman's  lead,  and 
so  the  village  was  started. 

Hon.  Geo.  W.  Nesmith  has  been  identified  with  the  town 
since  1822.  He  was  born  in  Antrim,  in  October,  1800.  He  pur- 
sued his  preparatory  studies  with  Rev.  John  M.  Whitton,  Daniel 
M.  Christie,  and  Henry  Cummings,  graduated  from  Dartmouth 
College,  class  of  1820,  read  law  with  Parker  Noyes  of  Sal- 
isbury in  the  same  office  where  Daniel  Webster  studied,  taught 
school  for  a  short  time  in  Concord  and  in  Bradford,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in   1825.     Judge  Nesmith  has  always 


i828] 


ERA    OF    GOOD-WILL. 


555 


been  an  honored  citizen  of  Franklin,  and  has  represented  the 
town  many  years  in  the  legislature.  He  was  for  a  long  time 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  is  now  a  trustee  of  Dartmouth 
College. 

One  of  the  most  affable  and  genial  gentlemen  of  the  old  school 
is  Judge  Nesmith.  His  years  sit  lightly  upon  him.  An  honor- 
able man,  a  just  judge,  a  kindly  neighbor,  a  good  citizen,  and  a 
ripe  scholar,  he  can  calmly  sit  in  his  well-appointed  libarry,  sur- 
rounded by  his  well-loved  books  and  mementoes  of  the  past,  and 
review  a  well-spent  life  crowned  with  honons.  He  is  of  Scotch- 
Irish  descent. 


MOUNT  CARTER,  FROM   GORHAM. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

TURNPIKES,  CANALS,  RAILROADS,  1828-1840. 

Journey  from  New  Hampshire  to  Philadelphia  —  War  against 
Turnpikes — Matthew  Harvey — Concord  —  Canal  and  River  Navi- 
gation—  Samuel  Dinsmoor  —  Visit  of  Andrew  Jackson  —  Murder 
in  Pembroke  —  New  Hampshire  Asylum  for  the  Insane  —  William 
Badger  —  Nathaniel  P.  Rogers  —  Parker  Pillsbury  —  Railroads 
—  Isaac  Hill  —  Surplus  Revenue — Judge  Boswell  Stevens  —  End 
of  Turnpikes — John  Page  —  Edmund  Burke — James  Wilson  —  East- 
ern Railroad. 

"T^HE  1  active  business  man  of  the  present  day  scarcely  realizes 
the  advances  that  have  been  made  during  the  last  half  century 
in  facilities  for  travel  and  transportation.  So  accustomed  has 
he  become  to  the  easy  transition,  in  a  single  night,  by  palace 
car,  or  by  more  palatial  steamer,  from  his  place  of  business,  in 
almost  any  of  the  southern  New  Hampshire  cities  or  towns,  to 
the  great  commercial  centres  of  New  York  or  Philadelphia,  that 
such  a  magical  annihilation  of  time  and  space  seems  to  him  as 
much  a  matter  of  course  as  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun. 

In  the  year  1828  the  late  Frederick  G.  Stark  resided  in  Man- 
chester, and  kept  a  country  store  near  the  site  of  the  present 
city.  He  was  also  superintendent  of  the  old  Amoskeag  Canal. 
His  goods  were  bought  in  Boston,  and  two  or  three  trips  a  year 
to  the  "  New  England  Metropolis  "  comprised  the  extent  of  his 
customary  travel.  But  occasionally  his  affairs  required  a  more  ex- 
tended journey,  and  being  a  man  of  method  and  close  observation, 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  noting  down  what  he  saw  when  travelling 
out  of  his  usual  course.     His  journal,  written  during  a  journey 

'  Gen.  George  Stark. 


l828]  TURNPIKES,    CANALS,    RAILROADS.  557 

from  Manchester  to  the  "City  of  Brotherly  Love,"  before  the 
days  of  railroads,  has  been  preserved,  and  reads  as  follows  :  — 

Saturday,  October  4,  1S2S.  Left  home  at  about  nine  a.m.;  passed  across 
the  Amoskeag  Falls  with  my  brother  Charles,  who  went  with  me  to  help 
carry  my  trunk;  had  with  me  a  change  of  clothing,  and  just  a  thousand 
dollars  in  money;  went  to  Amoskeag  Hotel  and  waited  for  the  stage,  which 
came  along  in  about  half  an  hour,  and  I  got  on  board  of  it  and  proceeded  to 
Boston,  where  I  arrived  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

Tuesday,  October  7.  Took  the  Providence  stage  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  arrived  at  Providence  between  eleven  and  twelve,  and  went 
directly  on  board  the  steamboat  Chancellor  Livingston,  and  soon  after  twelve 
left  the  wharf  for  Newport  and  New  York.  Arrived  at  Newport  about  half 
past  three,  and  took  in  more  passengers,  making  in  all  about  a  hundred;  left 
the  wharf  in  about  half  an  hour,  and  proceeded  on  for  New  York.  Wind 
strong  ahead  ;  at  sunset  we  were  in  the  open  sea  north-west  from  Block  Island, 
which  was  just  in  sight,  and  a  heavy  sea  was  going,  which  pitched  and  rolled 
the  boat  so  that  few  of  the  passengers  walk  the  deck  without  staggering  and 
stumbling. 

JVednesday,  October  S,  1828.  Got  up  this  morning  at  six  o'clock.  Wind 
blew  hard  all  night,  and  been  in  heavy  sea  all  night;  the  vessel  rolled  and 
pitched  exceedingly,  but  the  wind  has  abated  some  and  the  water  is  not  so 
rough,  we  having  got  into  Long  Island  Sound.  We  arrived  at  New  York 
about  nine  in  the  evening.  I  and  two  other  gentlemen  went  to  a  Mrs.  John- 
son's in  Pearl  street,  and  put  up ;  had  a  pretty  comfortable  night's  lodging. 

Thursday,  October  9,  1S28.  Walked  out  in  the  morning  before  breakfast, 
to  take  a  peep  at  the  famous  city  of  New  York,  and  returned  to  Mrs.  Johnson's 
to  breakfast.  After  breakfast  went  to  the  landing  place  of  the  Union  line 
steamboats  to  engage  passage  to  Philadelphia;  wrote  a  letter  to  brother  John 
and  put  it  into  the  post-office;  went  back  to  Mrs.  Johnson's,  paid  my  bill  of 
entertainment,  and  got  a  porter  to  carry  my  trunk  to  the  landing,  and  went 
on  board  steamboat  Bellona,  bound  for  New  Brunswick,  where  we  arrived 
about  four  or  five  o'clock,  and  took  stages  for  Princeton  and  Trenton.  We 
arrived  at  Trenton  about  nine  o'clock,  where  we  took  supper  and  lodging,  for 
which  they  charged  75  cents,  besides  paying  the  boot  blacker  in  the  morning. 
About  four  o'clock,  Friday  morning,  we  were  called  up  to  go  on  board  the 
steamboat  for  Philadelphia,  and  arrived  at  destination  about  nine  o'clock. 

^The  twenty  years  after  the  opening  of  the  fourth  New  Hamp- 
shire turnpike  wrought  a  marked  change  along  the  line  and 
with  the  travelling  public.  Those  who  had  little  public  spirit, 
and  sought  to  get  along  in  the  world  by  paying  as  little  as  pos- 
sible, regarded  the  toll  gate  as  a  bar  to  progress,  a  restriction 
upon  individual  liberty,  and  a  clog  upon  the  inalienable  rights  of 

*  John  M.  Shirley.  , 


558  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [183O 

men.  The  tavern-keepers,  with  their  retainers  and  dependants, 
who  wielded  a  great  deal  of  influence,  felt  that  a  free  road  would 
bring  a  large  increase  of  public  travel  and  consequent  profits  to 
their  pockets.  The  general  public  felt  that  the  corporation  was 
made  up  of  a  few  men,  some  of  whom  had  acquired  blocks  of 
stock  at  low  prices  and  summed  up  their  opposition  in  the 
ugly  word  monopoly.  A  war  was  made  upon  the  turnpikes  such 
as  afterwards  in  a  more  limited  form  fell  upon  the  toll  bridges. 
The  result  was  that  on  January  23,  1829,  the  Grafton  turnpike, 
in  law,  was  made  a  free  road. 

1  Matthew  Harvey  was  elected  governor  in  1830,  defeating 
Timothy  Upham.  He  was  born  in  Sutton,  in  June,  1781.  He 
was  a  son  of  Matthew  and  Hannah  (Sargent)  Harvey.  He  pre- 
pared for  college  under  the  tuition  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wood, 
D.  D.,  of  Boscawen.  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in 
the  class  of  1806.  He  studied  law  with  John  Harris,  of  Hop- 
kinton,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1809.  He  then  opened 
an  office  in  Hopkinton,  and  began  his  professional  career.  Pos- 
sessed of  merit  and  capacity,  he  rose  to  distinction  ;  endowed 
with  certain  temperamental  characteristics,  he  became  a  promi- 
nent leader  in  Republican,  or  Democratic,  politics.  In  a  special 
sense  he  became  an  eminently  popular  public  official. 

In  1800  the  town  of  Hopkinton  was  in  a  prosperous  and 
thriving  condition.  Its  population  was  increasing.  It  kept  on 
increasing  for  at  least  thirty  more  years.  Hopkinton,  during  a 
considerable  portion  of  this  time,  was  a  town  of  public  distinc- 
tion and  celebrity.  It  was  a  centre  of  commercial,  judicial,  po- 
litical, and  social  activity  and  enterprise.  Its  influence  was  felt 
in  every  department  of  the  Commonwealth.  Besides,  in  1800, 
the  conditions  of  political  classification  in  Hopkinton  differed  in 
no  material  respect  from  those  of  the  rest  of  the  State.  Conse- 
quently, in  1804,  when  the  tide  of  political  favor  was  turning  to- 
wards Republicanism,  the  public  position  of  Hopkinton  made  it 
a  favorable  field  for  the  location  of  some  individual  of  political 
ambition,  who  might  improve  the  opportunity  of  the  flooding 
tide  of  Republicanism  to  ride  on  to  fortune.     The  opportunity 

« C.  C.  Lord. 


1830]  TURNPIKES,    CANALS,    RAILROADS.  5.59 

witnessed  the  aspirant.     The  right  man  appeared.     His  name 
was  Matthew  Harvey. 

Matthew  Harvey  was  many  years  in  office.  He  was  the  incumbent  of' 
smaller  as  well  as  of  greater  offices.  He  was  moderator  of  Hopkinton's  an- 
nual town  meeting  from  1S26  to  1S2S;  also  in  1833  and  1834;  again  in  1840 
and  1S41 ;  and  finally  from  1S45  to  1S50.  He  represented  the  town  in  the 
State  legislature  from  1S14  to  1S20,  and  was  speaker  of  the  House  the  last 
three  years;  he  was  a  member  of  the  national  House  of  Representatives  from 
1S21  to  1-825,  and  afterwards  in  the  State  Senate  three  years,  being  president 
the  last  two;  and  a  member  of  the  New  Hampshire  executive  council  in  1828 
and  1S29. 

In  politics  Matthew  Harvey  represented  the  reactive  element  in  govern- 
ment. In  the  position  of  a  political  leader,  it  was  but  natural  that  he  should 
at  times  exhibit  the  tendency  to  outward  indifference  to  formalism  so  natural 
to  his  political  clan.  It  has  been  told  of  him  that,  being  chosen  to  his  fre- 
quent office  of  moderator  of  town  meeting,  instead  of  saying  to  the  voters  of 
tiie  town,  "You  will  now  please  forward  your  ballots  for  town  clerk,"  he 
would  sometimes  say, — "  You  will  now  please  forward  your  ballots  for  Joab 
Patterson  for  town  clerk."  In  fact,  it  was  a  small  perversion  of  formalities. 
Joab  Patterson  was  a  popular  town  clerk,  and  was  frequently  re-elected. 

In  personal  stature  Matthew  Harvey  was  of  medium  height 
and  proportions,  and  erect.  In  style  he  was  tidy,  dignified,  and 
gentlemanly.  In  social  nature  he  was  generous,  kind,  and  sym- 
pathetic ;  in  moral  character  honest  and  truthful  ;  in  religious 
life  fervent  and  liberal.  His  whole  personal  identity  partook 
more  of  the  ideal  than  of  the  actual,  though  he  was  not  so  ideal 
as  to  be  impractical, 

In  1850  Matthew  Harvey  moved  to  Concord,  where  he  died 
m  1866. 

^In  1830  Concord  contained  three  thousand  seven  hundred 
inhabitants.  It  was  the  shire  town  of  the  county  and  capital 
oi  the  State.  A  flourishing  village  was  rapidly  growing.  There 
were  seven  printing  offices ;  three  political  newspapers  pub- 
lished ;  and  in  the  village  eight  attorneys  at  law  and  five  physi- 
cians. The  field  for  a  pastor  was  large  and  the  labor  abundant, 
among  a  people  distinguished  for  industry  and  morality.  There 
were  three  other  churches,  besides  an  occasional  gathering 
of  "Friends,"  —  the  First  Baptist,  organized  in  1818,  a  Metho- 
dist, organized  in   1828,  and  the  Unitarian^  organized  in  1829. 

«  Rev.  F.  D.  Ayer, 


560  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [183O 

Dr.  Bouton  estimated  that  the  whole  number  connected  with 
all  of  them  was  about  one-fourth  of  the  adult  population,  and 
one-seventh  of  the  inhabitants,  while  one-third  of  the  popu- 
lation attended  services  on  the  Sabbath  and  seven-eighths  could 
be  reckoned  as  church-going.  The  Old  North,  built  in  1751, 
was  still  the  rallying  point  of  the  town,  and  the  great  congrega- 
tion, averaging  about  a  thousand,  thronged  it  every  Sabbath. 
They  came  from  all  directions,  long  distances,  and  many  on  foot. 
The  young  pastor,  Nathaniel  Bouton,  had  been  here  just  long 
enough  to  get  fairly  at  work,  and  to  use  the  powers  of  church 
and  parish  efficiently.  Large  as  was  the  church  it  was  united, 
ready  to  sustain  the  efforts  and  plans  of  the  pastor.  Besides 
preaching  on  the  Sabbath,  the  pastor  appointed  weekly  lectures 
in  different  districts,  and  instituted  four  Bible  classes.  He 
followed  this  plan  for  seven  years,  going  on  horseback  to  all 
sections  of  the  town,  visiting  the  people  and  holding  the  services. 
The  church  also  was  at  work,  and  in  1831  there  was  connected 
with  the  church  fourteen  parish  schools,  taught  in  different 
districts,  and  containing  four  hundred  and  fifty-five  scholars. 
Protracted  meetings  of  three  or  four  days'  duration  were  also 
held,  in  which  the  pastor  was  assisted  by  neighboring  pastors. 
Once  or  twice  a  year  committees  were  appointed  to  visit  from 
house  to  house,  converse  and  pray  with  every  family.  The 
church  frequently  made  appropriations  of  money  to  be  spent  in 
purchasing  tracts  to  be  distributed  and  books  to  be  loaned  to 
inquirers. 

*  From  "  Regulations  relative  to  the  navigation  of  the  Middle- 
sex Canal,"  a  pamphlet  published  in  1830,  it  appears  that  boats 
were  required  to  be  not  less  than  forty  feet  nor  more  than 
seventy-five  feet  in  length,  and  not  less  than  nine  feet  nor  more 
than  nine  and  a  half  feet  in  width.  Two  men,  a  driver  and 
steersman,  usually  made  up  the  working  force ;  the  boats,  how- 
ever, that  went  up  the  Merrimack  required  three  men,  —  one  to 
Ji  steer  and  two  to  pole.  The  Lowell  boats  carried  twenty  tons 
'  of  coal ;  fifteen  tons  were  sufficient  freight  for  Concord ;  when 
the  water  in  the  Merrimack  was  low,  not  more  than  six  or  seven 

>  General  George  Stark. 


1830]  TURNPIKES,    CANALS,    RAILROADS.  $61 

tons  could  be  taken  up  the  river.  About  1830  the  boatmen 
received  $1$  per  month. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  whole  number  of  boats  employed 
at  any  one  time.  Many  were  owned  and  run  by  the  proprietors 
of  the  canal ;  and  many  were  constructed  and  run  by  private 
parties  who  paid  the  regular  tolls  for  whatever  merchandise  they 
transported.  Boats  belonging  to  the  same  parties  were  conspic- 
uously numbered,  like  railway  cars  to-day. 

Lumber  was  transported  in  rafts  —  about  seventy-five  feet 
long  and  nine  feet  wide  ;  and  these  rafts,  not  exceeding  ten  in 
number,  were  often  united  in  "bands."  A  band  of  seven  to  ten 
rafts  required  the  services  of  five  men,  including  the  driver. 
Boats  were  drawn  by  horses,  and  lumber  by  oxen;  and  "lug- 
gage boats  "  were  required  to  make  two  and  a  half  miles  an  hour, 
while  "passage  boats"  attained  a  speed  of  four  miles.  Boats  of 
the  same  class,  and  going  the  same  way,  were  not  allowed  to 
pass  each  other,  thus  making  "  racing  "  impossible  on  the  staid 
waters  of  the  old  canal.  Whenever  a  boat  approached  a  lock, 
the  conductor  sounded  his  horn  to  secure  the  prompt  attention 
of  the  lock-tender ;  but  due  regard  was  paid  to  the  religious 
sentiment  of  New  England.  Travelling  on  the  canal  being 
permitted  on  Sundays,  "  in  consideration  of  the  distance  from 
home  at  which  those  persons  using  it  generally  are,  it  may  be 
reasonably  expected  that  they  should  not  disturb  those  places 
of  public  worship  near  which  they  pass,  nor  occasion  any  noise 
to  interrupt  the  tranquillity  of  the  day.  Therefore  it  is  estab- 
lished that  no  signal-horn  shall  be  used  or  blown  on  Sundays." 

The  tariff  varied  greatly  from  year  to  year.  In  1827  the  rate 
from  Lowell  to  Boston  vvss  $2.00  the  gross  ton  ;  but  many  art- 
icles were  carried  on  much  lower  terms. 

On  account  of  liability  of  damage  to  the  banks  of  the  canal, 
all  navigation  ceased  at  dark  ;  hence,  at  every  lock,  or  series  of 
locks,  a  tavern  was  established.  These  were  all  owned  by  the 
corporation,  and  were  often  let  to  the  lock-tender,  who  eked  out 
his  income  by  the  accommodation  of  boatmen  and  horses. 

A  trip  over  the  canal  in  the  passenger-packet,  the  "  Governor 
Sullivan,"  must  have  been  an  enjoyable  experience.     Protected 


5^2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  ['830 

by  iron  rules  from  the  clangers  of  collision  ;  undaunted  by  squalls 
of  wind,  realizing,  should  the  craft  be  capsized,  that  he  had 
nothing  to  do  but  walk  ashore,  the  traveller,  speeding  along  at 
the  leisurely  pace  of  four  miles  per  hour,  had  ample  time  for 
observation  and  reflection. 

With  the  accession  of  business  brought  by  the  corporations  at 
Lowell,  the  prospect  for  increased  dividends  in  the  future  was 
extremely  encouraging.  The  golden  age  of  the  canal  appeared 
close  at  hand  ;  but  the  fond  hopes  of  the  proprietors  were  once 
more  destined  to  disappointment.  Even  the  genius  of  James 
Sullivan  had  not  foreseen  the  railway  locomotive. 

In  1829  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  legislature  for  the  sur- 
vey of  a  railroad  from  Boston  to  Lowell.  The  interests  of  the 
canal  were  seriously  involved.  A  committee  was  promptly 
chosen  to  draw  up  for  presentation  to  the  General  Court  "A 
Remonstrance  of  the  Proprietors  of  Middlesex  Canal  against  the 
grant  of  a  charter  to  build  a  Railroad  from  Boston  to  Lowell." 
This  remonstrance,  signed  by  William  Sullivan,  Joseph  Coolidge, 
and  George  Hallett,  bears  date  of  Boston,  February  12,  1830, 
and  conclusively  shows  how  little  the  business  men  of  fifty  years 
ago  anticipated  the  enormous  development  of  our  resources 
consequent  upon  the  application  of  steam  to  transportation  :  — 

"  It  is  believed  no  safer  or  cheaper  mode  of  conveyance  can  ever  be  estab- 
lished, nor  anj  so  well  adapted  for  carrying  heavy  and  bulky  articles.  To 
establish  therefore  a  substitute  for  the  canal  alongside  of  it,  and  in  many 
places  within  a  few  rods  of  it,  and  to  do  that  which  the  canal  was  made  to  do, 
seems  to  be  a  measure  not  called  for  by  any  exigency,  nor  one  which  the 
legislature  can  permit,  without  implicitly  declaring  that  all  investments  of 
money  in  public  enterprises  must  be  subjected  to  the  will  of  any  applicants 
who  think  that  they  may  benefit  themselves  without  regard  to  older  enter- 
prises, which  have  a  claim  to  protection  from  public  authority.  The  remon- 
strants would  also  add  that,  so  far  as  they  know  and  believe,  there  never  can 
be  a  sufficient  inducement  to  extend  a  railroad  from  Lowell  westwardly  and 
northwestwardly,  to  the  Connecticut,  so  as  to  make  it  the  great  avenue  to 
and  from  the  interior,  but  that  its  termination  must  be  at  Lowell,  and  con- 
.sequently  that  it  is  to  be  a  substitute  for  the  modes  of  transportation  now  in 
use  between  that  place  and  Boston,  and  cannot  deserve  patronage  from  the 
supposition  that  it  is  to  be  more  extensively  useful. 

Tlir  Bo^ti'v  '/'/•tfw.'.rr//'/ of  Soptemht  T  i,  1S30,  remarks:  "It  is  not  astonish- 
ing lliiit  so  iiii;i-.h    rt'IiH'taiice   exists  :ig;:inst    jilunging    into   doubtful   specula- 


1832]  TURNPIKES,    CANALS,    KAILROADS.  563 

tions.  The  public  itself  is  divided  as  to  the  practicability  of  the  railroad.  If  they 
expect  the  assistance  of  capitalists,  they  must  stand  ready  to  guarantee  the 
j>er  centum  per  ai/iium  ;  without  this,  all  hopes  of  i»ailroads  are  visionary  and 
chimerical."  In  a  report  of  legislative  proceedings  published  in  the  Boston 
Courier,  of  January  25,  1S30,  Mr.  Cogswell,  of  Ipswich,  remarked:  "Rail- 
ways, Mr.  Speaker,  may  do  well  enough  in  old  countries,  but  will  never  be 
the  thing  for  so  young  a  country  as  this.  When  you  can  make  the  rivers  run 
back,  it  will  be  time  enough  to  make  a  railway."  Notwithstanding  the  pa- 
thetic remonstrances  and  strange  vaticinations  of  the  canal  proprietors,  the 
legislature  incorporated  the  road  and  refused  compensation  to  the  canal. 
Even  while  the  railroad  was  in  process  of  construction  the  canal  directors  do 
not  seem  to  have  realized  the  full  gravity  of  the  situation.  They  continued 
the  policy  of  replacing  wood  with  stone,  and  made  every  effort  to  perfect  the 
service  in  all  its  details. 

The  canal  dividends  had  been  kept  up  to  their  highest  mark  by  the  sale  of 
its  townships  in  Maine  and  other  real  estate,  but  now  they  began  to  drop.  The 
year  the  Lowell  road  went  into  full  operation  the  receipts  of  the  canal  were 
reduced  one-third;  and  when  the'  Nashua  &  Lowell  read  went  into  full 
operation,  in  1S40,  they  were  reduced  another  third.  The  board  of  directors 
waged  a  plucky  warfare  with  the  railroads,  reducing  the  tariff  on  all  articles, 
and  almost  abolishing  it  on  some,  till  the  expenditures  of  the  canal  outran  its 
income;  but  steam  came  out  triumphant. 

Concord,  Piscataquog,  Litchfield,  and  Nashua  each  had  its  lines  of  boats, 
making  in  the  aggregate  quite  a  little  fleet.  The  broad  reaches  of  the  river 
below  Nashua  were  at  times  rendered  especially  picturesque  by  the  bellying 
sails  as  the  boats  drove  before  the  wind. 

This  part  of  the  river  had  also  upon  it,  for  three  or  four  years  subsequent 
to  1834,  a  fair-sized  steamboat,  plying  for  passengers  and  freight  between 
Nashua  and  Lowell.  She  was  commanded  one  season  by  Captain  Jacob  Van- 
derbilt  of  Staten  Island,  New  York,  brother  to  the  late  Commodore  Vander- 
bilt.  In  the  early  part  of  the  season,  while  the  water  of  the  river  was  at  its 
highest  stages,  it  was  also  thronged  with  logs  and  lumber  being  taken  down 
for  market. 

The  first  agent  appointed  by  the  canal  company,  "  to  superintend  the  said 
canals,  to  collect  tolls,"  at  Amoskeag,  was  Samuel  P.  Kidder,  who  had  for 
many  years  been  assistant  and  confidential  secretary  of  Judge  Blodgett,  the 
leading  proprietor  of  the  Amoskeag  Canal.  He  held  the  appointment  until 
his  decease  in  1S22,  when  Frederick  G.  Stark,  a  grandson  of  General  John 
Stark,  was  appointed  his  successor.  Mr.  Stark  held  the  position  continuously 
about  fifteen  years  until  1837.  During  this  period  his  correspondence  shows 
him  to  have  been  in  active  communication  with  the  Boston  agents  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  Middlesex  Canal,  who  also  owned  or  controlled  the  river 
canals,  and  he  appears  to  have  at  all  times  enjoyed  their  full  confidence. 

The  Merrimack  river  canals  were  blotted  out  by  the  railroads.  The  open- 
ing of  the  railroad  to  Lowell  in  1S35,  to  Nashua  in  1S3S,  and  to  Concord  in 
1842  were  successive  steps  of  destruction  to  the  whole  system  of  river  naviga- 


564  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1835, 

tion,  and  culminated  in   a  total    abandonment  of  the  canals  soon  after  the 
Concord  Railroad  was  put  in  operation. 

A  hardy  race  of  boatmen,  pilots,  and  raftsmen  —  men  of  uncommon 
strength  and  endurance,  skilful  in  their  calling  but  unfamiliar  with  other 
labor  —  were  suddenly  and  permanently  thrown  out  of  employment.  The 
wooden  dams  and  locks  went  to  decay,  the  embankments  were  cut  and 
ploughed  down,  and  successive  spring  freshets  have  hurled  their  icy  batteries 
against  the  stone  abutments  and  lock  walls  until  they  are  nearly  obliterated, 
and  the  next  generation  will  know  not  of  them. 

In  1 83 1  Samuel  Dinsmoor  of  Keene  was  elected  governor, 
defeating  Ichabod  Bartlett. 

Hon.  Samuel  Dinsmoor  was  a  native  of  Windham,  born  in 
July,  1766.  He  was  of  the  Londonderry  Scotch-Irish  descent, 
great-grandson  of  John  Dinsmoor,  one  of  the  first  settlers, 
grandson  of  Robert  Dinsmoor,  and  son  of  William  Dinsmoor. 
He  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College,  1789;  read  law,  and  settled 
in  Keene  in  1792.  As  a  young  man  he  was  especially  interested 
in  military  affairs,  and  organized  the  Keene  light  infantry  —  one 
of  the  finest  drilled  and  best  equipped  corps  known  under  the 
old  militia  laws.  In  1808  he  was  appointed  postmaster.  In 
1811  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and  distinguished  himself  by 
favoring  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  On  his  return  he  was 
appointed  collector  of  the  direct  tax,  and  afterwards  was  judge 
of  Probate.  In  1821  he  was  elected  a  councillor.  In  1823  he 
was  the  regular  nominee  for  governor,  but  was  defeated  by  Levi 
Woodbury  on  an  independent  ticket.      He  died  in  March,  1835. 

Governor  Samuel  Dinsmoor  was  re-elected  in  1832,  again 
defeating  Mr.  Ichabod  Bartlett. 

Governor  Samuel  Dinsmoor  was  elected  for  a  third  term  in 
1833,  defeating  the  Whig  candidate  Arthur  Livermore. 

General  Andrew  Jackson,  then  president  of  the  United  States, 
visited  New  Hampshire,  by  invitation  of  the  legislature.  The 
occasion  brought  a  vast  company  into  Concord,  and  the  28th  of 
June,  1833,  became  distinguished  as  one  of  the  "great  days  "  at 
the  capital  of  New  Hampshire.  It  was  anterior  to  the  construc- 
tion of  railways  in  the  State,  hence  conveyance  thither  was  by 
wheel  carriages  or  personal  locomotion.  The  occasion  diifered 
from    the  visit  of  General  Lafayette    to  Concord,  eight  years 


1833]  TURNPIKES,    CANALS,    RAILROADS.  565 

before,  spoken  of  on  a  preceding  page,  in  that  the  former 
brought  out  men  without  regard  to  any  poHtical  preferences^ 
while  the  visit  of  President  Jackson  was  during  a  season  of 
much  partisan  strife.  Nevertheless  the  number  of  people  in 
town,  June  28,  1833,  was  very  great,  and  their  demonstrations  of 
delight  were  of  the  most  emphatic  character.  To  thousands  of 
Democrats  it  was  the  happiest  day  of  their  lives,  if  outward 
appearances  be  taken  as  proof  of  joys  within. 

The  day  was  Friday  —  the  weather  of  auspicious  character. 
The  president  was  accompanied  by  the  vice-president,  Martin 
Van  Buren  ;  Hon.  Lewis  Cass,  secretary  of  war  ;  Hon.  Levi 
Woodbury,  secretary  of  the  navy ;  the  private  secretary  of 
the  president,  Major  Donaldson,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  a 
few  others.  He  was  met  on  the  "river-road,"  so  called,  in  Bow, 
being  there  received  by  a  cavalcade,  at  the  head  of  which  was 
the  town  committee,  of  whom  General  Robert  Davis  was  chair- 
man. The  military  display  was  of  a  high  order,  consisting  of 
eight  picked  companies,  of  which  was  the  Keene  light  infantry,. 
in  command  of  James  Wilson  —  probably  the  best  disciplined, 
most  effective,  largest,  and  most  attractive  military  company 
ever  seen  in  New  Hampshire.  The  entire  body  of  troops  was- 
in  charge  of  Colonel  Stephen  Peabody  of  Milford. 

The  president  rode  into  town  on  horseback,  preceded  by  the 
military,  and  passed  up  Main  street  to  the  North  End,  down 
State  street  to  School,  thence  to  the  Eagle  Hotel,  where  he 
remained  during  his  stay  in  town.  The  next  day  (Saturday) 
the  president  reviewed  the  troops,  accompanied  by  Governor 
Dinsmoor  and  Adjutant-general  Low,  —  this  spectacle  being- 
witnessed  on  State  street,  immediately  west  of  the  Capitol. 
Succeeding  this  was  the  introduction  of  the  president  to  the 
civil  government  and  legislature.  The  press  in  the  House,  the 
passages,  and  galleries,  was  probably  never  greater  than  on  this 
occasion,  there  not  being  a  foot  of  vacant  space  in  the  Repre- 
sentatives' Hall  or  galleries. 

On  Saturday  the  president  received  the  calls  of  citizens  and 
others,  visited  the  State  Prison,  and  in  the  evening  received  a 
multitude  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  Doric  Hall,  or  ar-a  of 


566  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1833 

the  State  House.  On  Sunday  he  and  his  suite  attended  public 
worship  —  in  the  forenoon  at  the  North  church,  early  in  the 
afternoon  at  the  Unitarian  church,  and  a  service  at  four  o'clock 
at  the  Baptist  church. 

The  president  and  his  suite  left  on  Monday  morning  for 
Washington,  being  accompanied  to  the  town  line  by  the  same 
committee  by  whom  he  was  received. 

The  youngest  of  the  sons  of  Hon.  Isaac  Hill  was,  with 
another  youth  named  Andrew  Jackson,  presented  to  the  presi- 
dent, who  gave  to  each  a  United  States  si4ver  coin,  saying, 
"  Here,  my  sons,  is  the  eagle  of  your  country,  which  I  have 
endeavored  to  honor  and  defend.  Keep  it  in  remembrance  of 
me,  and  if  it  is  ever  assailed  by  a  foreign  or  domestic  foe,  rally 
under  its  pinions,  and  defend  it  to  the  last." 

The  town  of  Pembroke  was  shocked,  on  Sunday,  June  23,  by 
the  rapidly  spread  intelligence  that  Sally,  wife  of  Chauncey 
Cochran,  had  been  murdered  by  Abraham  Prescott,  a  boy  of 
eighteen,  who  had  been  living  with  the  family. 

Prescott  accompanied  Mrs.  Cochran  into  a  field  near  the 
house  to  pick  strawberries,  and  struck  her  the  fatal  blow,  in  a 
secluded  spot,  with  no  motive  that  was  ever  known.  From 
the  testimony  at  the  trial  it  was  evident  that  he  was  of  weak 
mind. 

He  was  lodged  in  jail  at  Hopkinton,  and  was  allowed  two 
trials,  in  which  he  was  ably  defended  by  Hon.  Ichabod  Bartlett, 
■of  Portsmouth,  and  Charles  H.  Peaslee,  Esq.,  of  Concord,  who 
firmly  believed  in  his  moral  irresponsibility  ;  and  prosecuted  by 
the  attorney-general,  George  Sullivan,  Esq.,  and  the  county 
solicitor,  John  Whipple,  Esq.  The  court  was  held  by  Chief  Jus- 
tice William  M.  Richardson,  Associate  Justice  Joel  Parker,  with 
the  Common  Pleas  justices,  Benjamin  Wadleigh  and  Aaron 
Whittemore,  at  the  first  trial,  in  September,  1834. 

The  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and  he  was  sentenced 
to  be  hung. 

His  counsel,  feeling  a  positive  conviction  that  he  was  irrespon- 
sible for  his  acts,  either  through  mental  impotency  or  insanity, 
sought  every  possible  pretext  for  a  new  trial.      A  new  trial  was 


568  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1834. 

granted  at  the  December  term  of  the  Superior  Court,  1834, 
and  the  case  came  on  for  trial  in  September,  1835  ;  when 
Associate  Justice  Nathaniel  G.  Upham  took  the  place  of  Chief 
Justice  Richardson  on  the  bench  ;  the  other  justices  and  the 
counsel  were  the  same  as  at  the  first  trial. 

Prescott  was  again  found  guilty,  and  his  sentence  confirmed, 
to  the  disappointment  of  many  who  did  not  believe  him  morally 
guilty. 

On  the  day  fixed  for  the  execution  a  great  crowd  assembled  at 
Hopkinton  village  to  witness  the  event,  and  when  informed  that 
a  reprieve  had  been  granted,  behaved  in  a  most  disgraceful  man- 
ner, and  by  their  demonstrations  caused  the  death  of  a  lady  from 
fright.  The  reprieve  was  granted  for  a  final  hearing  before  the 
governor  and  Council ;  but  they  refused  to  interfere,  and  the  sen- 
tence was  carried  into  effect  January  6,  1836. 

One  trial  was  held  at  the  Old  North  meeting-house,  in  Con- 
cord. General  Peaslee  and  Mr.  Bartlett  managed  the  case  with 
great  learning  and  ability ;  and  it  was  largely  due  to  their  in- 
strumentality that  the  New  Hampshire  Asylum  for  the  Insane 
was  afterward  established.     Prescott  was  buried  in  Rumney. 

One   of  the  most   generous    benefactors  of  the  Asylum    for 
he  Insane  was  Moody  Kent,  a  resident  of  Pembroke. 

The  power  of  the  human  voice  to  give  force  to  language 
^/as  never  more  apparent  than  in  the  case  of  George  Sulli- 
van. Probably  that  one  of  his  productions  upon  which  the 
greatest  labor  was  bestowed  was  his  argument  for  the  gov- 
ernment in  the  case  of  "  Abraham  Prescott  on  an  indictment 
for  the  murder  of  Mrs  Sally  Cochran,  of  Pembroke,  before 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  holden  in  Concord,  for  the 
county  of  Merrimack,  September,  1834."  This  production  fills 
-wenty-seven  pages  of  the  printed  Trial,  and  was  attentively 
listened  to,  from  beginning  to  close,  by  a  great  assembly ; 
but,  read  at  the  present  day,  it  will  be  found  of  far  less 
force  than  the  argument  of  Hon.  Ichabod  Bartlett,  of  counsel 
for  the  prisoner,  made  the  same  or  the  preceding  day.  But  pub- 
lic opinion  was  with  the  attorney-general,  and,  therefore,  had  the 
merits  of  the  two  ariruments  been  submitted  to  those  who  heard 


^^34]  TURNPIKES,  CANALS,  RAILROADS.  569 

them  to  decide  by  vote,  a  great  preponderance  would  have  been 
on  the  side  of  Sullivan. ^ 

The  spot  where  Mrs.  Cochran  fell  is  indicated  by  a  granite 
tlock  about  a  foot  square  and  three  feet  high,  bearing  the 
figures  "  1833." 

William  Badger,  of  Gilmanton,  was  elected  governor  in   1834. 

Old  Gilmanton  was  formerly  one  of  the  largest  and  most  im- 
portant towns  of  New  Hampshire,,  and  before  Belmont  was 
severed  from  it  the  value  of  agricultural  products  exceeded  that 
of  any  other  town  in  the  State.  Among  its  citizens  were  num- 
bered many  men  of  large  wealth  and  usefulness,  not  a  few  of 
whom  acquired  a  name  that  was  known  and  reverenced  beyond 
the  limits  of  their  own  neighborhood.  Gilmanton  citizens, 
bearing  the  proud  name  of  Gilman,  Cogswell,  and  Badger,  dur- 
ing more  than  one  generation  exercised  active  influence  in  the 
councils  of  the  State.  They  were  militia  officers,  sheriffs, 
judges,  senators,  and  governors.^ 

To  the  site  of  the  Badger  homestead,  in  1784,  came  General  Joseph 
Badger,  jr.,  one  of  the  brave  soldiers  of  the  Revolution.  But  he  was  not 
the  first  Badger  who  was  eminent  in  the  history  of  Gilmanton.  His  father, 
Ceneral  Joseph  Badger,  sen.,  was  one  of  the  earlier  settlers,  and  a  prominent 
man  in  the  town  and  in  the  State.  In  1773,  when  Governor  Wentworth 
organized  three  additional  regiments  in  the  militia  of  the  State,  he  placed  as 
colonel  at  the  head  of  the  tenth  —  the  first  one  organized  — ■  his  friend,  Joseph 
Badger,  then  a  man  a  little  past  fifty.  His  regiment  comprised  the  towns  of 
Gilmanton,  Barnstead,  Sanbornton,  Meredith,  and  New  Hampton.  Colonel 
Badger  was  in  command  of  his  regiment  when  the  war  opened,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  favor  of  the  patriot  cause.  For  many  years  he  represented  the 
town  at  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  1784  he  was  councillor  for  Strafford 
county.  Before  the  war  closed  he  was  appointed  brigadier-general  of  militia, 
and  had  a  commission  signed  by  Meshech  Weare.  He  was  moderator  twenty 
times  in  twenty-five  years,  a  selectman  eleven  years,  and  town  treasurer  six 
years.  He  died  in  1S03,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years,  after  living  one  of  the 
most  active  and  useful  lives  of  his  generation. 

His  oldest  son,  Joseph,  jr.,  followed  in  the  veteran's  footsteps.  He  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolution,  and  fought  in  several  of  the  battles  of  that  contest. 
He  was  a  lieutenant  of  his  regiment  during  the  campaign  against  Burgoyne, 
and  did  eminent  service  under  Gates.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned 
to  Gilmanton,  and  turned  his  attention  to  farming.  He  owned  three  hundred 
acres  of  land,  the  nucleus  of  what  became  ultimately  a  magnificent  country 
estate.     His  residence  was  a  simple,  one-story,  frame  house,  but  it  was  the 

«  Asa  McFarland.  =  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


570  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1834 

home  of  contentment,  prosperity,  and  happiness.  The  people  knew  his 
-worth  and  honored  him  from  time  to  time  with  a  testimony  of  their  trust. 
They  sent  him  several  successive  years  to  the  legislature  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  town.  In  1790  he  was  chosen  councillor  for  the  Strafford  district, 
and  was  re-elected  eight  times  to  that  important  office.  He  was  prominent  in 
the  State  militia,  passing  through  various  grades  of  office  in  the  tenth  regi- 
ment to  its  command  in  1795.  In  1796  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Gil" 
man  brigadier-general  of  the  second  brigade.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
one,  January  14,  1S09.  Says  Judge  Chandler  E.  Potter,  in  his  "Military 
History  of  New  Hampshire  :"  "  As  a  brave  soldier,  earnest  patriot,  and  up- 
right citizen,  few  men  have  better  deserved  the  favor  of  the  public  than 
General  Badger." 

The  inheritor  of  his  wealth,  his  ability,  and  his  popular  favor  was  his  son 
William  Badger,  who  was  the  third  generation  of  a  family  to  whom  honors 
came  by  a  sort  of  natural  descent.  Born  in  1779,  William  was  but  a  boy  of 
five  3'ears  when  his  father  settled  upon  the  hill.  Thus  his  youth  was  passed 
among  the  charming  influences  of  thisj.insurpassed  location.  Much  of  what 
he  achieved  in  life  must  be  ascribed  to  the  environs  of  his  boyhood,  and  thus 
is  exemplified  the  helpfulness  of  lofty  surroundings.  He  did  not  owe  all  to 
his  ancestry,  nor  to  his  training;  the  fact  that  he  rose  higher  than  his  fathers 
he  owed  undoubtedly  to  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  landscape  he  gazed  upon, 
and  to  the  strengthening  breezes  that  blew  around  his  boyhood  home.  Wil- 
liam Badger  was  elected  a  State  senator  from  district  No.  6.  He  was  twice 
re-elected,  and  the  last  year,  1S16,  he  was  president  of  the  Senate.  This  lat- 
ter year  he  was  appointed  an  associate  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
an  office  that  he  held  until  1S20.  In  May  of  that  year  Governor  Bell  ap- 
pointed him  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Strafford,  and  he  served  in  that  capacity 
ten  years,  retiring  in  1830.* 

Colonel  Badger  was  a  Democrat  of  the  Jefferson  and  Jackson 
school,  and  about  this  time  began  to  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of 
prospective  candidate  for  gubernatorial  honors.  His  large 
wealth,  his  noble  ancestry,  his  long  and  meritorious  services 
brought  him  before  all  men's  eyes.  He  had  moreover  those 
popular  democratic  manners  that  endeared  him  to  the  people. 
In  1831  the  elder  Samuel  Dinsmoor,  of  Keene,  was  the  nominee 
of  the  party,  and  was  three  times  successfully  elected.  In  1834 
Colonel  Badger  became  the  candidate,  and  received  a  triumphant 
election.  The  next  year  he  was  re-elected.  Governor  Badger 
was  a  very  efficient  chief  magistrate.  He  possessed  strict  in- 
tegrity, his  judgment  was  sound,  and  when  determined  upon  a 
course  of  action  he  was  not  to  be  swerved  from  it.  During  the 
"Indian   Stream  territory   troubles"  his  duties  were  of   great 

•  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


1834]  TURNPIKES,  CANALS,  RAILROADS.  57 1 

responsibility,  but  he  performed  them  with  promptness,  and  at 
the  same  time  judiciously.  A  man  with  less  care  and  prudence 
might  have  greatly  increased  our  border  troubles.  His  course 
received  the  hearty  commendation  of  all  parties,  and  doubtless 
saved  us  from  a  war  with  Great  Britain. 

Governor  Badger  was  a  tall,  stately  man,  strong,  six  feet  in 
height,  and  at  some  periods  of  his  life  weighed  nearly  three 
hundred  pounds.  He  was  active  and  stirring  his  whole  life. 
Though  a  man  of  few  words  he  was  remarkably  genial.  He 
had  a  strong  will,  but  his  large  good  sense  prevented  him  from 
being  obstinate.  He  was  generous  and  hospitable,  a  friend  to 
the  poor,  a  kind  neighbor,  and  a  high-souled,  honorable  Chris- 
tian gentleman. 

He  died  September  21,  1852,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three.^ 

^In  1838  Nathaniel  P.  Rogers  removed  from  Plymouth  to 
Concord,  and  became  the  sole  editor  of  the  Herald  of  Freedom. 
He  had,  from  its  establishment  in  1834,  furnished  many  most 
trenchant  and  brilliant  articles  for  its  columns. 

He  was  born  in  Plymouth,  graduated  with  honors  at  Dart- 
mouth College  in  18 16,  studied  law  with  Richard  Fletcher,  then 
settled  down  to  its  practice  in  his  native  town,  and  continued 
there  through  about  twenty  quite  successful  years. 

As  student  in  books  of  general  literature,  especially  history 
and  poetry,  none  were  before  him.  But  general  reading  never 
detracted  in  the  least  from  the  duties  of  his  profession.  At  the 
time  of  his  death,  an  intimate  friend  who  knew  him  long  and 
well  wrote  of  him,  that  "so  accurate  was  his  knowledge  of  law, 
and  so  industrious  was  he  in  business,  that  the  success  of  a 
client  was  always  calculated  upon  from  the  moment  that  his 
assistance  was  secured." 

The  great  mission  of  his  life,  however,  was  neither  literature 
nor  law.  He  was  subsequently  ordained  and  consecrated  as  a 
high  priest  in  the  great  fellowship  of  humanity,  and  most 
divinely  did  he  magnify  his  office  in  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life 
on  earth.  In  1835  he  espoused  the  cause  of  the  American 
slave,   and   marshalled   himself   by  the  side  of    William   Lloyd 

'  Fred  Myron  Colby.  *  Parker  Pillsbury. 


572  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1834 

Garrison  and  his  then  hated,  hunted,  and  persecuted  discipleship. 
From  that  time  the  anti-slavery  enterprise,  the  temperance  and 
peace  causes,  and  the  equal  rights  of  woman  had  no  firmer, 
braver,  and  most  certainly  no  abler  advocate  and  champion  than 
was  he. 

New  Hampshire  politics  were  at  that  time  almost  unanimously 
democratic.  And  Democracy  meant  a  diabolical  devotion  to 
slavery.  Nor  was  its  rival,  the  Whig  party,  but  little  better. 
And  the  clergy,  with  a  few  honorable  exceptions,  were  still  in 
full  sacramental  communion  with  the  churches  and  pulpits  of 
the  South. 

Anti-slavery  meetings  were  everywhere  mobbed  and  broken 
up.  Garrison  had  been  seized  in  broad  day  by  a  mob  of  "gentle- 
men in  broadcloth" — driven  from  an  anti-slavery  concert  of 
prayer,  then  seized,  stripped  of  most  of  his  clothing,  and  with 
a  rope  about  his  body,  was  pulled  along  some  of  Boston's  princi- 
pal streets  until  rescued  by  the  mayor  and  police  and  shut  in  the 
strongest  jail  to  save  his  life.  In  Concord,  a  meeting  attended 
by  George  Thompson,  of  England,  John  G.  Whittier,  and  other 
eminent  abolitionists,  was  most  ignominiously  broken  up,  and 
Thompson  only  missed  the  tar  kettle  by  being  spirited  away  out 
of  the  village  and  concealed  by  his  friends.  Whittier  narrowly 
escaped  the  baptism  of  tar  and  feathers  by  being  mistaken  for 
Thompson  by  the  rioters.  A  Methodist  minister,  engaged  to 
give  an  anti-slavery  lecture  in  Northfield,  was  arrested  as  a 
common  brawler,  and  dragged  from  his  knees  and  the  pulpit  as 
he  was  opening  his  meeting  with  prayer. 

But  such  was  the  popular  sentiment  towards  slavery,  when 
Nathaniel  Peabody  Rogers,  with  wife  and  family  of  seven  young 
children,  removed  to  Concord  and  became  editor  of  the  Herald 
of  Freedom,  'a  small,  unpretentious  sheet,  without  capital,  or 
many  subscribers,  but  commissioned  to  speak  with  voice  to  be 
heard  round  the  world  and  down  the  ages. 

Rogers  had  most  unshaken  faith  in  the  people,  never  doubt- 
ing that,  wisely  taught  and  led,  they  would  gladly  abolish  slavery 
and  cease  to  oppress  and  enslave  one  another. 

He  and  his  immediate  associates  relied  solely  on  the  power  of 


i835]  TURNPIKES,  CANALS,   RAILROADS.  573 

moral  and  spiritual  truth.  They  formed  no  political  party. 
They  abjured  the  ballot  altogether  as  a  reforming  agency  ;  and 
still  more  essentially  the  bullet,  the  only  specie  redemption  of 
the  ballot. 

And  Rogers  lived  to  see  the  downfall  of  that  old  Democratic 
dynasty  in  his  native  State,  and  in  many  other  States,  and  the 
rending  in  twain  of  the  Methodist  General  Conference  and 
some  other  powerful  ecclesiastical  associations,  and  a  revolution 
in  ecclesiastical,  especially  clerical,  control  and  leadership. 

He  died  in  October,  1846,  and  was  buried  in  Concord,  where 
no  monument  commemorates  his  last  resting-place.^ 

Nathaniel  P.  Rogers,  in  October,  1S4J,  soon  after  he  entered  the  lecture 
field,  wrote  as  follows  :  — 

"The  abolitionists  of  the  country  ought  to  know  Parker  Pillsburj  better 
than  they  do.  I  know  him  in  all  that  is  noble  in  soul,  and  powerful  in  talent 
and  eloquence.  The  remote  district  school-house,  in  New  Hampshire,  and 
the  old  granite  county  of  Essex,  Massachusetts,  where  he  was  born,  would 
bear  me  witness  to  all  I  could  say.  He  is  one  of  the  strong  men  of  our  age. 
•  •  •  •  We  passed  the  solitary  school-house  a  few  days  since,  where  he 
was  allowed  the  few  weeks'  schooling  of  his  childhood  ;  but  thanks  they  were 
so  few!  He  was  educating  all  the  better  for  humanity's  service  on  the 
rugged  farm.  He  there  taught  himself  to  be  a  mati.  A  great  lesson  he  had 
effectually  learned  before  he  came  in  contact  with  seminaries  and  a  priest- 
hood. These  proved  unequal,  on  that  account,  to  overmatch  and  cower 
down  his  homespun  nobility  of  soul.  They  tied  their  fetters  round  his  manly 
limbs,  but  he  snapped  them  as  Samson  did  the  withes,  and  went  out  an  abol- 
itionist, carrying  off  the  very  theological  gates  with  him  upon  his  manly 
shoulders." 

The  importance  of  railroads  to  the  people  of  New  Hamp- 
shire can  hardly  be  estimated.  Probably  no  section  of  this 
country  is  benefited  and  its  material  interests  so  largely  and 
directly  aided  in  a  general  manner  as  this  State,  while  in  some 
localities  the  development  of  every  important  enterprise  is  al- 
most entirely  dependent  upon  railroad  facilities. 

At  the  June  session,  in  1835,  '^he  Nashua  and  Lowell,  Con- 
cord, and  Boston  and  Maine  Railroads  were  chartered.  The 
Eastern  Railroad  was  chartered  in  1836;  the  Dover  and  Winni- 
pisiogee,  in  1839:  the  Northern,  Great  Falls,  and  Conway,  Bos- 
ton, Concord  and  Montreal,  and  Cheshire  Railroads,  in   1844; 

>  Parker  Pillsbury. 


574  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1836 

the  Portsmouth,  Newmarket,  and  Concord  Railroad,  the  Frank- 
lin and  Bristol,  the  Ashuelot,  and  the  Sullivan  Railroads,  in 
1846;  the  Manchester  and  Lawrence,  and  the  Atlantic  and  St. 
Lawrence,  in  1847;  the  Connecticut  River  Railroad,  and  the 
Contoocook  Valley  Railroad,  the  Concord  and  Claremont,  the 
Monadnock,  the  White  Mountains  (to  Littleton),  and  the  Nash- 
ua and  Epping  Railroads,  in  1848  ;  the  Suncook  Valley,  the 
Manchester  and  Candia,  in  1849;  the  Ammonoosuc  Railroad 
(to  buy  and  extend  White  Mountain  Railroad  to  Lancaster),  in 
1855  ;  the  White  Mountains  Railroad,  in  1859;  ^^^  Dover  and 
Winnipisiogee  Railroad,  in  1862;  the  Manchester  and  Keene 
Railroad,  in  1864;  the  Portland  and  Rochester  and  the  Ports- 
mouth and  Dover  Railroad,  in  1866;  the  Ogdensburg,  in  1867; 
the  W^olfeborough  Railroad,  in  1868 ;  the  Hillsborough  and 
Peterborough  Railroad,  in  1869;  the  Nashua,  Acton,  and  Bos- 
ton Railroad,  in  1872;  the  Pemigewasset  Valley  Railroad,  in 
1874;  the  Farmington  and  Rochester,  in  1877  ;  the  Profile  and 
Franconia  Notch  Railroad,  the  Whitefield  and  Jefferson  Rail- 
road, and  the  New  Zealand  River  Railroad,  in  1878;  the  Kil- 
kenny Railroad,  in  1879.  The  Upper  Coos  Railroad  was 
completed  in   1887. 

In  1836  Isaac  Hill  was  elected  governor  of  the  Stat£.  Few 
have  rendered  their  names  more  conspicuous  in  the  affairs  of 
the  town  of  Concord  and  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire. 
Born  in  Cambridge  in  April,  1788,  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  pub- 
lisher of  the  Amherst  Cabinet;  and  in  April,  1809,  he  issued  the 
first  number  of  the  New  Hampshire  Patriot.  He  was  elected 
to  the  State  Senate  in  1820,  1821,  1822,  1827;  and  in  1828  he 
was  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  United  States  senator.  In 
1829  he  was  appointed  by  General  Andrew  Jackson  second  compt- 
roller of  the  Treasury  department.  His  nomination  was  rejected 
by  the  Senate  in  April,  1830,  when  he  returned  to  New  Hamp- 
shire and  obtained  the  election  as  United  States  senator,  and 
took  his  seat  in  the  body  which  had  sought  to  humble  him.  He 
resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  when  he  was  elected  governor, 
and  he  was  re-elected  in  1837,  and  again  in  1838.  In  1840  he 
was  appointed  sub-treasurer  at  Boston.     He  exerted  great  influ- 


1836]  TURXPIKES,  CANALS,  RAILROADS.  575 

ence  over  the  people  of  the  State.  He  possessed  great  native 
talent,  indomitable  energy,  industry,  and  perseverance.  As  a 
political  editor  he  had  few  equals.  His  reputation  extended 
throughout  the  country.  He  was  kind  and  amiable.  He  died  in 
March,  185 1. 

In  the  year  1836  Congress  voted  to  distribute  about  thirty-six 
millions  of  dollars  of  surplus  revenue,  then  lying  in  the  Treasury, 
among  the  several  States.  These  millions  had  accumulated 
from  the  sales  of  public  lands,  and  were  still  increasing.  The 
national  debt  had  been  all  paid.  General  Jackson  told  his  party 
that  this  money  was  a  source  of  danger  to  the  liberties  of  the 
country.  The  Democratic  party  in  those  days  was  hostile  to 
internal  improvements,  and  opposed  them  everywhere.  Rail- 
roads were  built  by  individual  energy  ;  rivers  were  obstructed 
by  snags,  sawyers,  rafts,  and  sand-bars,  and  even  the  harbors  of 
the  lakes,  and  the  St.  Clair  flats,  were  found  pretty  much  in  the 
condition  nature  left  them.  This  money  was  to  be  distributed 
in  four  instalments,  —  three  of  which  were  paid  when  an  angry 
cloud  hovered  over  our  northern  borders,  threatening  war  with 
England,  and  the  fourth  instalment  of  nine  millions  was  re- 
tained to  pay  the  expenses  of  transporting  troops  to  Maine,  to 
Niagara,  and  to  the  Indian  Stream  country  in  northern  New 
Hampshire.  The  amount  paid  over  to  New  Hampshire  ex- 
ceeded $800,000.  The  legislature  voted  to  divide  the  money 
among  the  towns  in  proportion  to  population. 

In  the  fall  and  winter  of  1836  Hon.  Bos  well  Stevens,  of  Pem- 
broke, held  the  office  of  judge  of  Probate  for  Merrimack  county. 
He  was  an  able  lawyer,  and  a  popular  and  upright  judge. 
During  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  that  year  he  was  struck 
with  a  paralysis,  entirely  disabling  him  from  ability  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  his  office.  His  case  came  before  the  legislature  at 
their  fall  session.  The  evidence  of  able  physicians  was  received 
that  there  was  no  reasonable  prospect  of  his  recovery.  Accord- 
ingly, both  branches  of  the  legislature  united  in  an  address  to 
the  governor,  requesting  his  removal  from  office.  The  place  of 
the  judge  was  soon  occupied  by  his  successor.  Judge  Stevens 
died  in  January  of  the  next  year. 


576  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1838 

After  protracted  litigation  the  proprietors  of  the  fourth 
turnpike  were  victorious  over  their  enemies.  The  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  at  the  first  term,  1837,  obeyed  the  mandate  of 
the  higher  court.  The  corporation,  standing  upon  the  thin  edge 
of  a  technicality,  had  won  a  barren  victory  which  presaged  ulti- 
mate defeat.  The  whole  community,  with  the  tavern  keepers 
and  stage  proprietors  and  drivers  on  the  lead,  united  for  free 
roads. 

On  July  2,  1838,  they  carried  through  the  legislature  an  Act  authorizing 
selectmen  and  the  court  to  take  the  franchise  and  other  rights  of  corpora- 
tions for  public  highways  in  the  same  manner  as  they  took  the  land  of  indi- 
viduals. 

The  assault  soon  commenced  all  along  the  line.  A  monster  petition, 
headed  by  Reuben  G.  Johnson,  to  free  the  turnpike  from  West  Andover  to  it% 
Boscawen  terminus  was  filed  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Merrimack 
county,  February  ii,  1S39. 

At  the  term  of  that  court  commencing  on  the  third  Tuesday  of  March,  1839, 
Simeon  P.  Colby,  Jesse  Carr,  and  Stephen  Sibley  were  appointed  a  court's 
committee  thereon.  At  the  September  term,  1839,  Moses  Norris,  jr.,  of  Pitts- 
field,  and  Nathaniel  S.  Berry,  of  Hebron,  were  substituted  for  Carr  and  Sibley. 
The  hearing  was  had  at  Johnson's  tavern  —  the  Bonney  place  —  in  Boscawen, 
October  28,  1839,  and  lasted  seven  days. 

They  freed  the  turnpike,  and  ordered  that  Andover  should  pay  $566,  Salis- 
bury, $600,  and  Boscawen,  $534,  for  the  benefit  of  the  stock-holders  of  the 
turnpike.  The  report  was  accepted  at  the  March  term,  1840.  Upon  similar 
petitions  the  turnpike  had  been  freed  from  the  other  termini  to  Grafton  line. 
The  great  highway  thereafter  swarmed  with  travel  as  it  never  had  done 
before. 

But  in  1S46-7-8,  by  successive  steps,  the  Northern  Railroad  was  put  through 
from  Concord  to  White  River.  A  great  revolution  had  thus  been  wrought. 
The  thoroughfare,  with  its  long  lines  of  pod,  gimlet,  and  big  teams,  and  its 
whirring  stage  coaches  teeming  with  life  and  animation,  became  almost  as 
silent  as  a  deserted  grave-yard.  The  taverns  which  dotted  almost  every  mile 
were  silent,  too,  and  the  great  stables  at  the  stage  stations  and  elsewhere, 
filled  with  emptiness,  looked  like  the  spared  monuments  of  another  period. 
Railroads  have  taken  the  place  of  canals  and  turnpike  roads. 

The  foregoing  account  of  the  fourth  New  Hampshire  turn- 
pike is  taken  from  an  extended  account  written  by  John  M. 
Shirley  and  published  in  the  Granite  MontJdy.  The  other  turn- 
pikes of  the  State  suffered  the  same  or  similar  fate.  Like  the 
toll  bridges  they  became  the  property  of  the  town,  or  the 
county,  or  were  disused. 


1^391  TUKXIMKF.S.    CANALS,    RAILROADS.  577 

John  Page,  jr.,  was  elected  governor  in  1839,  and  rc-elv?fcted  in 
1840  and  in  1841.  He  was  a  native  of  Haverhill,  born  in  1787, 
and  son  of  John  Page,  the  first  white  man  that  wintered  in  the 
town.  He  served  on  the  northern  frontier  in  the  18 12  war,  fre- 
quently represented  Haverhill  in  the  legislature,  was  register  of 
deeds  of  Grafton  county  in  1827,  and  again  from  1829  to  1835, 
when  he  was  elected  United  States  senator  to  serve  the  unex- 
pired term  of  Governor  Isaac  Hill.  He  was  interested  in 
agriculture,  and  promoted  Dr.  Jackson's  geological  survey  of 
the  State.     He  died  in  1865.1 

In  March,  1839,  Edmund  Burke  of  Newport  was  elected  to 
Congress.  Mr.  Burke  was  born  in  Westminster,  Vt.,  in  January, 
1809,  studied  Latin  with  Hon.  Henry  A.  Bellows,  afterwards 
chief  justice  of  New  Hampshire,  and  read  law. 

"At  the  close  of  his  Congressional  labors,  March  4,  1845,  Mr.  Burke  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  the  office  of  commissioner  of  patents,  to  which  he  was 
appointed  without  solicitation  on  his  pari  by  his  friend  Mr.  Polk. 

In  the  summer  of  1850  Mr.  Burke  returned  to  his  home  in  Newport,  and 
resumed  the  active  practice  of  his  profession  as  a  lawyer,  which  he  steadily 
pursued  with  great  success  for  over  thirty  years,  attaining  a  position  at  the 
bar  second  to  that  of  no  lawyer  in  the  State. 

He  was  prominent  in  the  Democratic  councils  in  the  State,  and  ever  after 
the  period  of  his  Congressional  service  was  regarded,  throughout  the  country, 
as  one  of  the  foremost  representatives  of  the  New  Hampshire  Democracy.  In 
the  conventions  of  his  party,  State  and  national,  he  took  a  conspicuous  part. 
He  presided  at  the  Democratic  State  convention  in  Concord  in  the  summer  of 
1853,  and  again  in  the  winter  of  1S66-7.  He  was  a  delegate  from  New  Hamp- 
shire to  the  national  Democratic  convention  in  Baltimore,  in  1S44,  which 
nominated  James  K.  Polk  for  president,  and  to  the  convention  holden  in  the 
same  city  in  1852,  in  which  Franklin  Pierce  received  the  presidential  nomina- 
tion. It  may  here  properly  be  remarked  that  to  the  strong  influence  of  Mr. 
Burke,  properly  exercised  through  his  extended  acquaintance  and  high  stand- 
ing with  leading  men  of  the  party  from  different  sections  in  the  convention, 
more  than  to  the  efforts  of  any  other  individual,  the  choice  of  the  convention 
was  ultimately  bestowed  upon  the  then  favorite  son  of  the  Granite  State. 
Mr.  Burke  died  in  1883. 

■^The  year  1840  was  a  notable  year  in  the  history  of  this 
country.  No  political  campaign  ever  exceeded  this  in  inter- 
est and  excitement.     The  Democrats    had    nominated  Martin 

'  Adjutant-general's  Report,  1868,  part  2,  page  20.  2  H.  H.  Metcalf. 

J  Rev.  J.  L.  Seward. 


5/8  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [184O 

Van  Buren  for  a  second  term,  and  the  Whigs  had  nominated 
General  W.  H.  Harrison.  The  shouts  for  "Tippecanoe  and 
Tyler  too,"  the  long  processions  in  which  were  the  log  cabins 
and  barrels  of  hard  cider,  and  the  excited  political  debates 
and  stump  speeches,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  any  one 
who  participated  in  the  eventful  campaign.  General  James 
Wilson,  of  Keene,  remarkably  distinguished  himself  in  this 
exciting  struggle,  delivering  stump  speeches  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  contributing  largely  to  the  success  won  by  the 
Whig  party. 

General  James  Wilson  was  the  son  of  Hon.  James  Wilson  (born  in  Peter- 
borough in  August,  1766,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  17S9,  representa- 
tive to  Congress  from  1809  to  iSii,  an  able  lawyer  and  a  firm  Federalist, 
died  in  January,  1839;  ^"'^  Elizabeth  (Steele)  Wilson,  and  inherited  not  only 
the  practice  but  the  great  talents  of  his  honored  father;  he  was  born  in 
Peterborough,  March  18,  1797.  His  early  years  were  passed  in  his  native 
town.  His  educational  advantages  were  such  as  were  obtainable  in  a  country 
town  at  that  time.  He  studied  at  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  graduated  at  Mid- 
dlebury  College  in  1820,  read  law  with  his  father  and  took  his  practice. 

In  the  military  service  of  his  State,  General  Wilson  was  deservedly  popular. 
He  was  appointed  captain  of  the  Keene  light  infantry,  January  i,  1821,  and 
rose  through  all  the  various  ranks  until  he  was  made  major-general  of  the 
Third  Division  of  the  New  Hampshire  militia. 

In  1825  he  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  two  representatives  to  the  General 
Court  from  the  town  of  Keene.  In  1S28  he  was  elected  speaker  of  the  House. 
In  the  legislature  at  that  time  were  Hon.  Ezekiel  Webster,  Hon.  B.  M. 
Farley,  Hon.  Joseph  Bell,  Hon.  P.  Noyes,  and  other  noted  men.  From  the 
year  1825  to  the  year  1840  inclusive,  General  Wilson  represented  Keene  in  the 
State  legislature,  excepting  the  years  1833,  1S38,  and  1S39.  ^^  *^he  last  two 
of  the  years  just  named  he  was  Whig  candidate  for  governor,  but  was  de- 
feated by  his  Democratic  opponent. 

He  had  been  famous  as  an  orator  and  advocate  before,  but  his 
rhetorical  triumphs,  at  this  time,  extended  his  reputation  to  all 
parts  of  the  land.  His  presence  was  unusually  impressive. 
He  was  six  feet  four  inches  in  height,  straight,  well-built,  with 
black  curling  hair  and  bright  blue  eyes,  as  fine  a  set  of  white, 
sound  teeth  as  was  ever  seen,  of  a  stern  and  determined,  yet 
fascinating  and  impressive  countenance.  He  delighted  to  joke 
about  his  personal  appearance,  and  would  describe  himself  as  a 
"  rough-hewn  block  from  the  Granite  State."  His  friends 
spoke  of  him  familiarly  as  "Long  Jim,"  "Gen.  Jim,"  etc. 


1840]  TURNPIKES,  CANALS,  RAILROADS.  579 

He  had  all  the  qualifications  of  a  first-class  orator.  He  was  a  logical  think- 
er, and  arranged  the  subjects  of  his  thought  methodically.  lie  was  well  read 
in  history  and  the  Bible,  and  was  ready  with  a  good  illustration  to  enforce  his 
points.  He  was  a  capital  story  teller,  and  knew  just  when  and  where  to  tell 
one.  He  could  laugh  or  cry  at  will,  and  could  produce  either  effect  upon  his 
auditors  at  pleasure.  Nor  was  this  done  wholly  for  effect.  He  was  a  sincere 
man.  He  had  fine  feelings  and  instincts  and  was  remarkably  humane;  and, 
whenever  he  spoke,  he  was  tremendously  in  earnest.  He  was  no  hypocrite. 
His  political  principles  were  based  on  study,  reflection,  and  sound  arguments. 
He  had  a  powerful  voice,  and  could  be  distinctly  heard  for  many  yards  in  an 
open  field.  He  had  a  marvellous  command  of  language  and  an  inexhaustible 
fund  of  wit.  He  was  a  keen,  shrewd  observer  and  a  good  reader  of  human 
nature;  hence  he  knew  how  to  adapt  himself  to  his  audience.  Possessing  all 
of  these  manifold  qualifications  of  a  first-class  orator,  it  is  no  wonder  that  he 
gained  a  hearing  in  the  famous  canvass  of  1S40.  Men  of  every  shade  of  poli- 
tical opinion  flocked  to  hear  him.  A  curious  anecdote  of  the  time  is  preserved. 
One  day  he  was  making  a  stump  speech  in  some  place,  and,  in  another  part 
of  the  same  field,  some  distance  away,  some  one  was  addressing  a  Democratic 
assemblage.  Some  stray  auditors  from  the  Democratic  fold  found  their  way 
to  the  side  of  the  field  where  Wilson  was  speaking.  They  returned  with  a 
glowing  account  of  his  eloquence.  One  by  one  the  Democrats  went  to  the 
other  side  of  the  field  to  hear  the  famous  Whig  orator,  till  finally  not  a  list- 
ener was  left  for  the  Democratic  speakers. 

The  Whigs  were  victorious,  but  General  Harrison  enjoyed  his  victory 
only  a  single  month. 

The  visit  of  General  Wilson  to  Keene,  in  1861,  after  an  ab- 
sence of  more  than  a  decade,  was  a  memorable  one.  Soon  after 
his  arrival,  the  shot  was  fired  at  Sumter,  and  the  regiments  be- 
gan to  be  formed  ready  to  march  to  the  conflict. 

One  memorable  occasion  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  witnessed  it.  It  was  on  the  22nd  of  April,  1861. 
A  mass  meeting  was  announced  to  be  holden  in  the  public 
square  on  the  morning  of  that  day.  General  Wilson  accepted 
an  invitation  to  address  the  meeting.  The  knowledge  of  this 
fact  was  conveyed  to  the  adjoining  towns.  An  immense  aud- 
ience assembled,  filling  the  square.  It  was  the  general's  first 
public  appearance  since  his  arrival.  As  the  hour  for  the  speak- 
ing drew  near,  a  band  proceeded  to  the  general's  residence 
and  escorted  his  carriage  to  the  grand  stand.  When  'the  door 
was  opened,  and  the  familiar  form  of  the  old  hero  was  seen 
mounting  the  rostrum,  such  a  tumultuous  applause  was  heard 
as  was  never  known  in  Keene  before.     Old  friends  from  Keene 


580  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [184O 

and  the  adjoining  towns  were  there  in  great  numbers,  repre- 
senting all  occupations  and  professions.  When  he  began  to 
speak,  all  voices  were  hushed.  It  was  the  same  grand  old  voice, 
with  its  familiar  ring,  the  same  telling  and  forcible  gestures,  the 
same  oratorical  power,  with  fun  and  anecdote  alternating  with 
the  most  solemn  and  pathetic  passages,  the  same  earnestness, 
and  the  same  persuasive  and  convincing  eloquence  which  so 
many  had  heard  in  former  days  from  the  same  lips. 

It  was  a  scene  never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  pres- 
ent ;  and  it  did  much  good,  the  immediate  effect  being  to  add 
many  names  to  the  roll  of  enlistments.  General  Wilson  died  in 
Keene  in  May,  iSSi.i 

^  A  charter  was  obtained  from  the  legislature  of  New  Hampshire  in  1836, 
shortly  after  the  incorporation  of  the  Eastern  Railroad  in  Massachusetts, 
establishing  a  company  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  the  railroad  from  the 
Massachusetts  line  to  Portsmouth.  A  company  was  then  formed,  and  a  sur- 
vey and  location  of  the  route  were  made  by  Mr.  Barney,  but  the  stock  was  not 
wholly  taken  up,  and  no  measures  were  taken  for  the  prosecution  of  the  work, 
until  1S39.  -^"  additional  Act  was  then  obtained  authorizing  a  new  location, 
with  a  limitation  as  to  its  termination  in  Portsmouth,  and  the  company  was 
reorganized  and  the  subscription  completed.  The  new  company  was  com- 
posed in  part  of  individuals  who  were  proprietors  in  the  Massachusetts  com- 
pany, and  a  majority  of  the  directors  chosen  were  also  directors  of  the  latter 
company.  Colonel  Fessenden  was  appointed  engineer,  and  under  his  direc- 
tion new  surveys  of  the  route  were  made.  He  made  a  report  to  the  directors 
on  two  lines,  an  eastern  and  western.  The  western  line,  although  a  little 
longer  than  the  other,  was  recommended  by  him  as  entitled  to  the  preference, 
as  having  fewer  curves,  a  less  extent  of  bridges,  and  not  crossing  any  naviga- 
ble streams.  It  also  passes  near  a  greater  amount  of  population.  This 
route  was  adopted  by  the  directors,  and  the  grading  of  the  line  was  soon  after 
contracted  for.  After  leaving  the  Merrimack  river  at  Newburyport  bridge, 
the  line  passes  west  of  the  old  Salisbury  village;  after  reaching  Hampton 
Falls,  leaves  the  village  a  third  of  a  mile  at  the  west,  and  the  landing  on  the 
east,  passes  a  little  west  of  Old  Hampton  village  to  Cedar  Swamp  in  Green- 
land, and  after  crossing  the  Greenland  road  above  the  plains  proceeds  to 
Portsmouth.  The  termination  was  originally  fixed  near  the  Universalist 
meeting-house,  but  by  authority  of  a  new  Act  of  the  legislature  passed  in  1840, 
and  with  the  consent  of  the  inhabitants  of  Portsmouth  by  vote  in  town  meet- 
ing, it  is  changed  to  a  point  in  the  northerly  part  of  the  town,  where  it  may 
be  extended,  if  it  should  hereafter  be  determined  so  to  do,  by  a  bridge  over 
Piscataqua  river.  The  length  of  the  line  thus  located  in  New  Hampshire  is 
fifteen  miles  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy  feet,  and  from  Mer- 
'  Rev.  J.  T,.  Seward.  -  Contemporary  Magazine  Article. 


1840] 


TURNPIKES,    CANALS,    RAILROADS. 


581 


rimack  river  nineteen  miles  one  thousand  and  eighty  feet.  Of  this  distance, 
eighteen  and  a  third  miles  are  straight,  and  the  residue  curved  on  a  radius 
not  less  than  a  mile.  About  five  miles  of  the  distance  are  level,  and  the  gra- 
dients for  the  residue  vary  from  fifteen  to  thirty-five  feet  per  mile;  the 
greatest  elevation  being  about  ninety  feet  above  the  marsh  level.  The  whole 
length  of  the  railroad  from  East  Boston  to  Portsmouth  is  thus  fifty-three 
miles  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety  feet. 

The  remaining  portion  of  the  Eastern  Railroad  in  Massachusetts,  interven- 
ing between  Newburyport  and  the  New  Hampshire  line,  was  put  under  con- 
tract for  grading,  as  was  also  the  erection  of  the  bridge  over  the  Merrimack 
river  at  Newbur^'port,  in  the  summer  of  1839,  to  be  completed  in  the  follow- 
ing summer.     These  two  portions  of  this  railroad  were  opened  in  1840. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

ANTI-SLA  VER  V  A  GIT  A  TION,   1 84 1  - 1 860. 

Stephen  S.  Foster  —  Harry  Hubbard  —  Pittsburg — Indian  Stream 
War — John  H.  Steele  —  John  P.  Hale — Anthony  Colby  —  Man- 
chester— Jared  W.  Williams  —  Samuel  Dinsmoor,  Jr.  — Dr.  Noah 
Martin  —  Franklin  Pierce  —  Kansas  —  Countess  Rumford — Na- 
thaniel   B.    Baker — Ralph    Metcalf  —  Daniel    Clark  —  William 

W.    HaILE  —  ICHABOD    GoODWIN  —  REMINISCENCES. 

TV/TR.  STEPHEN  S.  FOSTER,^  the  zealous  abolitionist,  faith- 
fill  to  the  enslaved  and  to  his  own  solemn  convictions,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  entering  the  meeting-houses  on  Sunday,  and 
at  the  hour  of  sermon  respectfully  rising  and  claiming  the  right 
to  be  heard  then  and  there  on  the  duties  and  obligations  of  the 
church  to  those  who  were  in  bonds  at  the  South. 

This  measure  he  first  adopted  in  the  Old  North  church,  at  Concord,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1841.  He  was  immediately  seized  by  "three  young  gentlemen,  one 
a  Southerner  from  Alabama,  and  the  other  two  guards  at  the  State  Prison, 
thrust  along  the  broad  aisle  and  violently  pushed  out  of  the  house."  A  full 
account  of  the  transaction  was  published  in  the  Herald  of  Freedo7n  on  the 
following  Friday.  17th  of  the  same  month.  But  Mr.  Foster  could  not  be 
deterred  from  his  purpose.  And  the  measure  proved  so  effective  as  a  means 
of  awakening  the  public  attention  to  the  importance  of  the  anti-slavery  enter- 
prise, that  others  were  led  to  adopt  it.  Of  course  it  led  to  persecution,  and 
some  were  imprisoned  for  the  offence,  — Mr.  Foster  as  many  as  ten  or  twelve 
times,  in  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts.  Perhaps  his  most  memorable 
experience  at  the  hands  of  the  civil  law,  at  the  time,  was  in  Concord,  in  June, 
1842.  On  Sunday,  the  twelfth  of  that  month,  being  in  Concord,  he  went  in 
the  afternoon  to  the  South  church,  and  at  the  time  of  sermon  he  rose  in  a 
pew  at  the  side  of  the  pulpit,  and  commenced  speaking  in  his  usual  solemn 
and  deeply  impressive  manner.  He  evidently  would  have  been  heard,  and 
with  deep  attention,  too,  for  many  in  the  house  not  only  knew  him  well,  but 

'  Parker  Pillsbury. 


1 841]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION.  583 

knew  that  this  was  a  course  not  unusual  with  him,  and  one  in  the  rightful- 
ness of  which  he  conscientiouslj  believed,  and,  besides,  was  sometimes  able 
to  make  most  useful  and  effective.  Even  the  Unitarian  society,  one  Sunday, 
gave  him  respectful  hearing;  the  minister,  Rev.  Mr.  Tilden,  even  inviting 
him  to  speak. 

But  not  just  so  the  South  church;  there  he  was  immediately  seized  and 
rushed  with  great  violence  to  the  door,  and  then  pitched  headlong  down  the 
rough  stone  steps  to  the  street,  injuring  him  so  severely  that  he  had  to  be 
helped  to  his  lodgings,  and  a  surgeon  was  called  imn^ediately  to  attend  him. 
Fortunately  no  bones  were  broken  nor  dislocated,  but  bruises  and  sprains 
compelled  his"  walking  w-ith  a  cane  for  several  days.  But  that  was  not  all. 
On  Monday  he  was  arrested  by  leading  members  of  the  church  "  for  disturb- 
ing public  worship,"  and  carried  before  a  magistrate  for  trial.  Perhaps  no 
justice's  court  in  Concord  ever  excited  profounder  interest  than  did  this.  But 
Foster  came  most  triumphantly  out  of  it.  Even  the  small  fine  imposed  as 
matter  of  form  was  paid,  and  nearly  doubly  paid,  by  the  throng  that  crowded 
the  room,  tossing  their  quarter  and  half  dollars  on  to  the  lable.  The  kind- 
hearted  magistrate,  seeing  that  he  would  be  sustained,  remitted  the  fine  and 
the  costs,  and  Mr.  Foster  was  discharged,  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  mul- 
titude that  filled  the  court  room,  and  then,  with  louder  cheers,  demanded  that 
all  the  money  be  taken  from  the  table  and  handed  over  to  Mr.  Foster.  And 
it  was  done. 

Stephen  S.  Foster  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire.  Long 
before  slavery  was  abolished,  or  had  appealed  to  the  arbitrament 
of  war  as  a  forlorn  hope,  he  had  seen  and  demonstrated  that  his 
native  State  had  profounder  interests  in  it  than  any  of  its  wisest 
sages,  statesmen,  clergymen,  or  churchmen  had  ever  dreamed. 
Though  among  the  least  of  her  sister  States,  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion  drew  away  from  her  noblest,  bravest,  strongest  sons 
more  than  thirty  thousand  ;  and  over  four  thousand  perished  in 
battle,  or  by  disease  and  exposure  inseparable  from  war,  so  often 
more  dreadful  than  death  at  the  cannon's  mouth  !  All  this,  not 
to  speak  of  other  thousands  who  escaped  death,  but  pruned  of 
limbs,  plucked  of  eyes,  and  scarred  and  disabled  for  life  by  the 
iron  hail-stones  of  the  bloody  field.  All  this,  not  counting  the 
sighs  and  tears,  bereavements  and  Josses  of  mothers,  sisters, 
widows,  and  orphans.  All  this,  not  reckoning  financial,  moral, 
nor  spiritual  impoverishment  and  desolation,  not  to  be  restored 
even  by  the  incoming  generation  ! 

And  so  slavery  became  a  New  Hampshire  institution  after  all ; 
and  Stephen  Foster,  being  native  to  the  State,  and  superemi- 


584  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [184I 

nently  an  anti-slavery  man,  had  intellectual  and  moral  gifts  and 
graces  of  which  any  State  might  be  proud. 

Stephen  Sjmonds  Foster  was  born  in  Canterbury,  in  November,  1809. 
His  father  was  Colonel  Asa  Foster,  of  Revolutionary  memory,  and  of  most 
amiable  and  excellent  qualities  and  endowments.  Mrs.  Foster,  too,  was  re- 
markable for  sweetness  of  disposition  and  fine  culture  for  her  time,  joined  to 
elegance  and  beauty  of  person,  lasting  to  great  age;  both  herself  and  husband 
almost  completing  a  century.  The  old  homestead  is  in  the  north  part  of 
Canterbury,  on  a  beautiful  hillside,  overlooking  a  long  stretch  of  the  Merri- 
mack river  valley,  including  Concord,  and  a  wide  view,  east  and  west,  as  well 
as  south. 

His  parents  were  most  devout  and  exemplary  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  to  which  he  also  was  joined  in  youthful  years.  At  that  time, 
the  call  for  ministers  and  missionaries,  especially  to  occupy  the  new  opening 
field  at  the  West,  called  then  "  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  was  loud 
and  earnest.  At  twenty-two  he  heard  and  heeded  it,  and  immediately  entered 
on  a  course  of  collegiate  study  to  that  end,  and  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  a 
more  consistent,  conscientious,  divinely  consecrated  spirit  never  set  itself  to 
prepare  for  that  then  counted  holiest  of  callings. 

With  him  "Love  your  enemies"  was  more  than  words,  and  "Resist  not 
evil"  was  not  returning  evil,  nor  inflicting  penalties  under  human  enact- 
ments. 

In  Dartmouth  College  he  was  called  to  perform  military  service.  On 
Christian  principles  he  declined,  and  was  arrested  and  dragged  away  to  jail. 
So  bad  were  the  roads  that  a  part  of  the  way  the  sheriff  was  compelled  to  ask 
him  to  leave  the  carriage  and  walk.  He  would  cheerfully  have  walked  all  the 
way,  as  once  did  George  Fox,  good  naturedly  telling  the  officer,  "Thee  need 
not  go  thyself;  send  thy  boy,  I  know  the  way."  For  Foster  feared  no  prison 
cells.  He  had  earnest  work  in  hand,  which  led  through  many  of  them  in 
subsequent  years. 

Eternal  Goodness  might  have  had  objects  in  view  in  sending  him  to  Haver- 
hill, for  he  found  the  jail  in  a  condition  to  demand  the  hand  of  a  Hercules, 
as  in  the  "Augean"  stables,  for  its  cleansing.  His  companions  there  were 
poor  debtors,  as  well  as  thieves,  murderers,  and  lesser  felons.  One  man  so 
gained  his  confidence  as  to  whisper  in  his  ear  that  on  his  hands  was  the  blood 
of  murder,  though  none  knew  it  but  himself.  Another  poor  wretch  had 
been  so  long  confined  by  illness  to  his  miserable  bed,  that  it  literally  swarmed 
with  vermin. 

Foster  wrote  and  sent  to  the  world  such  a  letter  as  few  but  he  could  write, 
and  wakened  general  horror  and  indignation  wherever  it  was  read ;  and  a 
cleansing  operation  was  forthwith  instituted.  And  the  filth  on  the  floor  was 
found  so  deep.,  and  so  hard  trodden,  that  strong  men  had  to  come  with  pick- 
axes and  dig  it  up.  And  that  jail  was  not  only  revolutionized,  but  the  whole 
prison  system  of  the  State,  from  that  time,  began  to  be  reformed;  and  im- 
prisonment for  debt  was  soon  heard  of  here  no  more. 


I842J  ANTI-SLAVERV    AGITATION.  5<S5 

His  college  studies  closed,  he  entered  for  a  theological  course  the  Union 
Seminary  in  New  York. 

In  1S39  ^^'■-  I' oster  abandoned  all  hope  of  the  Congregational  ministry,  and 
entered  the  anti-slaverj-  service,  side  by  side  with  Garrison  of  the  Boston 
Liberator,  and  Nathaniel  Peabody  Rogers  of  the  New  Hampshire  Herald  of 
Freedom.  And  from  that  time  onward  till  slavery  was  abolished,  and  indeed 
to  the  day  of  his  death,  the  cause  of  freedom  and  humanity,  justice  and  truth, 
had  no  more  faithful,  few  if  any  more  able  champions. 

Mr.  Foster,  having  adopted  and  proved  the  great  utility  of  his  new  method, 
Persisted  in  it  until  it  was  demonstrated  that  no  other  had  ever  subserved  so 
good  a  purpose  in  arousing  the  whole  nation  to  its  duty  and  danger.  Noth- 
ing like  or  unlike  it,  before  or  afterward,  so  stirred  the  whole  people,  until 
John  Brown,  with  his  twenty  heroes,  marched  on  Harper's  Ferry  and  chal- 
lenged the  supporters  of  slavery  to  mortal  combat. 

To-day  neither  John  Brown  nor  Stephen  Symonds  Foster  need  apology 
or  defence.  Though  their  mortal  bodies  lie  mouldering  in  the  dust,  their 
spirits  march  on  in  glory  and  victory  for  evermore. 

Probably  he  encountered  more  mob  opposition  and  violence  than  any  other 
agent  ever  in  the  anti-slavery  lecturing  field,  and  almost  always  he  would  in 
some  way  obtain  control  of  his  opponents.  He  died  in  September,  iSSi,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-two. 

The  election  in  1842  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Henry  Hubbard 
for  governor.  He  was  son  of  Hon.  John  Hubbard,  born  in 
May,  1784,  in  Charlestown  ;  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College 
in  1803;  read  law  with  Hon.  Jeremiah  Mason;  and  settled  in 
Charlestown.  In  18 10  he  was  chosen  moderator,  which  ofifice 
he  held,  in  all,  sixteen  times.  He  was  first  selectman  in  the 
years  18 19,  1820,  and  1828,  in  which  last  year  he  was  also 
moderator  and  town  clerk.  He  represented  the  town  in  the 
legislature  eleven  times  in  all  between  18 12  and  1827.  In 
June,  1825,  he  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, in  place  of  Hon.  Levi  Woodbury,  who  had  been 
elected  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate.  He  was  also 
chosen  to  the  same  office  in  the  years  1826  and  1827.  In  1823 
he  was  appointed  solicitor  for  Cheshire  county,  in  which  capacity, 
exhibiting  rare  qualities  as  an  advocate,  he  served  the  term  of 
five  years.  On  the  incorporation  of  Sullivan  county  he  was 
appointed  judge  of  Probate,  the  duties  of  which  office  he  con- 
tinued to  discharge  until  1829,  when  he  was  chosen  a  represen- 
tative to  Congress.  In  Congress,  to  employ  the  language  of 
Chief  Justice  Gilchrist,  "  He  at  once  distinguished  himself  by 


586  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1S43 

the  possession  of  those  qualities  which  characterized  him  through 
life.  Always  willing  to  labor ;  never  disposed  to  throw  upon 
others  what  belonged  to  himself;  indefatigable  in  the  transaction 
of  all  business  intrusted  to  him ;  an  ardent  political  friend,  but  a 
courteous  antagonist ;  he  had  the  entire  confidence  of  General 
Jackson  and  the  kindly  regard  of  his  opponents.  He  was  an 
active  member  of  the  Committee  of  Claims,  upon  whose  deci- 
sion such  important  interests  depended,  and  signalized  himself 
by  his  untiring  support  of  the  Pension  Act  of  1832,  which  gave 
their  long-delayed  recompense  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution. 
In  1834  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  where,  for  the  period  of 
six  years,  he  had  the  implicit  confidence  of  the  administration, 
and  the  Democratic  party.  .  .  In  1842  and  1843  he  was 
elected  governor  of  New  Hampshire.  With  this  office  his  polit- 
ical career  closed,  although  at  every  successive  election  no  one 
in  the  State  rendered  more  efficient  service  to  the  Democratic 
cause." 

It  may  be  added  to  the  above,  that  soon  after  leaving  the 
gubernatorial  chair  he  was  appointed  sub-treasurer  at  Boston, 
to  which  city  he  for  a  time  removed. 

Politically,  the  life  of  Governor  Hubbard  must  be  divided  into 
two  eras  :  the  first,  in  which  he  earnestly  supported  the  Federal- 
istic  or  Whig  party  ;  the  second,  in  which  he  earnestly  sustained 
the  Democracy.  He  died  on  June  5,  1857.  Most  of  his  life  was 
passed  in  Charlestown,  and  he  died  in  the  house  in  which  he 
was  born.i 

^The  town  of  Pittsburg,  which,  prior  to  its  incorporation  in 
1843,  was  known  as  the  Indian  Stream  territory,  forms  the  ex- 
treme northern  portion  of  the  State,  lying  north  of  the  forty-fifth 
parallel  of  north  latitude,  and  is  a  portion  of  the  tract  claimed 
respectively  by  the  governments  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  ;  the  question  of  jurisdiction  being  settled  by  the  Webster 
and  Ashburton  treaty  in  1842. 

About  the  year  1790,  some  twelve  or  fifteen  hardy  pioneers 
from  Grafton  county,  attracted  by  the  marvellous  stories  told 
by  two  explorers  who  had  followed  the  course  of  the  river  through 

*  History  of  Charlestown.  2  David  Blanchard. 


1843]  ANTI-SLAVERV    AGITATION.  587 

to  Canada,  of  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the  soil  in  the  valley  of 
the  upper  Connecticut,  made  their  way  through  the  forests,  and 
commenced  a  settlement  on  the  river  and  in  the  valley  of  the 
Indian  Stream.  They  were  mostly  driven  away  by  hostile  bands 
of  Indians  during  the  war  of  1812. 

Some  of  these  returned  after  the  close  of  the  war,  bringing 
others  with  them  ;  and  in  1820  there  were  probably  about  forty 
families  settled  along  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  the  settlement 
extending  about  eight  miles  north  and  east  from  the  mouth  of 
Indian  Stream. 

In  1820-22  surveys  were  made  along  the  Connecticut,  and 
some  ten  thousand  acres  of  land  marked  out  in  lots  of  one  and 
two  hundred  acres  each,  by  Moses  Davis  and  Jonathan  Eastman, 
for  an  association  of  proprietors  who  claimed  to  derive  their 
title  to  these  lands  by  deed  from  one  Philip,  a  chief  of  the  St. 
Francis  tribe  of  Indians. 

These  lands  were  offered  to  settlers  by  the  proprietors,  in 
alternate  lots,  on  condition  of  making  stipulated  improvements 
thereon  within  a  given  period,  and  working  on  roads,  or  in  other 
words  doing  settlers'  duty,  as  it  was  termed. 

In  1824,  at  the  June  session  of  the  New  Hampshire  legisla- 
ture, the  attention  of  the  State  government  was  called  to  the 
encroachments  of  these  settlers  on  lands  north  of  the  parallel 
of  forty-five  degrees  north  latitude,  which  it  claimed  as  part  of 
its  public  domain  ;  and  a  committee  was  accordingly  appointed 
to  proceed  to  the  territory,  make  the  necessary  investigations, 
and  report  the  fact  at  the  November  session.  The  committee 
reported  some  fifty-eight  settlers  on  the  lands. 

The  State  repudiated  the  Indian  or  proprietary  title,  but  in  view 
of  the  hardships  endured  by  these  pioneers,  and  their  having 
entered  upon  their  lands  in  good  faith,  quieted  them  in  their 
title  to  the  lands  in  their  possession,  to  the  amount  of  two  hun- 
dred acres  each,  excepting  Jeremiah  Tabor,  who  was  quieted  in 
the  amount  of  five  hundred  acres,  and  Nathaniel  Perkins  in  the 
amount  of  seven  hundred  acres. 

Among  the  early  settlers,  1816-1824,  in  the  town  were  Nath- 
aniel Perkins,  from  New  Hampton,  John  Haynes,  from  I  sbon, 


58S  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [  I  §43 

Richard  I.  Blanchard,  from  Haverhill,  Ebenezer  Fletcher,  from 
Charlestown  (No.  4),  father  of  Hiram  Adams  Fletcher,  for  a 
long  period  a  prominent  member  of  the  Coos  bar,  and  who  died 
at  Lancaster  in  1880,  Kimball  B.  Fletcher,  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Lancaster  (Mr.  Fletcher  brought  considerable  money  with 
him  from  Charlestown ;  erected  a  large  saw  and  grist  mill ;  in 
1826  a  large  barn,  and  cleared  up  an  extensive  farm,  and  finally 
moved  to  Colebrook,  where  he  died  about  i860).  General 
Moody  Bedel,  and  General  John  Bedel  of  the  Mexican  war  and 
the  Rebellion,  were  among  the  early  settlers,  removing  from 
Haverhill  in  18 16.  General  Bedel  rendered  very  efficient  service 
in  the  war  of  181 2,  commanding  a  regiment  at  Ticonderoga  and 
at  Lundy's  Lane. 

But  little  attention  was  paid  by  the  State  to  this  section  for 
some  twelve  years  subsequent  to  this  period  ;  the  citizens  in 
the  mean  time  having  for  their  mutual  protection  formed  a  gov- 
ernment of  their  own,  very  democratic  in  form,  having  a  written 
constitution  and  code  of  laws ;  the  supreme  power  vested  in  a 
council  of  five,  annually  chosen  ;  a  judiciary  system  for  the  col- 
lection of  debts  and  the  prevention  and  punishment  of  crime  ; 
a  military  company  duly  organized  and  equipped  —  probably  more 
as  a  police  force  than  for  offensive  or  defensive  purposes. 

This  government  continued  till  1836,  when  the  governments  of 
Lower  Canada  and  of  New  Hampshire  each  endeavored  to  ex- 
ercise jurisdiction  over  the  territory,  resulting  in  the  arrest  and 
carrying  off  across  the  border,  by  an  armed  force  of  twelve  men 
from  Canada,  Richard  L  Blanchard,  a  deputy  sheriff,  for  the 
discharge  of  his  duty  as  such  under  the  laws  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  his  rescue,  on  Canadian  soil,  on  the  same  day  by  a  party  of 
mounted  men,  some  sixty  in  number,  from  the  adjoining  towns 
in  Vermont  a;id  New  Hampshire.  Two  of  the  Canadian  party 
were  severely  wounded  in  the  melee  —  one  by  a  pistol  shot  in 
the  groin,  the  other  by  a  sabre  cut  in  the  head. 

This  was  immediately  followed  by  what  is  known  as  the  Indian 
Stream  war.  The  5th  compan)'^  infantry,  24th  regiment  New 
Hampshire  militia,  under  the  old  military  organization,  under 
command  of  Captain  James  Mooney,  was  called  out  by  Adjutant 


1843]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION.  589 

General  Low  and  stationed  at  Fletcher's  Mills,  to  protect  the 
inhabitants  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Canadian  author- 
ities. The  whole  difficulty  was  happily  terminated  by  the  treaty 
before  referred  to. 

From  its  incorporation  in  1843,  ^o  i860,  the  increase  in  pop- 
ulation was  only  about  fifty.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
Rebellion  the  town  contained  four  hundred  and  fifty  inhabi- 
tants, —  yet  this  small  number  furnished  seventy  men  to  aid 
our  country  in  the  hour  of  its  peril,  being  largely  represented 
in  the  2nd  and  13th  New  Hampshire  regiments.  Amos  and 
Simon  Merrill  were  the  first  to  enlist  at  the  first  call  for  three 
months,  and  re-enlisted,  before  the  expiration  of  their  term,  for 
three  years,  or  during  the  war.  The  former  was  shot  dead  on 
the  field  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run.  The  last  mentioned, 
after  having  been  engaged  in  thirteen  regular  battles,  lost  a  leg 
at  Gettysburg,  and  was  lately  doing  good  manual  labor  in  clear- 
ing up  a  new  farm  in  the  town.  A  fearful  fatality  seemed 
to  decimate  the  ranks  of  the  Pittsburg  soldiers,  —  shown  by 
desolate  homes  and  the  mutilated  and  scarred  veterans  who 
returned. 

From  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  Pittsburg 
has  slowly  but  steadily  gained  in  population  and  material 
prosperity. 

At  a  special  convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  churches 
of  New  Hampshire,  held  October  4,  1843,  after  the  death  of 
Bishop  Griswold  of  the  Eastern  Diocese,  a  motion  to  elect  a 
separate  bishop  barely  prevailed,  and  Rev.  Carlton  Chase,  of 
Bellows  Falls,  Vermont,  was  chosen. 

A  church  and  parsonage  had  been  built  at  Strawberry  Bank,  in  1638,  and 
fifty  acres  of  land  had  been  given  as  endowment  soon  afterwards.  Rev. 
Richard  Gibson  was  called  as  rector,  but  was  banished  from  the  colony  in 
1642,  by  Massachusetts  authority.  Ninety  years  afterward,  in  1732,  a  parish 
was  organized  at  Portsmouth,  and  Qi^ieen's  Chapel  begun.  Rev.  Arthur 
Browne  was  rector.  Of  six  hundred  families  in  Portsmouth  in  1741,  less  than 
sixty  conformed  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  but  all  the  Churchmen  in  New 
Hampshire  were  his  parishioners,  and  he  administered  the  charge  with  faith- 
ful diligence  from  1736  till  his  death  in  1773.  He  was  helped  in  the  itineracy 
by  his  son  Marmaduke,  from  1755  to  1762,  and  by  Rev.  Moses  Badger  from 
1767  to  1774.  In  176S  there  were  eleven  hundred  and  thirty-two  souls  under 
his  care. 


590  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1843 

A  second  parish  was  organized  in  1773,  at  Claremont,  by  Churchmen  from 
Connecticut.  The  building  tlien  erected  still  stands  in  the  western  part  ot' 
the  town.     Rev.  Ranna  Cossit  was  rector  from  1773  to  1785. 

The  third  parish  was  formed  at  Holderness. 

During  the  Revolution  the  Church  of  England  in  New  Hampshire  was 
abolished.  The  war  over,  the  need  of  organization  began  to  be  much  felt. 
Valuable  property  was  at  stake,  over  forty  thousand  acres  of  land  having  been 
reserved  for  the  endowment  of  future  parishes  by  Governor  Benning  Went- 
worth.  Unfortunately  the  larger  part  of  the  land  endowment  was  ultimately 
lost,  a  small  amount  only  having  been  saved  to  help  the  diocesan  worli. 

In  1789  New  Hampshire  was  represented  at  a  meeting  of  six  clergymen  in 
.Salem,  Massachusetts,  when  Dr.  Bass  was  elected  bishop  of  the  two  States. 
Rev.  John  C.  Ogden  was  rector  at  Portsmouth  from  1786  to  1793.  Rev.  Robert 
Fowle  was  rector  at  Holderness  from  1789  *:o  1847.  A  fourth  parish  was  or- 
ganized at  Cornish,  in  1793,  through  the  efforts  of  a  Daitmouth  student,- 
Philander  Chase,  the  future  missionary  bishop. 

The  diocesan  history  begins  with  the  meeting  at  Concord,  in  August,  1802,^ 
of  the  first  convention,  at  which  were  present  the  rectors  of  Portsmouth, 
Claremont,  and  Holderness,  and  two  lay  delegates  each  from  Portsmouth, 
Holderness,  and  Cornish.  Rev.  Joseph  Willard,  of  Portsmouth,  presided  i 
Rev.  Daniel  Barber,  of  Claremont,  a  "  remarkable  man,  able,  ambitious,  un- 
wise," would  not  consent  to  the  proposed  union,  but  advocated  a  union  with 
the  Vermont  churches.     Mr.  Barber  was  in  harmony  with  the  diocese  in  1809. 

Hopkinton  became  a  parish  in  1803;  Plainiield  in  1S04.  To  these  were 
soon  joined  Drewsville  (Walpole),  Charlestown,  Concord,  Dover,  and  Man- 
chester.    In  1810  there  were  151  communicants;    in  1820,  198;    in  1840,  394. 

From  1S12,  for  thirty  years,  the  Episcopal  Church  of  New  Hampshire  en- 
joyed the  superintendence  of  Bishop  Griswold. 

Bishop  Chase  was  consecrated  in  October,  1844,  and  served 
the  diocese  faithfully  and  wisely  until  his  death  in  January,. 
1870.  He  left  twenty-three  parishes  where  he  had  found 
twelve  ;  twenty-one  clergymen  instead  of  eleven  ;  1350  commu- 
nicants instead  of  500. 

In  May,  1870,  the  convention  elected,  as  successor  to  Bishop 
Chase,  Rev.  William  W.  Niles,  D.  I).,  ^  professor  of  Latin  in 
Trinity  College,  Hartford  ;  and  he  was  consecrated  at  Concord 
the  following  September.  There  were,  in  1887,  twenty-two 
parishes,  thirteen  missions,  thirty-seven  clergymen,  and  2635 
communicants. 

Among  the  prominent   clergymen    of   the   Protestant    Epis- 

'  Right  Reverend  William  W.  Niles,  D.  D.,  son  of  Daniel  L.  and  Delia  (Woodruff)  Niles,  was 
bom  in  Hatley,  Province  of  Quebec,  May  24,  1832;  graduated  at  Trinity  College  in  1851;  and 
received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  both  from  Trinity  College  and  from  Dartmouth  College. 


I 


1844]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION.  59I 

copal  church  of  New  Hampshire  have  been  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  G. 
Hubbard,  of  Claremont,  Rev.  Dr.  James  H.  Eames,  of  Concord, 
Rev.  Dr.  M.  A.  Herrick,  of  Tilton,  famed  for  his  scholarship, 
and  Rev.  Dr.  Burroughs,  of  Portsmouth. 

John  H.  Steele  was  elected  governor  in  1844. 

Governor  Steele  was  born  in  Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  in 
January,  1789,  and  was  of  Scotch-Irish  stock.  He  settled  in  Pet- 
erborough in  1811,  without  funds  and  without  friends,  and  went 
to  work  at  his  trade  of  making  chairs  and  gigs.  He  had  me- 
chanical skill  and  genius.  He  was  soon  a  manufacturer  himself, 
instead  of  laboring  for  others ;  and  he  put  in  operation  the  first 
power-loom  in  the  State  and  built  and  superintended  a  large 
cotton  "mill  in  West  Peterborough.  He  represented  Peter- 
borough in  1829;  was  councillor  in  1840  and  1841.  He  was  re- 
elected governor  in  1845.  After  retiring  from  office  he  led  a 
quiet  life  on  his  farm  and  in  the  village,  and  had  great  influence 
in  the  town,  exercised  for  its  best  interests  and  welfare.  H*- 
died  in  July,  1865. 

In  1845  happened  the  memorable  contest  between  John  P.  Hah 
and  Franklin  Pierce.  Mr.  Hale,  a  native  of  Rochester,  a  grad 
uate  of  Bowdoin  College,  1827,  had  entered  the  political  field  iw 
1832,  when  he  was  sent  to  the  legislature  and  became  one  of  the 
most  able  and  eloquent  supporters  of  the  Democratic  party, 
receiving  the  election  to  Congress  in  1843.  There  he  soon  be- 
came prominent  from  his  anti-slavery  sentiments,  and  took  a 
leading  part  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1844.  He  differed 
from  the  accepted  sentiments  of  his  party,  which  had  for  si.xteen 
years  had  an  unbroken  sway  and  remorselessly  cut  down  every 
man  who  dared  to  oppose  its  declared  will.  The  legislature  in 
session  the  previous  year  had  instructed  the  New  Hampshire 
delegation  to  favor  the  admission  of  Texas  as  a  slave  State. 
Mr.  Hale  met  these  resolutions  with  defiance.  He  stood  by  his 
record  he  had  made  against  any  further  strengthening  of  the 
slave  power. 

'  Few  men  have  shown  such  grenlness  of  soul  and  lojaltj  to  convictions 
under  such  temptations.     While  most  men  would  have  yielded,  Mr.  Hale  did 

'J.   H.   Ela.  : 


592  HISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1845 

not  falter;  but  at  once  wrote  his  celebrated  letter  to  the  people  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, against  the  action  of  the  legislature  in  its  resolutions,  in  which,  after 
setting  forth  the  aims  and  purposes  of  annexation,  and  the  reasons  given  by 
the  advocates  and  supporters  of  the  measure,  he  declared  them  to  be  "  emi- 
nently calculated  to  provoke  the  scorn  of  earth  and  the  judgment  of  Heaven." 
He  said  he  would  never  consent  by  any  agency  of  his  to  place  the  country  in 
the  attitude  of  annexing  a  foreign  nation  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  sustain- 
ing and  perpetuating  human  slavery;  and  if  they  were  favorable  to  such  a 
measure,  they  must  choose  another  representative  to  carry  out  their  wishes. 

The  Democratic  State  Committee  immediately  issued  a  call  for  the  re-as- 
sembling of  the  Democratic  Convention  at  Concord,  on  the  12th  of  February, 
1845,  and  every  Democratic  paper  which  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  do  so 
opened  its  battery  of  denunciation,  calling  upon  the  convention  to  rebuke 
and  silence  Mr.  Hale.  To  show  what  efforts  were  made  to  crush  him  it  need 
only  be  said  that  such  leaders  of  the  party  as  Franklin  Pierce,  who  had  been 
his  warm  friend  ever  since  they  were  fellow  students  in  college,  went  forth 
over  the  State  to  organize  the  opposition.  At  Dover  he  called  in  the  leaders 
of  the  party,  and  the  editor  of  the  Dover  Gazette,  who  had  taken  such  strong 
ground  against  annexation,  and  under  their  influence  the  Gazette  changed 
sides  and  went  over  to  Mr.  Hale's  enemies. 

He  then  went  to  Portsmouth  and  brought  over  the  leaders  there,  with  the 
exception  of  John  L.  Hayes,  then  clerk  of  the  United  States  Court.  The  same 
result  followed  at  Exeter,  with  the  exception  of  Hon.  Amos  Tuck.  In  this 
way  the  convention  was  prepared  to  throw  overboard  Mr.  Hale  and  put 
another  name  on  the  ticket  in  place  of  his.  Expecting  no  other  fate  when  he 
wrote  his  letter,  Mr.  Hale  remained  at  his  post  in  Congress,  and  only  assisted 
his  friends  from  that  point,  making  arrangements  at  the  same  time  to  enter 
upon  the  practice  of  law  in  New  York  city  upon  the  close  of  his  term.  But 
resolute  friends  who  believed  with  him  rose  up  in  all  parts  of  the  State  to 
defeat  the  election  of  John  Woodbury,  who  had  been  nominated  in  the  place 
of  Mr.  Hale.  Prominent  among  these,  in  addition  to  those  named  above, 
were  Nathaniel  D.  Wetmore  of  Rochester,  John  Dow  of  Epping,  George  G. 
Fogg,  then  of  Gilmanton,  James  M.  Gates  of  Claremont,  James  Peverly  of 
Concord,  John  Brown  of  Ossipee,  George  VV.  Stevens  of  Meredith,  John  A. 
Rollins  of  Moultonborough,  James  W.  James  of  Deerfield,  N.  P.  Cram  of 
Hampton  Falls,  and  Samuel  B.  Parsons  of  Colebrook,  with  others  of  like 
stamp,  who  organized  the  first  successful  revolt  against  the  demands  of  the 
slave  power,  which,  until  then,  had  been  invincible.  Through  their  efforts 
Woodbury,  the  nominee  of  the  convention,  failed  to  secure  the  majority  over 
all  others  needed  to  elect  him,  and  another  election  was  called  to  fill  the  va- 
cancy. Great  excitement  pervaded  the  State  during  the  canvass,  into  which 
Mr.  Hale  entered  with  spirit,  giving  full  play  to  all  those  characteristics 
which  made  him  the  foremost  orator  of  the  State  before  the  people,  as  he  had 
been  before  juries. 

The  canvass  opened  in  Concord  in  June,  on  the  week  for  the  assembling  of 
the  legislature,  in  the  Old  North  church.     To  break  the  force  and  effect  of 


1845]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION.  593 

Mr.  Hale's  speech  there,  the  Democratic  leaders  determined  that  it  should  be 
answered  upon  the  spot,  and  selected  Franklin  Pierce  for  the  work.  On  his 
way  up  to  the  church,  Mr.  Hale  saw  no  people  in  the  streets,  and  he  began 
to  fear  there  might  be  a  failure  in  the  expected  numbers  in  attendance,  as 
there  had  been  or.ce  before  in  the  same  place  in  1840,  when  he  and  other 
leaders  of  the  party  were  to  address  a  mass  meeting ;  but  when  he  reached 
the  old  church,  he  saw  why  the  streets  were  vacant:  the  people  had  all  gone 
early  to  be  sure  of  getting  in,  and  the  house  was  full  to  overflowing.  Aware 
that  he  was  addressing  not  only  the  citizens  of  Concord  and  adjoining  towns, 
and  members  of  the  legislature,  but  the  religious,  benevolent,  and  other  or- 
ganizations which  always  met  in  Concord  on  election  week,  he  spoke  with 
more  than  his  usual  calmness  and  dignity.  He  created  a  profound  impres- 
sion, and  made  all  feel,  whether  agreeing  with  him  or  not,  that  he  had  acted 
from  a  high  sense  of  public  duty  and  conviction. 

Mr.  Pierce,  who  had  few  equals  as  a  speaker,  saw  the  marked  effect  of  Mr. 
Hale's  address,  and  spoke  under  great  excitement.  He  was  bitter  and  sarcas- 
tic in  tone  and  matter,  and  domineering  and  arrogant  in  his  manner,  if  not 
personally  insulting.  The  convention  was  wrought  up  to  the  highest  pitch 
of  excitement  when  Mr.  Hale  rose  to  reply.  He  spoke  briefly,  but  effectively, 
and  closed  by  saying  :  — 

"  I  expected  to  be  called  ambitious,  to  have  my  name  cast  out  as  evil,  to  be 
traduced  and  misrepresented.  I  have  not  been  disappointed ;  but  if  things 
have  come  to  this  condition,  that  conscience  and  a  sacred  regard  for  truth 
and  duty  are  to  be  publicly  held  up  to  ridicule,  and  scouted  without  rebuke, 
as  has  just  been  done  here,  it  matters  little  whether  we  are  annexed  to  Texas, 
or  Texas  is  annexed  to  us.  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  the  measure  of 
my  ambition  will  be  full,  if  when  my  earthly  career  shall  be  finished  and  my 
bones  be  laid  beneath  the  soil  of  New  Hampshire,  when  my  wife  and  chil- 
dren shall  repair  to  my  grave  to  drop  the  tear  of  aff"ection  to  my  memory,  they 
may  read  on  my  tombstone,  '  He  who  lies  beneath  surrendered  office,  place, 
and  power,  rather  than  bow  down  and  worship  slavery.' " 

The  scene  which  followed  can  be  imagined,  but  not  described,  as  round 
after  round  of  applause  greeted  this  close.  At  the  end  of  the  canvass,  in 
September,  with  three  candidates  in  the  field,  there  was  again  no  election. 
A  second  eff'ort  in  November  ended  wit^  a  like  result.  No  other  attempt  was 
made  until  the  annual  March  election  of  1846,  when  full  tickets  were  placed 
in  the  field  by  the  Democrats,  Whigs,  Free-Soilers,  and  Independent  Demo- 
crats. The  issue  of  no  more  slave  territory  was  distinctly  made ;  and  a 
canvass  such  as  the  State  had  never  known  before,  in  which  Mr.  Hale  took 
the  leading  part,  resulted  in  a  triumphant  vindication  of  his  course,  and  the 
complete  overthrow  of  the  Democratic  party,  which  was  beaten  at  all  points. 
Mr.  Hale  was  elected  to  the  House,  from  Dover,  on  the  Independent  ticket, 
and  on  the  opening  of  the  session  was  made  speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  during  the  session  was  elected  United  States  Senator  for  the 
full  term  of  six  years. 

During  this  session  of  the  legislature  an  incident  took  place  which  ex- 
hibited the  independent  spirit  of  the  man.     Dr.  Low,  a  member  from  Dover, 


594  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE,  [1846 

introduced  resolutions  upon  the  tariff,  slavery,  and  annexation,  taking  the 
ultra-Whig  view  of  the  tariff  question,  and  intended  to  bring  Mr.  Hale  and 
his  friends  to  their  support  as  the  condition  upon  which  he  could  have  the 
vote  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Whig  party.  But  instead  of  yielding  his 
convictions  for  the  consideration  of  their  support,  he  and  his  friends  declared 
they  would  submit  to  no  shackles;  they  had  fought  successfully  against  the 
tyranny  of  one  political  organization,  and  no  allurements  of  a  senatorship 
should  stifle  their  convictions  and  bind  their  judgment  to  the  dictations  of 
another.  Much  excitement  followed,  but  the  counsels  of  the  liberal  Whigs 
prevailed.  The  resolutions  were  not  called  up  until  after  the  senatorial  elec- 
tion, when  Mr.  Hale  left  the  speaker's  chair  and  offered  amendments  which 
were  adopted  after  a  strong  speech  by  him  in  their  favor.  He  was  supported 
by  his  old  friend  and  instructor,  Daniel  M.  Christie  of  Dover,  also  a  member 
of  the  House,  who  had  done  much  to  quiet  the  opposition  and  induce  it  to 
vote  for  Mr.  Hale. 

Mr.  Hale  was  nominated  as  the  Free-Soil  candidate  for  the 
presidency  in  1847,  but  declined  it;  and  again  the  honor  was 
tendered  to  him  in  1852,  when  he  received  155,850  votes.  In 
1855  he  was  again  elected  to  the  Senate  to  fill  vacancy  caused  by 
death  of  Charles  G.  Atherton,  and  was  re-elected  in  1858  for  a 
full  term.  After  his  retirement  from  the  Senate  he  was  minister 
to  Spain  for  four  years.     He  died  in  1873. 

Anthony  Colby  was  elected  governor  in  1846. 

Anthony  Colby  is  known  in  his  native  State  as  a  typical 
"  New  Hampshire  man."  Born  and  bred  among  the  granite 
hills,  he  seemed  assimilated  to  them,  and  to  illustrate  in  his 
noble,  cheerful  life  the  effects  of  their  companionship.  His 
great  heart,  sparkling  wit,  fine  physical  vigor,  and  merry  laugh 
made  his  presence  a  joy  at  all  times,  and  welcome  everywhere. 
His  ancestry  on  his  father's  side  was  of  English,  and  on  his 
mother's  of  Scotch-Irish,  origin. 

During  the  last  century  his  father,  Joseph  Colby,  bought  a 
portion  of  land  under  the  "  Masonian  grant "  from  Mr.  Minot, 
and  settled  in  New  London,  where  Anthony  Colby  was  born  in 
1795.  Then  the  restriction  of  ownership  in  the  State  was  that 
"  all  the  white-pine  trees  be  reserved  for  masting  the  ships  of 
His  Majesty's  royal  navy."  Each  town  was  required  to  set 
apart  a  portion  of  land  for  a  meeting-house,  and  the  support  of 
the  gospel  ministry ;  for  a  school-house  and  the  support  of  a 
school,  as  well  as  a  military  parade  ground. 


^3^ 


S^^^ 


iiGl-7.  J0H17.P.  EALB 

i.A'E  n.^SESiTm  TBIM  KBVEAl-iFSSm'E. 


1846]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION.  595 

In  politics,  Mr.  Colby  was  always  conservative.  He  was  first 
elected  a  member  of  the  New  Hampshire  legislature  in  1828, 
and  afterwards  held  nearly  every  higher  office  of  trust  in  the 
State.  Daniel  Webster  was  his  personal  friend.  Their  fathers, 
who  lived  in  the  same  county,  only  about  twenty  miles  apart, 
were  many  years  associated  in  the  legislature  of  which  they 
were  members,  from  Salisbury  and  New  London.  The  friend- 
ship between  himself.  Judge  Nesmith,  of  Franklin,  and  General 
James  Wilson,  of  Keene,  was  more  than  simple  friendship, — 
they  were  delightful  companions  ;  of  essentially  different  cha- 
racteristics, the  combination  was  perfect.  Daniel  Webster  was 
their  political  chief,  and  his  vacation  sometimes  found  these 
men  together  at  the  Franklin  "  farm-house,"  and  at  the  chowder 
parties  up  at  the  "pond."  The  Phenix  Hotel,  under  the  charge 
of  Colonel  Abel  and  Major  Ephraim  Hutchins,  was  the  central 
rendezvous,  where  a  great  deal  of  projected  statesmanship,  a 
great  deal  of  story  telling  and  fruitless  caucusing  were  indulged 
in,  down  to  the  revolution  of  1846,  when  the  Democrats  lost 
their  supremacy  by  the  admission  of  Texas  as  a  slave  State, 
when  John  P.  Hale  went  into  the  Senate.  When  Mr.  Colby 
was  elected  governor,  Mr.  Webster  wrote  him  earnest  congratu- 
lations. 

No  Whig  had  held  the  office  of  governor,  until  the  election 
of  Anthony  Colby,  since  the  election  of  Governor  Bell,  an 
interim  of  seventeen  years.  Governor  Colby  being  rallied  upon 
his  one-term  office,  said  he  considered  his  administration  the 
most  remarkable  the  State  ever  had.  "Why  soV  was  asked  ; 
when  with  assumed  gravity  he  answered :  "  Because  /  have 
satisfied  the  people  in  one  year,  and  no  other  governor  ever  did 
that." 

The  city  of  Manchester  was  incorporated  in  1846.  The  rise, 
growth  and  prosperity  of  this,  the  largest  city  in  the  State,  has 
been  almost  wholly  dependent  upon  its  great  manufacturing 
interests.  There  are  now  in  the  city  five  large  corporations, 
with  an  aggregate  capital  of  many  million  dollars,  besides  many 
other  manufacturing  establishments  of  less  importance. 

In  1830  an  examination  of  the  territory  bordering  on  the  east 


59^  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1846 

bank  of  the  river,  a  short  distance  below  the  falls,  developed  the 
fact  that  there  were  splendid  sites  for  mills  at  that  point. 

A  large  number  of  Boston  capitalists  united  and  resolved  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  a  great  manufacturing  town.  Accord- 
ingly, in  the  year  183 1,  the  Amoskeag  Manufacturing  Company 
was  incorporated.  The  Company  secured  a  title  to  all  the  water 
power  upon  the  Merrimack  at  Manchester,  Hooksett,  and  at 
Garvin's  Falls,  below  Concord.  Upwards  of  fifteen  hundred 
acres  of  land  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  at  Manchester  were 
purchased. 

Those  lands  extended  from  the  falls  south  for  a  distance  of 
about  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  a  mile  in  an  easterly  direction,  A 
new  town  was  laid  out,  the  streets  crossing  each  other  at  right 
angles.  A  new  stone  dam  and  two  canals  with  guard  locks  were 
also  constructed. 

It  was  the  plan  of  the  company  to  furnish  other  companies 
with  sites  and  power  for  mills,  and  to  erect  such  mills  to  be  op- 
erated on  their  own  account,  and  at  the  same  time  to  sell  their 
lands  for  stores,  dwelling-houses,  etc.  The  first  mill  in  the  new 
town  was  erected  by  the  Amoskeag  Company  for  the  Stark  Cor- 
poration in  1838.  The  Amoskeag  Company  also  built  a  machine 
shop  and  foundry  the  same  year,  and  in  1839  ^^^  company 
built  two  mills  on  their  own  account.  In  1843  the  company 
erected  another  mill.  These  were  followed  by  others  at  various 
times,  until  now  the  company  is  said  to  be  the  largest  in  the 
world. 

The  Stark  Mills  Company  was  incorporated  in  1838. 

The  Manchester  Mills  enterprise  was  originally  incorporated 
in  1839  by  the  name  of  the  Merrimack  Mills.  In  1849  its  name 
was  changed  to  the  Manchester  Print  Works.  During  the  war^ 
and  a  few  years  succeeding,  this  company  was  very  successful, 
and  very  high  dividends  were  paid.  But  in  a  year  or  two  later 
misfortunes  overtook  the  company,  until  finally  the  whole  prop- 
erty was  sold  to  pay  the  debts,  and  a  new  company  which  was 
incorporated  purchased  the  property  and  commenced  great  im- 
provements. 

The  Langdan  Mills  Company  was  incorporated  in  1857  and 


\ 


'^^ 


4l~f 


1846]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION.  59/ 

commenced  operation  in  i860.  The  success  of  the  company 
for  several  years  during  and  succeeding  the  war  was  very  re- 
markable. About  the  year  1865  an  annual  dividend  of  fifty 
per  cent,  upon  the  capital  stock  was  paid. 

Among  the  other  manufacturing  interests  at  Manchester  are 
the  Manchester  Locomotive  Works,  managed  by  Hon.  Aretas 
Blood,  in  which  as  many  as  seven  hundred  hands  have  been 
employed,  and  Hon.  A.  P.  Olzendam's  Hosiery  Mill,  which 
employs  three  hundred  hands. 

Abraham  P.  Olzendam  was  born  in  Barmen,  Prussia,  October  10,  1821.  His 
father  was  a  chemist.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was  initiated  into  the  mys- 
teries of  his  father's  business;  proved  an  apt  scholar;  and  soon  became  an 
expert  in  the  application  of  scientific  principles  to  the  mixing  of  colors  and 
the  dyeing  of  fabrics.  His  active  mind  found  congenial  study  in  political  econ- 
omy. The  demands  of  his  countrymen  for  liberty  were  seconded  by  him,  and 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  he  entered  heartily  into  the  plans  of  his  fellow 
patriots  for  the  amelioration  of  his  country.  Hopeless  of  accomplishing  the 
herculean  task  of  freeing  his  people,  despairing  of  gaining  at  home  that  place 
among  his  fellows  which  his  inborn  ability  warranted  him  in  demanding,  he 
quietly  bade  farewell  to  his  fatherland,  and  embarked  for  America  at  the  age 
of  twenty-seven.  The  good  ship,  "  General  Washington,"  brought  him  over, 
and  he  landed  in  New  York.  June  13,  1848,  hastening  at  once  to  the  consti- 
tuted authorities  to  signify  his  intention  of  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States. 

His  skill  as  a  dyer  readily  gave  him  employment  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Boston.  Within  a  few  months  he  launched  his  own  commercial  bark,  enter- 
ing into  business  on  his  own  account.  Various  fortunes  attended  his  eftbrts 
for  the  next  ten  years.  In  1S58  he  became  a  citizen  of  Manchester,  at  first 
accepting  employment  in  the  Manchester  Mills,  afterward  in  the  Amoskeag 
Mills,  until  1863,  when  he  commenced  the  manufacture  of  hosiery  by  the 
use  of  machinery.  From  a  small  beginning  he  has  built  up  a  very  extensive 
business,  employing  more  than  three  hundred  operatives  at  the  mill,  and 
aflfording  pin  money  for  a  thousand  women  for  miles  around,  using  nearly  a 
thousand  tons  of  wool  every  year,  and  preparing  for  the  market  about  one 
hundred  thousand  pairs  of  stockings  each  month. 

In  1S8S  he  purchased  the  Namaska  Mill,  in  which  he  carries  on  his  exten- 
sive manufacturing  operations. 

Such  mechanical  skill  and  business  capacity  as  his  was  sure  to  win  for  him 
a  foremost  place  in  commercial  pursuits.  Mr.  Olzendam  cast  his  first  vote 
for  Franklin  Pierce.  Since  then  he  has  been  a  Republican,  joining  the  party 
at  its  very  outset,  and  ever  being  a  quiet  worker  for  its  interests.  In  1S73  and 
1874  he  was  elected  to  represent  Manchester  in  the  legislature.  In  1885  he 
was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  but  has  never  sought  political  preferment. 


598  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1847 

For  many  years  he  has  been  identified  with  the  First  Unitarian  Church  of 
Manchester,  having  served  several  terms  as  director,  and  frequently  acting  on 
important  committees  when  executive  action  was  demanded.  In  1862  Mr. 
Olzendam  became  an  Odd  Fellow,  and  a  few  years  later  was  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  Masonry,  and  now  gracefully  wears  the  title  of  Sir  Knight. 
Since  its  organization,  in  1874,  he  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  People's  Savings 
Bank. 

October  i,  1851,  he  was  married  to  Theresa  Lohrer,  of  Dresden,  Saxony. 
They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom  Clementine  Olzendam, 
Alexander  H.  Olzendam,  Gustavus  Olzendam,  Sidonia  Olzendam,  and  Louis 
Olzendam  survive  and  reside  at  home.  After  the  death  of  the  mother  of  these 
children  Mr.  Olzendam  was  joined  in  marriage  to  Mrs.  Susie  J.  Carling. 

The  family  occupy  a  spacious  residence  in  the  northeast  part  of  Manchester, 
surrounded  by  grounds  carefully  cultivated. 

"Mr.  Olzendam  has  risen  to  a  very  honorable  position  in  Manchester,  pri- 
marily by  closely  attending  to  his  business  as  a  manufacturer,  and  since  then, 
in  addition,  by  showing  himself  an  excellent  citizen,  liberal,  high-minded, 
disposed  to  do  what  he  can  to  aid  every  benevolent  object  and  to  further  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  the  city.  Manchester  is  better  for  his  coming  and 
his  staying.  A  genial  gentleman,  he  enjoys  the  acquaintance  and  confidence 
of  a  large  number  of  warm  personal  friends.  Many  men,  as  fortune  favors 
them,  withdraw  more  and  more  from  society,  and  give  out  less  and  less 
towards  it,  but  society  feels  his  prosperity  and  enjoys  with  him  his  success."' 

Such  is  the  welcome  which  New  Hampshire  extends  to  men  of  foreign 
birth  who  settle  in  the  State. 

In  1847  J.  W.  Williams  was  elected  governor. 

Hon.  Jared  Warner  Williams  was  born  in  West  Woodstock, 
Conn.,  in  1796.  He  was  graduated  at  Brown  University  in 
1818  ;  read  law  at  the  Litchfield  (Conn.)  Law  School ;  and  came 
to  Lancaster  in  1822,  where  he  commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  and  was  a  resident  until  his  death. 

Mr.  Williams  was  elected  representative  of  Lancaster  in 
1830-31  ;  was  register  of  Probate  from  1832  to  1837;  in  1833 
he  was  chosen  to  the  State  Senate;  in  1834  and  1835  he  was 
president  of  that  body;  in  1837  he  entered  Congress  from  the 
''Sixth  District,"  and  served  four  years.  He  was  governor  of 
the  State  in  1847-48;  in  1852  was  made  judge  of  Probate  ;  in 
1853  he  filled  the  vacancy  in  the  United  States  Senate  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  Hon.  C.  G.  Atherton  ;  in  1864  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Chicago  convention.  In  addition  to  these  political  distinc- 
tions, Governor  Williams  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  from 

'  Clark's  History  of  Manchester. 


1849]  ANTI-SLAVERV    AGITATION.  599 

Dartmouth  College  in  1825  ;  and  that  of  LL.  D.  from  Brown  Uni- 
versity in  1852.  He  died  in  September,  1864,  aged  sixty-eight 
years.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  type  of  character, 
winning  social  qualities,  and  rare  abilities.  His  various  honors 
sat  easy  upon  him,  and  vanity  did  not  manifest  itself. 

The  Mexican  war  commenced  in  the  spring  of  1846.  General 
Zachary  Taylor  soon  after  led  an  expedition  into  Mexico  and 
won  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto,  Monterey,  and  Buena  Vista. 
Among  his  officers  were  Lieutenant  Joseph  H.  Potter  and 
Major  W.  W.  S.  Bliss. 

In  General  Winfield  Scott's  successful  invasion  of  the  country 
the  following  year,  many  New  Hampshire  men  won  distinction  : 
Colonel  Franklin  Pierce,  Dr.  John  D.  Walker,  Captains  T.  ¥. 
Rowe,  E.  A.  Kimball,  J.  W.  Thompson,  and  Daniel  Batchelder, 
Lieutenants  George  Bowers,  John  H.  Jackson,  Thomas  J. 
Whipple,  Daniel  H.  Cram,  Thomas  P.  Pierce,  John  Bedel,  and 
most  of  the  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  of  companies 
C  and  H  of  the  9th  regiment  United  States  army. 

The  Mexican  war  having  resulted  in  large  acquisition  of  ter- 
ritory by  the  United  States,  and  gold  having  been  discovered  on 
the  Pacific  Slope,  a  great  drain  was  made  on  the  energetic  young 
men  of  the  State,  who  rushed  to  California  to  better  their  for- 
tunes. For  fifty  years  the  fertile  prairies  of  the  West  had  also 
been  steadily  alluring  not  only  the  young  men  but  whole  families 
from  their  hillside  and  valley  farms. 

Samuel  Dinsmoor,  jr.,  was  elected  governor  in  1849. 

Samuel  Dinsmoor,  jr.,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  18 19,  but 
was  not  enrolled  as  an  attorney  at  Keene  until  1823.  He  was 
the  son  of  Governor  Samuel  Dinsmoor;  born  May  8,  1799;  grad- 
uated at  Dartmouth  College  in  181 5  ;  and  was  associated  with 
General  James  Miller  in  the  practice  of  law  in  Arkansas.  Li 
1826  and  1827,  and  in  i829and  1830,  he  was  clerk  of  the  Sen- 
ate ;  for  several  years  he  was  postmaster  ;  the  cashier  of  Ash- 
uelot  Bank,  later  its  president  ;  in  1849,  i^50>  ^"<J  1851  gover- 
nor of  New  Hampshire.      He  died  February  24,    1869. 

In  1850  the  expenses  of  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judi- 
ciary departments  of  the  State  amounted  to  $36,142. 


6oo 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1850 


There  were  three  trains  daily  each  way  between  Concord  and 
Boston,  both  by  way  of  the  Concord  Railroad  and  of  the  Man- 
chester and  Lawrence.  Passengers  taking  the  ten  a.  m.  train 
from  Concord  arrived  in  Boston  in  time  to  take  the  four  p.  m. 
steamboat  train  for  New  York.  By  the  Northern  Railroad  one 
could  reach  Montpelier  and  Wells  River;  by  the  Contoocook, 
Hillsborough ;  by  the  Boston,  Concord  and  Montreal,  Lake 
Winnipiseogee,  by  way  of  Meredith  Bridge.  In  the  United 
States  at  that  time  there  were  seven  thousand  six  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  miles  in  operation.  Nathaniel  White  and  Benja- 
min P.  Cheney  had  charge  of  the  express  business  over  most  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Railroads.  John  Gibson  conducted  the 
Eagle  Coffee  House,  and  John  Gass  the  American  House. 

A  constitutional  convention  met  in  Concord  early  in  Novem- 
ber, 1850.  Of  the  two  hundred  and  ninety  members,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-seven  were  farmers,  twenty-nine  lawyers,  and 
thirty  merchants.  Franklin  Pierce  was  chosen  president,  re- 
ceiving two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  votes  out  of  two  hundred 
and  sixty-four  cast  ;  and  Thomas  J.  Whipple  was  chosen  secretary 
almost  as  unanimously.      Among  the  delegates  were  — ■ 


William  Plumer,  Jr. 
Gilman  Marston. 
Uri  Lamprey. 
Bradbury  Bartlett. 
Levi  Woodbury. 
Ichabod  Bartlett. 
Ichabod  Goodwin. 
Thomas  E.  Sawyer. 
Benning  W.  Jenness. 
James  Bell. 
N.  G.  Upham. 
L.  W.  Noyes. 
George  W.  Hammond. 
Levi  Chamberlain. 
Ira  Whitcher. 
Edwin  D.  Sanborn. 


Joel  Eastman. 
Cyrus  Barton. 
George  Minot. 
Jonathan  Eastman. 
Henry  Putney  = 
George  W.  Nesmith. 
Jesse  Gault,  Jr. 
Asa  P.  Cate. 
Aaron  Whittemore. 
Andrew  Wallace. 
Isaac  Spaulding. 
Charles  G.  Atherton. 
William  Haile. 
Dyer  H.  Sanborn. 
William  P.  Weeks. 
Hazen  Bedel. 


The  State  was  strongly  Democratic  at  that  time,  the  State 
Senate  that  year  having  only  one  in  the  opposition.  After  a 
session  of  about  fifty  days  a  new  constitution  was  agreed  upon 


1852]  ANTI-SLAVERV    AGITATION'.  60 1 

and  submitted  to  the  people  ;  but  it  found    no   favor  with  the 
Whigs,  and  was  rejected. 

The  Democratic  State  convention  met  at  Concord  during  the 
session  of  the  legislature  and  nominated  John  Atwood,  of  New 
Boston,  as  their  candidate  for  governor.  From  some  injudicious 
statements  of  their  candidate,  he  was  repudiated  by  the  party, 
led  by  the  Cheshire  Republican,  Newport  Argus,  Dover  Gazette, 
and  Concord  Patriot,  and  upon  the  reassembling  of  the  conventio-. 
in  185 1  he  received  only  three  of  the  two  hundred  and  five  votes 
cast.  A  serious  bolt  was  the  consequence,  and  Samuel  Dins 
moor,  jr.,  the  Democratic  candidate,  lacked  several  thousanc' 
votes  of  a  majority. 

In  the  nomination  of  185 1  the  Democratic  party  at  first  mad'=* 
choice  of  Luke  Woodbury,  of  Antrim,  for  their  standard  beare: 
the  following  year,  but  he  "was  gathered  to  his  fathers"  la 
August. 

Dr.  Noah  Martin  was  elected  governor  in  1852.  Dr.  Martin 
was  a  descendant  of  the  Scotch-Irish  settlers  of  Londonderry 
He  was  born  in  Epsom  in  July,  1801,  graduated  at  the  Dar'c 
mouth  Medical  College  in  1824,  and  the  ne.\t  year  settled  in 
Great  Falls.  In  1834  he  settled  in  Dover.  He  was  rcprescn 
tative  in  1830,  1832,  and  1837,  and  State  senator  in  1835  and 
1836.  He  was  re-elected  governor  in  1853.  He  died  in  Dover 
in  June,  1880.  He  was  a  Democrat,  well  read  on  a  great  variety 
of  subjects,  proficient  in  law  as  well  as  medicine,  and  a  states- 
man from  his  native  good  sense  and  judgment. 

^  The  result  of  the  fall  elections  of  1852  was  that  Franklin 
Pierce  of  New  Hampshire  was  elected  president,  having  carried 
twenty-seven  States,  choosing  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  elec- 
tors ;  General  Scott,  the  Whig  candidate,  having  carried  only 
four  States  —  Massachusetts,  Vermont,  Kentucky,  and  Ten- 
nessee, choosing  forty-two  electors. 

President  Franklin  Pierce,  son  of  Governor  Benjamin  Pierce,  was  born  in 
Hillsborough  in  November,  1S04;  graduated  from  Bowdoin  College  in  1824; 
studied  law  with  Judge  Woodburv  and  Judge  Parker;  was  a  zealous  Demo- 
crat; elected  to  represent  Hillsborough  in  1S29;  speaker  of  the  House  in  1S32 
ai  d  1833 ;  elected  to  Congress  in  1S33,  to  the  Senate  in  1S37,  resigning  in  1S42. 

«  W.  D.  Northend. 


602  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [iSS^ 

He  declined  the  position  of  attorney-general  of  the  United  States  in  1846, 
He  volunteered  in  a  Concord  company  for  the  Mexican  war;  was  appointed 
colonel  of  the  9th  Regiment  United  States  army;  brigadier-general  in 
March,  1847;  '^^^  wounded  at  battle  of  Contreras  in  August;  resigned  in. 
December  at  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1850  he  was  president  of  the  convention 
for  revising  the  constitution  of  the  State.  "  The  special  feature  of  his  inau- 
gural address  was  the  support  of  slavery  in  the  United  States,  and  the  an- 
nouncement of  his  determination  that  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  should  be 
strictly  enforced.  This  was  the  keynote  of  his  administration,  and  pregnant 
with  vital  consequences  to  the  country.  From  it  came  during  his  term  the 
Ostend  conference  and  '  manifesto,'  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,^ 
and  the  troubles  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  which  crystallized  the  opposing 
forces  into  the  Republican  party,  and  led  later  to  the  great  Rebellion."  '  He 
died  in  October,  1S69. 

^  The  countess  of  Rumford  died  in  December,  1852,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
eight.  The  Rolfe-Rumford  house  occupies  a  very  pleasant  site  but  a  few  rods 
from  the  Merrimack  river,  on  a  slight  eminence  that  overlooks  that  stream. 

Her  home,  the  Rolfe-Rumford  house,  was  built  in  1764  by  Colonel  Ben- 
jamin Rolfe.  Colonel  Rolfe  was  a  great  man  in  the  colony  in  ante-Revolu- 
tionary days,  the  son  of  Henry  Rolfe,  one  of  the  original  grantees  of  Pena- 
cook.  He  was  a  man  of  scholarly  attainments,  having  graduated  at  Harvard 
in  172S.  Able,  wealthy,  and  enterprising,  he  was  a  man  of  authority,  holding 
the  highest  offices  of  the  settlement.  He  was  the  town  clerk  of  Rumford  ibr 
many  years,  and  was  the  first  one  chosen  to  represent  the  town  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  New  Hampshire.  In  1745  he  held  the  commission  of  colo- 
.  nel  in  the  province  under  Governor  Benning  Wentworth,  By  inheritance 
and  his  own  industry  he  acquired  a  large  property,  and  was  by  far  the  wealth- 
iest person  in  Concord.  He  lived  according  to  his  means,  after  the  fashion 
of  the  day.  His  large  estate  was  worked  by  slaves  and  servants  to  the  num- 
ber of  a  dozen.  He  purchased  and  owned  the  first  chaise  ever  used  in  Con- 
cord, in  1767.  It  liad,  says  Dr.  Bouton,  a  standing  canvas  top,  and  probably 
cost  about  $60,  which  would  be  about  equal  to  the  simi  of  $240  in  these  days. 

This  old-time  magnate  lived  a  bachelor  until  he  was  nearly  sixty.  At  that 
age  he  lost  his  heart  to  Miss  Sarah  Walker,  the  oldest  daughter  of  Rev.  Tim- 
othy Walker,  who  was  thirty  years  his  junior.  Miss  Walker  was  beautiful 
and  accomplished.  The  Rolfes  at  the  "  South  End,"  and  the  Walkers  at  the 
"North  End,"  with  the  Coffins,  Eastmans,  Bradleys,  and  Stickneys  between, 
were  the  aristocracy  of  old  Rumford.  They  lived  differently  from  the  other 
people,  usurped  most  of  the  offices,  and  controlled  the  business  and  social 
interests  of  the  town.  Tlie  marriage,  therefore,  of  Colonel  Rolfe  and  Miss 
Walker  must  have  been  one  of  the  grand  events  of  the  colony.  It  occurred 
in  the  year  1769.  That  this  union  of  May  and  December  was  otherwise  than 
a  happy  one  we  have  no  reason  for  believing,  but  it  was  very  short.  In  Dec- 
ember, 177 1,  Colonel  Rolfe  died,  leaving  his  widow  the  wealthiest  person  in 
the  settlement. 

'  Encyclopxdia  Dritannica.  *  Fred  Myron  Colby. 


1852]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION.  603 

About  this  time  there  came  to  Concord,  from  Woburn,  Mass.,  a  young  man 
by  tlie  name  of  Benjamin  Thompson.  Though  a  mere  youth  in  years,  he  was 
wonderfully  matured  in  mind.  He  was  a  good  scholar,  and  developed  hand- 
somely in  personal  appearance.  He  was  engaged  at  once  as  the  teacher  of 
Rumford  Academy. 

Thompson  was  a  philosopher  by  n:\ture,  and  nothing  could  divert  him 
from  his  philosophical  researches  and  mechanical  pursuits.  Handy  with 
tools  and  full  of  inventive  genius,  he  spent  his  spare  time  in  all  sorts  of  ex- 
periments on  subjects  suggested  by  his  reading.  Naturally  gay  and  fond  of 
society,  he  entered  into  all  the  manly  sports  of  the  time  while  at  Concord. 
He  was  the  most  expert  skater  and  swimmer  among  the  young  men.  At  the 
social  evening  parties  he  was  a  favorite.  With  his  experiments  in  chemistrv 
and  philosophy,  his  feats  of  swimming  and  skating  upon  the  Merrimack 
and  Horse-shoe  Pond,  his  genial  and  engaging  manners  at  all  times  and 
places,  he  for  a  time  was  very  popular  among  old  and  young  at  Rumford. 

At  Mr.  Walker's  Thompson  often  met  the  young  widow,  Mrs.  Rolfe.  They 
married  sometime  before  January,  1773,  at  Parson  Walker's  house,  and  the 
poor  schoolmaster  became  the  richest  man  in  Rumford. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thompson  inaugurated  a  style  of  living  at  the  Rumford 
house  that  completely  threw  in  the  shade  anything  of  the  kind  previouslv. 
While  attending  a  military  review  at  Dover,  Thompson  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  Governor  Wentworth. 

The  distinguished  friendship  of  the  royal  governor  won  for  Thompson  the 
appointment  of  major  in  the  nth  regiment  of  the  New   Hampshire  militia, 
"over  the  heads  of  all  the  old  officers."     This  gained  for  him  the  enmity  of 
all  his  superseded  rivals,  and  of  some  others  who  envied  him  his  good  fortune. 

In  the  family  mansion  was  born  their  daughter,  Sarah,  the  afterward 
benevolent  countess  of  Ramford,  October  iS,  1774.  A  few  happy,  prosper- 
ous months  went  by.  Blest  in  his  family  relations,  honored  for  his  position 
and  his  culture,  the  intimate  friend  of  Wentworth,  of  Wheelock,  the  president 
of  Dartmouth  College,  of  Parson  Walker,  and  other  eminent  and  learned  men. 
Benjamin  Thompson  seemed  riding  on  the  highest  w^ave  of  prosperity  and 
happiness.     Upon  this  brilliant  day  burst  the  storm  of  the  Revolution. 

Benjamin  Thompson  was  as  yet  but  twenty-tw^o  years  of  age.  His  sudden 
rise,  his  unvarying  prosperity,  and,  more  than  all,  the  governor's  favor,  had 
made  him  enemies,  and  a  grand  combination  was  made  to  crush  him. 
Though  inclined  to  the  patriot  cause,  he  was  denounced  as  a  Tory.  Even  the 
influence  of  the  Walkers,  who  were  ardent  patriots,  and  known  as  such,  could 
not  save  him.  Fearing  violence  from  a  mob  of  village  patriot;-,  if  he  remained, 
young  Thompson  fled  from  his  home  in  the  night.  The  jealous  officers  con- 
tinued to  malign  him,  and  the  rumors  spread  through  the  American  army. 
Suspected  without  cause,  and  wishing  to  obtain  a  commission  in  the  patriot 
army,  he  demanded  an  inquiry.  It  resulted  in  a  drawn  verdict.  After  vainly 
trying  to  live  down  the  ill  odor  by  zealous  army  work  on  the  American  side, 
and  finding  himself  still  in  danger  from  suspicion  and  hostility,  he  gave  up 
the  patriot  cause  in  disgust,  and  fled  to  the  British  in  Boston. 


604  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1854 

Going  to  England  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  he  obtained  service 
under  the  elector  of  Bavaria,  and  upon  his  departure  was  knighted,  bj  which 
he  became  Sir  Benjamin  Thompson.  In  the  public  garden  of  Bavaria  his 
statue  stands,  of  heroic  size,  as  the  patron  genius  of  the  place.  The  elector 
also  honored  him  bv  conferring  upon  him  several  of  the  highest  offices  in  the 
empire.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Council  of  State;  major-general;  knight 
of  Poland;  commander-in-chief  of  the  armj;  minister  of  war;  chief  of  the 
regency  in  the  elector's  absence ;  and  count  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  To 
this  latter  title  he  added  Rumford,  in  honor  of  his  old  home  in  America.  He 
left  Bavaria  only  as  minister  plenipotentiary  and  envoy  extraordinary  to  the 
court  of  St.  James,  with  a  pension  for  life.  Count  Rumford  had  never  ceased 
his  interest  in  philosophical  investigations,  and  while  in  England  engaged  in 
experiments  whose  fruits  came  home  to  every  man's  kitchen  and  fireside. 
Lady  Sarah  Thompson,  his  wife,  died  in  1792.  Mrs.  Thompson's  son  by  her 
first  marriage,  Paul  Rolfe,  by  inheritance  became  the  owner  of  the  house 
and  estate  in  Concord,  and  died  in  July,  1S19,  and  his  half  sister  became  his 
heiress.  She  saw  life  as  few  saw  it.  She  was  a  queen  of  society.  She  was 
never  married.  Tired  of  courts  and  their  flatteries,  after  her  return  to  Amer- 
ica, in  1845,  she  spent  the  remainder  of  her  life  in  a  quiet  circle  of  society, 
aloof  from  the  stir  of  city  life,  with  an  adopted  daughter  for  her  companion. 

Governor  Nathaniel  B.  Baker,  the  son  of  Lieutenant  Abel 
Baker,  of  Concord,  was  born  in  Henniker,  Sept.  29,  18 19.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  the  class  of  1839  ;  read  law 
with  Messrs.  Pierce  and  Fowler  ;  and,  from  1841  to  1845,  ^^^^ 
one  of  the  proprietors  and  editors  of  the  Nezv  Hampshire  Pat- 
riot. In  1841  he  was  quartermaster  of  the  Eleventh  regiment;' 
was  appointed  adjutant  of  the  same  in  1842,  and  held  the  office 
the  following  year.  In  1844  and  1845  he  was  aide  to  Governor 
Steele,  with  rank  of  colonel.  In  1846  he  was  appointed  clerk 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  of  the  Superior  Court  for 
the  county  of  Merrimack.  He  was  representative  from  Concord, 
and  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  1850  and  185 1, 
and  elector  of  president  and  vice-president  in  1852.  In  1854  he 
was  elected  governor  of  New  Hampshire,  and  served  as  chief 
magistrate  one  year.  Subsequently  he  took  up  his  residence 
in  Clinton,  Iowa,  having  an  appointment  as  attorney  for  the 
railroad  in  that  vicinity.  At  the  commencement  of  the  war  he 
was  appointed  adjutant-general  of  Iowa,  and  held  that  office, 
having  performed  its  duties  during  the  trials  of  the  Rebellion 
with  his  usual  promptness  and  energy,  until  the  close  of  the 
war.^ 

'  Adjutant-general's  Report. 


1855]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION.  605 

In  1852  the  Democratic  party  seemed  strongly  intrenched  in 
power  in  New  Hampshire,  and  were  arrogant  and  overbearing. 
The  Know-Nothing  movement  was  introduced  to  break  their 
solid  front  :  and  well  it  succeeded. 

At  the  spring  election  in  1855  Ralph  Metcalf  was  elected 
governor  by  the  Know-Nothing  party.  Governor  Metcalf  was 
born  in  Charlestown  in  November,  1798,  passed  his  youth  on  the 
farm  of  his  father,  who  was  a  veteran  of  the  Revolution,  gradu- 
ated at  Dartmouth  College  in  1823,  read  law,  and  settled  in  New- 
port and  later  in  Claremont.  In  1831  he  was  elected  secretary 
of  state,  moved  to  Concord,  and  held  the  office  until  1838- 
He  declined  the  office  of  attorney-general  while  he  was  secretary, 
and  during  a  temporary  residence  in  Washington  refused  the 
place  of  editor  of  one  of  the  leading  journals  of  that  city.  In 
1845  I'ls  ^V'^s  living  at  Newport,  when  he  was  appointed  register 
of  Probate  for  the  county  of  Sullivan.  He  was  a  representative 
in  1852  and  in  1853,  the  latter  year  serving  on  the  committee 
for  codifying  the  laws.  He  was  re-elected  in  1856.  He  died 
at  Claremont  in  August,  1858.  Governor  Metcalf  was  a  great 
lover  of  romance,  read  and  reread  the  standard  authors,  and 
wielded  a  ready  and  humorous  pen.  He  was  fond  of  social  life, 
and  contributed  freely  to  its  promotion. 

^  In  1855  the  legislature  was  called  upon  to  elect  two  United 
States  senators.  For  the  first  time  in  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
with  a  single  exception,  the  Democratic  party  was  in  a  minority. 
The  opposition  was  composed  of  the  Whig  party,  then  on  the 
point  of  dissolving,  the  American  party,  commonly  known  as 
the  "  Know-Nothing "  party,  and  the  Free-Soil  party.  These 
elements,  a  year  later,  were  fused  in  the  Republican  party. 
By  common  consent  Hon.  John  P.  Hale  was  nominated  for  the 
short  term,  and  the  contest  for  the  long  term  was  between  Mr. 
Clark  and  the  Hon.  James  Bell.  In  the  senatorial  caucus  the 
latter  was  nominated  and  subsequently  elected  by  the  legisla- 
ture. The  contest,  alth,ough  warm,  was  a  friendly  one,  so  that 
when,  two  years  later,  in  1857,  the  legislature  was  called  to  fill 
the  vacancy  in  the  office  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Senator 

»  Judge  I.  W.  Smith. 


6o6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1856 

Bell,  in  obedience  to  the  common  wishes  of  their  constituents 
the  Republican  members  nominated  and  the  legislature  elected 
Mr.  Clark.  Upon  the  expiration  of  his  term  he  was  re-elected 
in  i860  with  little  opposition.  The  ten  years  spent  by  Senator 
Clark  in  Congress  constituted  the  most  eventful  period  in  the 
history  of  the  Republic.  He  witnessed  the  rise,  progress,  and 
overthrow  of  the  Rebellion.  He  was  a  firm  supporter  of  the 
various  war  measures  adopted  for  the  suppression  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, and  had  the  confidence  of  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary 
Stanton.  He  failed  of  a  re-election  in  1866,  as  his  colleague. 
Senator  Hale,  had  done  two  years  before,  not  from  any  lack  of  ap- 
preciation of  the  invaluable  services  they  had  rendered  the  coun- 
try, nor  of  the  honor  they  had  conferred  upon  the  State  by  their 
course  in  Congress,  but  because  the  rule  of  rotation  in  oiBce  had 
become  so  thoroughly  ingrafted  into  the  practice  of  the  Republi- 
can party  in  the  State  that  a  departure  from  it  was  not  deemed 
wise,  even  in  the  persons  of  these  eminent  statesmen. 

In  the  summer  of  1866  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the  office  of  district  judge  of 
the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  district  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Sena- 
tor Clark  was  nominated  for  the  position  by  President  Johnson,  and  unanr- 
mously  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  He  thereupon  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
Senate  and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  judicial  duties.  The  wisdom  of 
his  selection  has  been  justified  by  his  career  upon  the  bench.  The  office  of 
district  judge  does  not  afford  such  opportunity  for  public  distinction  as  the 
bench  of  some  other  courts,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  being  principally 
limited  to  cases  arising  under  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States. 
New  Hampshire,  from  its  size,  location,  and  business  relations,  furnishes 
only  a  small  amount  of  business  for  the  federal  courts,  and  not  much  of  that 
generally  of  public  interest.  In  addition  to  holding  his  own  court,  Judge 
Clark  has  frequently  been  called  to  hold  the  federal  courts  in  other  States  in 
the  first  circuit.  He  has  brought  to  the  discharge  of  his  judicial  duties  the 
same  learning,  industry,  and  interest  that  characterized  his  labors  at  the  bar 
and  in  the  Senate.  His  decisions  have  commended  themselves  to  the  profes- 
sion for  their  soundness  and  fairness. 

Daniel  Clark  was  born  in  Stratham,  October  24,  1809,  and 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1834. 

St.  Paul's  school,  at  Concord,  was  opened  in  April,  1856,  for  the 
admission  of  pupils,  having  been  incorporated  the  previous  year. 
Under  the  direction  of  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  A.  Coit,  the  school  has 


1857]  ANTI-SLAVERY    AGITATION",  60^ 

increased  from  five  pupils  in  1856  to  three  hundred  pupils  in 
1888. 

The  school  is  located  on  a  domain  of  six  hundred  acres 
pleasantly  situated  in  the  valley  of  Turkey  river,  two  miles 
west  of  the  State  House.  The  buildings  erected  from  time  to 
time  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  growing  school  arc  architecturally 
pleasing  to  the  eye  and  are  charmingly  grouped.  The  chapel,  not 
complete  in  1888,  cost  over  $100,000,  and  is  said  to  be  the  finest 
of  its  class  in  the  United  States.  The  founder  of  the  school,  a 
Boston  physician,  was  desirous  of  endowing  a  school  of  the 
highest  class,  for  boys,  "in  which  they  may  obtain  an  education 
which  shall  fit  them  for  college  or  business,  including  thorough 
intellectual  training  in  the  various  branches  of  learning  ;  gymnas- 
tic and  manly  exercises  adapted  to  preserve  health  and  strengthen 
the  physical  condition  ;  such  aesthetic  culture  and  accomplish- 
ments as  shall  tend  to  refine  the  manners  and  elevate  the  taste; 
together  with  careful  moral  and  religious  instruction." 

The  full  course  of  instruction  is  designed  to  cover  seven  years 
and  to  prepare  for  admission  to  the  freshman  or  sophomore 
class  in  any  American  college.  The  school  gathers  most  of  its 
pupils  from  other  States  ;  and  its  high  success  has  won  honor 
for  the  Episcopal  Church  which  it  represents. 

Adjoining  the  grounds  of  St.  Paul's  school,  and  intimately 
connected  with  it,  is  the  Diocesan  Orphans'  Home,  the  first 
refuge  of  the  kind  opened  in  the  State,  and  always  full  of  chil- 
dren. 

In  1857,  William  Ilaile  of  Hinsdale  was  elected  governor  of 
the    State. 

Governor  Haile  was  the  standard  bearer  of  the  newly  or- 
ganized Republican  party,  whose  first  national  campaign  had 
been  led  by  John  C.  Fremont.  The  party  drew  to  itself  Whigs, 
Free-Soil  Democrats,  Abolitionists,  and  all  those  in  opposition 
to  the  Democratic  party. 

Governor  Haile  was  born  in  Putney,  Vermont,  in  1807, 
passed  his  boyhood  and  early  manhood  in  Chesterfield,  and  in 
1834  embarked  in  business  in  a  country  store  in  Hinsdale,  with 
small  capital  but  good  credit.     In  1847  he  undertook  manufac- 


6o8  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1859 

turing,  and  was  as  successful    as    he   had  been  in  trade.     His 
honesty  and  untiring  devotion  to  business  insured  success.     He 
took  an  active  and  prominent  part  in  church  affairs,  and  belonged 
to  a  number  of  benevolent  societies.     Though  extensively  en- 
gaged in  business  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  political  affairs. 
^  With  the  exception  of  two  years  he  represented  Hinsdale  in  the 
r.''  legislature  from  1846  to  1854.     In  1854  and  1855  ^^  was  a  raem- 
'  ^  ber  of  the  Senate,  being  chosen  president  of  that  body  the  latter 
year,  and  was  elected  as  representative  in   1856.     He  was  the 
first  successful  standard  bearer  of  the  Republican  party  for  the 
office  of  governor.      He  was  re-elected  in  the  year   1858.      In 
1873  he  removed  to  Keene,  built  a  fine  residence,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  business  till  his  death  in  July,  1876. 

The  panic  of  1857  came  upon  the  country  with  crushing  and 
disastrous  effect.  Every  interest  was  prostrated ;  and  the 
president  was  compelled  in  his  message  to  Congress  to  portray 
the  disastrous  condition  of  the  country  in  strong  colors.  Mr. 
Buchanan  said  : — 

With  unsurpassed  plenty  in  all  the  elements  of  national  wealth,  our  manu- 
facturers have  suspended,  our  public  Avorks  are  retarded,  our  private  enter- 
prises of  different  kinds  are  abandoned,  and  thousands  of  useful  laborers  are 
thrown  out  of  employment  and  reduced  to  want. 

Following  the  panic  of  1857  there  were  four  years  of  "hard 
times."  Money  was  scarce,  specie  payment  was  maintained  by 
the  banks  with  great  difficulty,  as  the  gold  from  the  California 
mines  had  largely  been  shipped  to  Europe  to  pay  adverse  bal- 
ances, and  new  enterprises  were  few  in  number  and  unprofitable 
in  result.^ 

Ichabod  Goodwin  was  chosen  the  governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, as  the  Republican  candidate,  in  the  year  1859,  ^.nd  was 
re-elected  by  the  same  party  in  the  following  year,  his  second 
term  of  office  having  expired  June  5,  1861.  Born  at  the  close 
of  the  last  century  in  North  Berwick,  Maine,  he  was  a  ship- 
*  master  for  a  number  of  years;  settled  in  Portsmouth,  in  1832, 
i'--  and  established  himself  as  a  merchant.     He  served  in  the  legis- 

'  James  G.  Blaine. 


l860]  ANTI-SLAVEKY    AGITATION.  609 

lature  of  New  Hampshire  as  a  member  of  the  Whig  party  for 
a  number  of  years.  He  was  also  a  delegate  at  large  from  the 
State  to  the  conventions  at  which  Clay,  Taylor,  and  Scott  were 
nominated  by  the  Whigs  for  the  presidency,  and  was  a  vice- 
president  at  the  two  first-named  conventions ;  and  he  twice 
served  in  the  constitutional  conventions  of  New  Hampshire.  He 
was  the  candidate  of  the  Whigs  for  Congress  at  several  elections 
before  the  State  was  divided  into  Congressional  districts.  New 
Hampshire  was  in  those  days  one  of  the  most  powerful  strong- 
holds of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  country. 

During  his  administration  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  was  com- 
menced. The  military  spirit  of  the  people  of  New  Hampshire 
had  become  dormant,  and  the  militia  system  of  the  State  had 
fallen  pretty  much  to  decay,  long  before  the  first  election  of  Mr. 
Goodwin  to  the  office  of  governor.  A  slight  revival  of  that 
spirit,  perhaps,  is  marked  by  the  organization  in  his  honor,  in 
January,  i860,  of  "The  Governor's  Horse  Guards,"  a  regiment 
of  cavalry  in  brilliant  uniform,  designed  to  do  escort  duty  to  the 
governor,  as  well  as  by  a  field  muster  of  several  voluntary  organ- 
izations of  troops  which  went  into  camp  at  Nashua  in  the  same 
year.  But  when  the  call  of  President  Lincoln  for  trocfps  was 
made  in  the  spring  of  1861,  the  very  foundation  of  a  military 
system  required  to  be  established.  Th^  nucleus  itself  required 
to  be  formed.  The  legislature  was  not  in  session  and  would  not 
convene,  except  under  a  special  call,  until  the  following  June. 
There  were  no  funds  in  the  treasury  which  could  be  devoted  to 
the  expense  of  the  organization  and  equipment  of  troops,  as  all 
the  available  funds  were  needed  to  meet  the  ordinary  State  ex- 
penditures. The  great  confidence  of  the  people  of  New  Hamp- 
shire in  the  wisdom  and  integrity  of  Mr.  Gocdwin  found  in  this 
emergency  full  expression.  Without  requiring  time  to  convene 
the  legislature  so  as  to  obtain  the  security  of  the  State  for  the 
loan,  the  banking  institutions  and  citizens  of  the  State  tendered 
him  the  sum  of  $680,000  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  to 
raise  and  equip  for  the  field  New  Hampshire's  quota  of  troops. 
This  offer  he  gladly  accepted  ;  and  averting  delay  in  the  proceed- 
ings by  refraining  from  convening  the  legislature,  he,  upon  his 


6io 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


own  responsibility,  proceeded  to  organize  and  equip  troops  for 
the  field ;  and  in  less  than  two  months  he  had  dispatched  to  the 
army,  near  Washington,  two  well-equipped  and  well-officered 
regiments.  Of  this  sum  of  $680,000  only  about  $100,000  was 
expended.  On  the  assembling  of  the  legislature  that  body 
unanimously  passed  the  "  Enabling  Act,"  under  which  all  his 
proceedings  as  governor  were  ratified,  and  the  State  made  to 
assume  the  responsibility. 


VIEW   NEAR   MEREDITH   VILLAGE. 


I 


;.tS*^^' 


rl  P- 


W^. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

WAR   OF  THE  REBELLION,   1861-1865.1 

Election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  —  Seceding  States  —  Firing  on  Sujv^er 
—  First  Regiment  —  Mason  W.  Tappan  —  Old  Militia  —  Governor's 
Horse  Guards  —  Thomas  L.  Tullock  —  Second  Regiment  —  Gilman 
Marston  —  J.  N.  Patterson  —  Nathaniel  S.  Berry  —  Third  Reg- 
iment—  Enoch  Q^  Fellows — John  H.  Jackson — John  Bedel  — 
Fourth  Regiment  —  Thomas  J.  Whipple  —  Louis  Bell  —  Fifth  Reg- 
iment—  Edward  E.  Cross  —  Charles  E.  Hapgood  —  Edward  E. 
Sturtevant  —  Sixth  Regiment  —  Simon  G.  Griffin  —  Henry  H. 
Pearson  —  Seventh,  Eighth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth, 
Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth 
Regiments  —  Colonel  Henry  O.  Kent  — Joseph  A.  Gilmore  —  Eigh- 
teenth Regiment  —  Cavalry,  Artillery,  and  Sharpshooters  — 
Summary  of  Number  of  Volunteers  —  E.  H.  Durell  —  George  Ham- 
ilton Perkins. 

TN  the  fall  election  of  i860  the  Republican  party  was  success- 
ful,  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  received  one  hundred  and 
eighty  electoral  votes  for  president ;  John  C.  Breckinridge, 
seventy-two ;  John  Bell,  thirty-nine ;  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
twelv^e ;  —  and  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  Republican  candidate, 
pledged  to  resist  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  Territories, 
when  the  votes  were  counted  in  the  United  States  Senate,  was 
declared  elected  president  of  the  United  States.  December  20, 
i860,  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  through  a  popular  convention, 
passed  an  ordinance  of  secession  from  the  Union  In  January, 
1 861,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and 
North  Carolina  followed,  and  adopted  similar  acts  of  secession. 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1861,  and  imme- 
diately called  to  his  cabinet  William  H.  Seward,  as  secretary  of 
state;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  as  secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Simon 

■  The  facts  in  this  chapter  are  largely  derived  from  the  Adjutant-General's  Reports. 


6l2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1861 

Cameron,  as  secretary  of  war ;  and  Gideon  Wells,  as  secretary 
of  the  navy. 

Early  in  February  forty-two  delegates,  representing  the  seven 
seceded  States,  had  assembled  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  and 
organized  a  Southern  Confederacy.  Jefferson  Davis  was  elected 
president,  and  Alexander  H.  Stevens,  vice-president,  of  the  new- 
government. 

April  12,  1 86 1,  the  Confederate  forces  opened  fire  on  Fort 
Sumter,  in  Charleston  Harbor,  which  was  held  by  a  small  garrison 
of  loyal  men,  under  command  of  Major  Robert  Anderson.  The 
news  of  the  attack  was  flashed  over  the  wires  north  and  west. 
The  whole  American  people  were  roused  as  never  before.  The 
president  immediately  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for  seventy- 
five  thousand  volunteers.  The  secretary  of  war  made  a  requisi- 
tion on  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  for  one  regiment  of  infan- 
try for  three  months'  service. 

Governor  Goodwin  directed  Adjutant-general  Joseph  C.  Abbott 
to  issue  the  necessary  orders  calling  for  the  required  number  ot 
volunteers  ;  and  in  less  than  ten  days  a  thousand  eager  recruits 
were  assembled  at  Concord.  Mason  W.  Tappan  was  com- 
missioned colonel,  Thomas  J.  Whipple,  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
Aaron  F.  Stevens,  major. 

After  a  month  of  drill  on  the  fair  grounds,  about  a  mile  east 
of  the  State  House,  the  First  regiment  embarked  May  25,  1861, 
and  proceeded  to  Washington.  Active  hostilities  were  opened 
between  the  opposing  forces  of  the  North  and  South  at  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  July  21  ;  a  battle  which  was  destined  to  open 
the  greatest  struggle  of  modern  times,  if  not  the  greatest  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

The  First  formed  a  part  of  the  Union  line,  but  was  many 
miles  away  from  the  active  operations  of  that  eventful  day.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  out  August  9,  1861. 

Connected  with  the  First  regiment  were  Adjutant  Enoch  O. 
Fellows,  Quartermaster  Richard  N.  Batchelder,  Surgeon  Alpheus 
B.  Crosby,  Captain  Louis  Bell,  Captain  Ira  McL.  Barton,  Cap- 
tain Edward  E.  Sturtevant,  Lieutenant  Henry  W.  Fuller,  Ser- 
geant-major George  Y.  Sawyer,  Sergeant  Daniel  B.  Newhall,  and 
many  others  who  afterward  won  honor  in  the  service. 


l86l]  WAR    OF    THE    REHELLION.  613 

Colonel  Mason  W.  Tappan,  who  led  the  First  regiment  of  New 
Hampshire  volunteers  to  the  field  of  battle  to  help  the  president 
maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Union  and  resist  the  attacks  of 
those  rebelling  against  the  government,  was  a  native  of  Newport, 
and  a  resident  of  Bradford.  He  was  born  October  20,  1817; 
studied  law  with  Hon.  George  W.  Nesmith ;  was  in  the  legisla- 
ture  in  1853,  1854,  and  1855,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  Con- 
gress the  latter  year.  He  served  in  all  six  years,  and  was  a  fear- 
less defender  of  Union  principles.  After  his  return  with  the 
First,  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Fourth  and  of  the  Six- 
teenth regiments,  but  decided  to  let  younger  men  take  the  com- 
mand. He  was  appointed  attorney-general  in  1876,  and  served 
until  his  death,  October  25,  1886.  He  was  an  able  lawyer  and 
an  eloquent  public  speaker. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  Ichabod  Goodwin  was  gov- 
ernor of  the  State  ;  Moody  Currier  was  a  member  of  the  Council, 
Thomas  L.  Tullock  was  secretary  of  state,  Allen  Tenney  was 
deputy  secretary,  Peter  Sanborn  was  State  treasurer,  and  Asa 
McFarland  was  State  printer  ;  Daniel  Clark  and  John  P.  Hale 
were  United  States  senators  ;  and  Oilman  Marston,  Mason  W. 
Tappan,  and  Thomas  M.  Edwards,  members  of  Congress. 

The  militia  consisted  of  34,569  men,  divided  into  three  divi- 
sions, six  brigades,  and  one  regiment.  The  only  really  effective 
military  organizations  at  the  time  were  the  Amoskeag  Veterans 
and  the  Governor's  Horse  Guards.  Of  the  latter,  George  Stark 
was  colonel,  A.  Herbert  Bellows,  lieutenant-colonel,  Henry  O. 
Kent,  major,  Thomas  J.  Whipple,  adjutant.  Chandler  E.  Potter, 
judge  advocate,  Joseph  Went  worth,  quartermaster,  Charles  P. 
Gage,  surgeon,  J.  C.  Eastman,  assistant  surgeon,  Henry  E.  Par- 
ker, assistant  chaplain,  Frank  S.  Fiske,  sergeant-major,  Charle.s. 
A.  Tufts,  quartermaster-sergeant,  Natt  Head,  chief  bugler, 
Stebbins  H.  Dumas,  commissary.  True  Garland,  standard 
bearer.  John  H.  George  and  Cyrus  Eastman  were  captains  ; 
and  Edward  H,  Rollins,  Benjamin  Grover,  Bainbridge  Wadleigh, 
and  Micajah  C.  Burleigh,  were  lieutenants. 

The  secretary  of  state,  Thomas  L.  Tullock,  was  a  native  of 
Portsmouth.     He  was  very  efficient  in  aiding  Governor  Goodwin 


€l4  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1861 

in  arming  and  equipping  the  first  troops  sent  from  the  State  to 
suppress  the  Rebellion.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office 
he  was  appointed  navy  agent  at  Portsmouth.  At  the  navy  yard 
several  thousand  workmen  were  employed,  and  an  immense  amount 
of  material  was  purchased  for  the  construction  of  ships  of  war. 
Among  the  number  launched  at  the  yard  during  the  war,  or 
while  Mr.  Tullock  was  agent,  were  the  Kearsarge,  Franklin, 
Ossipee,  Sacramento,  Sebago,  Mahoska,  Sonoma,  Conemaugh, 
Pawtucket,  Nipsic,  Shawmut,  Sassacus,  and  Agamenticus.  Mr. 
Tullock  was  instrumental  in  forming  the  nucleus  of  the  very 
perfect  collection  of  portraits  of  governors  and  statesmen  which 
adorn  the  State  House.  He  was  afterwards  postmaster  of  the 
city  of  Washington.  He  was  a  student  of  historical  subjects 
and  a  graceful  writer  on  historical  and  antiquarian  themes. 

Thomas  Logan  Tullock,  son  of  Captain  William  and  Mary  (Neal)  Tullock, 
was  born  in  Portsmouth,  February  11,  1820.  He  received  his  education  at 
the  Portsmouth  High  School,  and  in  early  youth  embarked  in  commercial 
pursuits.  In  1849  ^e  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Portsmouth,  and  held  the 
office  four  years.  In  185S  he  was  elected  by  the  legislature  secretary  of  state, 
and  held  the  office  until  June,  1861,  when  he  was  appointed  navy  agent.  He 
resigned  the  latter  office  in  August,  1865,  and  accepted  the  office  of  secretary 
of  the  Union  Republican  Congressional  Committee,  with  headquarters  at 
Washington.  Upon  the  election  of  General  Grant,  Mr.  Tullock  was  appointed 
chief  of  the  appointment  division  of  the  Treasury  department,  and  later 
collector  of  internal  revenue  for  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  held  the  office 
until  1876.  The  next  year  he  was  appointed  assistant  postmaster  of  Washing- 
ton. In  1882  he  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Washington.  He  died  June  20, 
1883. 

Mr.  Tullock  was  twice  married;  first,  August  29,  1844,  to  Emily  Estell 
Rogers;  second,  January  10,  1866,  to  Miranda  Barney  Swain,  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire,  "  whose  devotion  to  our  wounded  soldiers  during  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion  is  gratefully  remembered  throughout  the  State."  Of  his  children 
by  his  first  wife,  Thomas  L.  Tullock,  jr.,  paymaster  U.  S.  Navy,  was  lost  on 
the  steamer  Oneida,  in  Yokohama,  Japan,  January  24,  1870;  and  Seymour 
M.  Tullock  settled  in  Washington.  By  his  second  marriage  he  left  one  son, 
Henry  Vanderbilt  Tullock. 

Mr.  Tullock  was  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  was  a 
Mason  of  high  degree. 

Upon  the  first  call  for  troops  so  many  volunteers  assembled 
that  a  camp  was  established  at  Portsmouth,  and  enough  enlisted 
to  form  another  regiment.     The  call  came  for  three  hundred 


J^^h^J^i^^:^ . 


l86l]  WAR    OF    THE    KinJELLION.  6l$ 

thousand  troops  to  serve  three  years  ;  and  most  of  the  men  re- 
enlisted.  Colonel  Thomas  P.  Pierce,  a  veteran  of  the  Mexican 
war,  resigned  ;  and  the  Second  regiment  was  organized,  with 
Hon.  Gilman  Marston  as  colonel  ;  Frank  S.  P'iske,  of  Keenc, 
as  lieutenant-colonel  ;  and  Josiah  Stevens,  Jr.,  of  Concord,  as 
major.  The  regiment  left  Portsmouth  for  the  seat  of  war  June 
20,  1 86 1.  A  month  later,  July  2!,  they  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run.  liarly  in  the  fight,  Colonel  Marston  was  severely 
wounded,  but  having  had  his  wound  dressed,  came  again  upon 
the  field  to  lead  his  men.  The  Second  behaved  like  a  veteran 
regiment,  but  shared  in  the  panic  which  seized  the  Northern 
army.  The  loss  of  the  regiment  was  seven  killed,  fifty-six 
wounded,  and  forty-six  prisoners.  While  in  winter  quarters  the 
commander  of  the  brigade  had  noticed  the  guard-house  of  the 
Second,  and  considered  it  altogether  too  comfortable  quarters 
for  the  prisoners  confined  there.  Accordingly  he  ordered  Col- 
onel Marston  to  build  a  dungeon,  without  so  much  as  a  crack  or 
an  opening  anywhere,  so  that  it  should  be  perfectly  dark.  The 
dungeon  was  built,  and  one  day  General  Neaglee  went  over  to 
inspect  it. 

"  Where  is  the  entrance,"  said  he  ;  "  and  how  do  you  get  any- 
body into  it  .''  " 

"  Oh !"  said  Colonel  Marston;  "that's  not  my  lookout.  I 
obeyed  orders  to  the  letter  !     How  do  you  like  it  .-* " 

In  April,  1862,  the  Second  joined  the  main  army  of  the  Poto- 
mac at  Yorktown,  and  took  part  in  the  siege,  and  in  the  attack 
on  Fort  Magruder  during  the  advance  on  Williamsburg.  The 
regiment  lost  in  the  battle  eighteen  killed,  sixty-six  wounded, 
and  twenty-three  missing.  Captain  Leonard  Drown  was  killed. 
Captain  Evarts  W.  Farr  lost  an  arm,  and  Captain  Edward  L. 
Bailey  and  Lieutenant  Samuel  O.  Burnham  were  wounded.  At 
the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  one  company  of  the  Second  lost  twenty- 
two  killed  and  wounded  out  of  forty-two  taken  into  the  fight. 
The  Second  took  part  in  the  Seven  Days'  Fight  and  in  the 
retreat  to  the  James  River,  and  in  nearly  all  the  actions  of  the 
famous   Peninsular  Campaign. 

Having  joined  Pope's  army,  the  Second  formed  a  part  of  the 


6l6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l86l 

Union  army  at  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run  in  August,  1862, 
and  lost  sixteen  killed,  eighty-seven  wounded,  and  twenty-nine 
missing,  out  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-two  men  engaged. 

In  the  spring  of  1863  the  regiment  returned  on  a  furlough  to 
Concord.  Colonel  Marston  was  appointed  brigadier-general,  and 
Edward  L.  Bailey,  colonel  of  the  Second.  In  May  they  returned 
to  the  front,  having  received  into  their  ranks  the  recruits  of  the 
Seventeenth,  and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  fighting 
in  the  Peach  Orchard.  Of  the  twenty-four  officers  and  three 
hundred  and  thirty  men  taken  into  the  fight,  nineteen  had  been 
shot  dead,  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  were  wounded,  and  thirty- 
eight  were  missing,  dead  or  wounded  on  the  field  or  prisoners 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy — three-fifths  of  the  whole  number 
engaged. 

Early  in  August,  1863,  the  Second,  in  a  brigade  commanded 
by  General  Marston,  were  stationed  at  Point  Lookout  to  guard 
a  depot  for  prisoners  of  war,  and  remained  at  that  post  until  the 
spring  of  1864. 

In  the  latter  part  of  April  the  regiment  joined  the  army  of 
the  Potomac,  and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  losing 
seventy  in  killed  and  wounded.  This  was  the  last  battle  of  the 
original  Second,  the  men  who  had  not  re-enlisted  soon  after  de- 
parting for  New  Hampshire,  where  they  were  mustered  out  June 
21,  1864.  There  remained  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  veterans 
and  recruits,  under  command  of  Captain  J.  N.  Patterson.  In 
the  army  of  the  James  and  in  the  army  of  the  Potomac  for  the 
next  year,  the  Second  did  good  service  in  battle  and  siege,  and 
were  mustered  out  in  November,  1865. 

To  the  Second  belonged  Corporal  Thomas  E.  Barker,  after- 
ward colonel  of  the  Twelfth  ;  Adjutant  S.  G.  Langley,  lieuten- 
ant-colonel of  the  Fourth  ;  Captain  T.  A.  Barker,  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Fourteenth  ;  Lieutenant  H.  B.  Titus,  colonel  of 
the  Ninth  ;  Captain  S.  G.  Griffin,  brevet  major-general ;  Lieuten- 
ant A.  B.  Thompson,  captain  U.  S.  army  and  secretary  of 
state ;  Lieutenant  W.  H.  Prescott ;  Captain  W.  O.  Sides,  the 
first  volunteer  of  New  Hampshire  ;  Private  Orrin  N.  Head,  ad- 
jutant of  the  Eighth  ;  Sergeant  Welcome  A.  Crafts,  colonel  of 


l86l]  WAR    OF    THE    REP.ELLION.  617 

the   Fifth  ;    Private   Martin  A.   Haynes,   member  of  Congress ; 
Chaplain  Henry  E.  Parker,  professor  at  Dartmouth  College. 

Miss  Harriet  P.  Dame  attended  the  regiment  as  a  voluntarv 
hospital  nurse. 

General  Oilman  Marston  was  very  popular  as  commander  of 
the  Second,  and  as  brigade  commander.  He  descended  from 
Thomas  Marston,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hampton,  and  was 
born  in  Orford,  August  20,  181 1.  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth 
College  in  1837,  and  four  years  later,  having  been  admitted  to 
the  bar,  he  settled  in  Exeter.  He  was  frequently  elected  to  the 
legislature,  and  in  1859  he  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress. 
He  was  re-elected  in  1861,  and  again  in  1865.  After  the  war  he 
was  frequently  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  "  is  one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  distinguished  lawyers  of  the  New  Hampshire 
bar."^ 

Joab  N.  Patterson,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  in  i860, 
was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Second,  and  brevet  brigadier-gen- 
eral for  "bravery  in  battle,  and  general  good  conduct  throughout 
the  war."  He  was  never  absent  from  march,  drill,  or  skirmish. 
After  the  war  he  was  for  many  years  United  States  marshal, 
and  made  his  home  in  Concord.  He  was  born  in  Hopkinton, 
January  20,  1835. 

Nathaniel  S.  Berry,  of  Hebron,  was  elected  governor  in  March, 
1861,  and  was  inaugurated  the  following  June.  He  became 
chief  magistrate  at  the  most  trying  time  in  the  history  of  the 
State.  In  all  he  did  he  was  influenced  by  pure  and  patriotic 
motives  ;  his  official  acts  were  characterized  with  care  and  pru- 
dence, and  his  State  papers  were  brief,  clear,  and  wise.  He  was 
re-elected  in  1862,  and  when  he  retired  from  office  in  June,  1863, 
he  carried  with  him  the  respect  and  good  wishes  of  all.  During 
his  administration  all  the  regiments  except  the  First  were  sent  to 
the  front. 

Nathaniel  S.  Berrj  was  born  in  Bath,  Maine,  September  i,  1796;  was 
brought  in  childhood  to  Lisbon,  learned  the  tanner's  trade,  and  settled  in 
Bristol.  He  was  a  representative  in  1S2S,  1S33,  1834,  '837,  and  1S54;  a  State 
senator  in  1S35  and  1S36;  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  1841; 
judge  of  Probate  in  1856.     In  1840  he  settled  in  Hebron. 

'  Marston  ( »enealog>'. 


6l8  HISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1861 

The  Third  regiment  was  recruited  throughout  the  State,  and 
was  organized  at  Concord  early  in  August,  1861,  and  mus- 
tered into  the  service  the  last  part  of  the  month.  So  many- 
volunteers  offered  that  there  was  a  surplus  of  two  hundred,  who- 
formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Fourth.  Enoch  O.  Fellows,  of  Sand- 
wich, was  commissioned  colonel,  John  H.  Jackson,  lieutenant- 
colonel,  and  John  Bedel,  major.  The  colonel  was  a  graduate  of 
West  Point,  class  of  1844,  and  a  native  of  Sandwich,  where  he 
was  born  June  20,  1825.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion  he 
was  a  brigadier-general  of  the  State  militia.  He  commanded 
the  Third  for  about  a  year.  He  was  afterwards  colonel  of  the 
Ninth,  and  led  that  regiment  into  the  battle  of  Antietam.  On 
account  of  poor  health  he  was  soon  after  obliged  to  resign.  He 
is  said  to  have  been  "one  of  the  most  capable  officers  in  the 
army  from  New  Hampshire  "  during  the  war.  He  was  faithful 
and  attentive  to  duty,  and  cool  and  skilful  in  action.  He  was 
in  the  legislature  in  1868  and  1869. 

Colonel  John  H.  Jackson  was  a  native  of  Portsmouth,  born 
October  20,  18 14.  Served  through  the  Mexican  war  with  honor, 
and  was  in  command  of  the  Third  for  two  years.  John  Bedel, 
of  Bath,  was  also  a  veteran  of  the  Mexican  war,  a  son  of  Gen- 
eral IMoody  Bedel,  of  the  war  of  181 2,  and  grandson  of  General 
Timothy  Bedel,  of  the  Revolutionary  army.  He  was  born  July 
8,  1822,  in  Indian  Stream  Territory;  was  admitted  to  the  bar; 
was  in  the  legislature  in  1868  and  1869,  and  Democratic  candi- 
date for  governor  in  1869  and  1870.     He  died  February  26,  1875. 

The  Third  left  the  State  early  in  September,  1861,  and  took 
part  in  the  expedition  against  Port  Royal,  on  the  coast  of  South 
Carolina.  At  Hilton  Head  Island  they  did  garrison  duty  through 
the  winter.  In  June,  1862,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  James 
Island,  and  on  the  i6th,  at  Secessionville,  received  its  first  bap- 
tism in  blood.  It  had  previously  lost  about  a  fifth  of  its  number 
by  sickness.  The  regiment  went  into  the  fight  with  twenty-six 
officers  and  five  hundred  and  ninety-seven  men,  of  whom  one 
hundred  and  four  were  killed  and  wounded.  In  October  the 
Third  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Pocataligo.  In  the  summer  of 
1863  the  Third    formed  a    part    of    the    investing   force  about 


l86l]  WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION.  619 

Charleston.  At  the  battle  of  Morris  Island  its  loss  was  nine 
killed  and  thirty-one  wounded  ;  in  the  assault  on  F'ort  Wagner 
the  regiment  lost  fifty-five  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  John  Bedel  among  the  number.  For  the  ne.xt  six 
months  the  Third  was  occupying  trenches  on  Morris  Island, 
losing"  thirty-two  killed  and  wounded.  In  April,  1864,  the  Third 
was  engaged  in  an  expedition  to  Florida,  and  late  in  the  month 
joined  the  army  of  the  James.  The  next  year  was  one  of  con- 
stant battle,  skirmish,  or  march.  The  regiment  was  in  the 
battle  of  Drury's  Bluff,  the  capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  the  siege  of 
Petersburg,  and  at  taking  of  Wilmington,  N.  C.  The  regiment 
was  mustered  out  July  20,  1865. 

To  the  Third  belonged  Lieutenant-colonel  Josiah  I.  Plimpton, 
killed  at  Deep  Run,  Va.  ;  Lieutenant-colonel  James  F.  Randlett, 
Adjutant  Elbridge  J.  Copp,  Surgeon  Albert  A.  Moulton,  Captaii. 
Michael  T.  Donohoe,  Captain  Richard  Ela,  killed  at  Drury'? 
Bluff,  and  Perry  Kittredge,  D.  A.  Brown,  J.  A.  Dadmun,  S.  F 
Brown,  George  L.  Lovejoy,  Nathan  W.  Gove,  John  C.  Linehan, 
and  John  W.  Odlin,  of  Concord. 

The  Fourth  regiment  was  organized  at  Manchester,  and  mus- 
tered into  the  service  September  18,  1861,  and  a  few  days  later 
left  the  State  for  Washington.  Thomas  J.  Whipple,  of  Laconia 
was  commissioned  colonel  ;  Louis  Bell,  of  Farmington,  lieu, 
tenant-colonel  ;  and  Jeremiah  D.  Drew,  of  Salem,  major.  The 
regiment  took  part  in  the  expedition  against  Port  Royal,  and 
occupied  Hilton  Head  Island.  During  the  winter  the  Fourth 
went  to  Florida.  Colonel  Whipple  resigned  in  March,  1862. 
During  the  summer  of  1862  a  part  of  the  Fourth  occupied  St. 
Augustine,  and  put  Fort  Marion  in  good  repair.  They  were 
relieved  by  the  Seventh,  in  September,  and  joined  the  rest  of 
the  regiment  at  Beaufort,  in  season  to  take  part  in  the  battle  of 
Pocotaligo,  losing  three  killed  and  twenty-five  wounded.  The 
regiment  wintered  at  Beaufort.  In  the  spring  of  1863,  the 
F"ourth  took  part  in  the  unsuccessful  attack  on  Charleston,  and 
in  the  siege  of  Fort  Wagner,  which  lasted  through  the  summer. 
In  January,  1864,  the  Fourth  was  ordered  to  Beaufort,  and 
the  next  month  to  Jacksonville,  Florida,  thence  back  to  Beaufort. 


620  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1861 

The  re-enlisted  veterans,  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and 
eighty-eight,  received  a  furlough  of  thirty  days  to  revisit  New- 
Hampshire  under  Colonel  Bell ;  and  at  the  expiration  of  their 
leave  in  April  they  were  joined  to  the  army  of  the  James. 
Then  followed  months  of  severe  fighting  to  crush  the  Rebellion. 
At  one  time  only  one  captain  was  left  for  duty  in  the  Fourth, 
and  the  brigade  was  in  command  of  a  captain.  In  the  attack  on 
Fort  Oilman  only  forty  men  could  be  mustered  for  the  fight. 
In  the  successful  attack  on  Fort  Fisher  Colonel  Bell  fell  mor- 
tally v/ounded  while  leading  a  brigade  ;  but  the  fortress,  defended 
by  a  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  was  captured.  Then  came  the 
occupation  of  Wilmington.  The  Fourth  was  mustered  out  and 
arrived  home  August  27,  1865. 

To  the  Fourth  regiment  belonged  Colonel  William  Badger, 
Quartermaster  William  K.  Norton,  Lieutenant  Henry  A.  Mann, 
and  Captain  Frederick  A.  Kendall. 

Colonel  Thomas  J.  Whipple  was  born  in  Wentworth,  January  30,  1816; 
was  educated  at  New  Hampton  and  at  Norwich  University,  read  law,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1840.  He  served  in  the  Mexican  war  as  adjutant 
of  Colonel  Franklin  Pierce's  regiment,  and  was  taken  prisoner  at  Vera  Cruz. 
After  resigning  from  the  Fourth  he  was  chosen  colonel  of  the  Twelfth.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1876,  and  has  built  up  a 
large  law  practice.     He  is  an  able  lawyer  and  a  powerful  advocate. 

General  Louis  Bell,  son  of  Governor  Samuel  Bell,  was  born  March  8,  1837, 
graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1855,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1857,  ^'^^ 
settled  in  Farmington.  He  was  breveted  brigadier-general,  January  15,  1S65, 
the  day  he  was  mortally  wounded. 

The  Fifth  regiment  was  mustered  into  service  in  October,  1861, 
and  left  Concord  the  last  of  the  month  for  the  seat  of  war,  under 
command  of  Colonel  Edward  E,  Cross,  of  Lancaster,  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Samuel  G.  Langley,  of  Manchester,  and  Major 
William  W.  Cook,  of  Derry.  Dr.  Luther  M.  Knight,  of  Franklin, 
was  surgeon,  and  Rev.  Elijah  R.  VVilkins,  chaplain.  In  April, 
1862,  the  regiment  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Yorktown  and  the 
advance  on  Williamsburg  ;  and  early  in  June  fought  at  Fair 
Oaks.  In  the  last  battle  the  Fifth  lost  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  killed  and  wounded.  Colonel  Cross  and  Major  Cook  among 
the  latter.     Then  followed  the  Seven  Days'  Battle  in  the  retreat 


l86l]  WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION.  621 

to  Harrison's  Landing",  in  which  the  Fifth  lost  over  one  hundred 
officers  and  men.  By  the  middle  of  August  the  regiment  num- 
bered only  three  hundred  and  fifty  fit  for  duty.  At  Antietam, 
of  the  three  hundred  and  nineteen  officers  and  men  who  entered 
the  fight,  one  hundred  and  eight  were  killed  and  wounded. 
On  that  day  it  won  the  title  of  the  "  Fighting  Fifth."  During 
its  first  year  of  service  the  Fifth  lost  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  in  killed  and  wounded,  besides  sixty-nine  who  died  of 
disease.  In  December,  1S62,  the  Fifth  was  in  Hancock's 
tlivision  which  charged  the  enemy  at  Marye's  Heights,  opposite 
Fredericksburg,  where  Major  Sturtevant  was  mortally  wounded. 
The  regiment  lest  in  the  charge  one  hundred  and  eighty-six 
officers  and  men,  — victims  of  a  blunder. 

In  May,  1863,  the  Fifth  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Chancellors- 
ville,  losing  forty  officers  and  men  ;  and  in  July  was  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  where  Colonel  Cross,  leading  a 
brigade,  was  mortally  wounded.  In  the  three  days'  battle  the 
Fifth  lost  four  officers  and  eighty-two  men  killed  and  wounded, 
out  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  men  who  went  into  the 
fight.  Near  the  last  of  July,  1863,  the  regiment  returned  to 
Concord  to  recruit  its  shattered  ranks.  During  a  stay  of  nearly 
three  months  the  Fifth  was  recruited  to  the  minimum  strength; 
and  Charles  E.  Hapgood,  of  Amherst,  was  conimissioned  colo- 
nel, Richard  E.  Cross,  of  Lancaster,  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
James  E.  Larkin,  of  Concord,  major.  Early  in  November  the 
regiment  started  for  the  front,  and  was  brigaded  with  the  Sec- 
ond and  the  Twelfth  at  Point  Lookout,  under  command  of  Gen- 
eral Marston.  In  May,  1864,  the  Fifth  joined  the  army  of  the 
Potomac  in  its  grand  campaign  from  the  Rapidan  to  the  James 
under  Grant,  and  fought  at  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  losing 
two  hundred  and  two  officers  and  men  killed  and  wounded.  In 
the  attack  on  Petersburg,  June  16,  the  Fifth  lost  thirty 
officers  and  men  killed  and  wounded,  Colonel  Hapgood  among 
the  latter.  The  command  of  the  regiment  devolved  on  Major 
Larkin.  June  17  the  regiment  lost  twenty-nine  killed  and 
wounded  ;  June  18,  seven  men.  The  regiment  was  in  action  at 
Deep  Run.     At  Reams  Station  the  Fifth  lost  thirtv-three  of  its 


622  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1861 

number.  For  months  during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1864  the 
regiment  lay  in  the  trenches  before  Petersburg  and  took  part 
in  the  closing  struggle  of  the  Rebellion.  The  original  Fifth 
was  mustered  out  of  service  October  12,  1864;  the  re-enlisted 
veterans  were  under  command  of  Major,  and  later  Lieutenant- 
colonel,  Welcome  A.  Crafts.  The  regiment  marched  in  the  grand 
review  at  Washington,  and  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  of 
the  United  States  July  8,  1865. 

To  the  Fifth  belonged  Major  Thomas  L.  Livermore,  Colonel 
of  the  Eighteenth  ;  Lieutenant  George  W.  Ballock  ;  Ira  McL. 
Barton,   Charles  H.  Long,  and  Isaac  W.  Hammond. 

The  Fifth  lost  more  in  killed  and  wounded  than  any  other 
regiment  in  the  Union  army. 

Colonel  Edward  E.  Cross  was  born  at  Lancaster,  April  22,  1S32,  received  a 
common-school  education,  and  learned  the  printer's  trade.  He  became  a  news- 
paper correspondent  and  made  many  journeys  into  the  Indian  country,  lead- 
ing a  life  of  adventure  and  peril.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he  was  in 
command  of  a  military  force  in  Mexico.  He  was  a  man  of  cool  courage, 
fearless  of  danger.  Colonel  Charles  E.  Hapgood  was  born  in  Shrewsbury, 
Mass.,  Dec.  11,  1S30.  In  1S58  he  Avas  in  trade  in  Amherst.  After  the  war 
he  went  into  business  in  Boston.  Major  Edward  E.  Sturtevant  was  born  in 
Keene,  August  7,  1S26,  was  a  printer  by  trade,  and  settled  at  Concord,  and 
was  on  the  police  force  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war. 

The  Sixth  regiment  was  organized  at  Keene,  and  mustered 
into  the  service  the  last  of  November,  1861.  Nelson  Converse, 
of  Marlborough,  was  appointed  colonel,  Simon  G.  Griffin,  of 
Keene,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Charles  Scott,  of  Peterborough, 
major.  O.  G.  Dort  was  a  captain  ;  Alonzo  Nute,  of  Farming- 
ton,  was  quartermaster  ;  Thomas  P.  Cheney,  of  Holderness,  a 
lieutenant.  The  regiment  left  the  State  about  Christmas  time, 
and  joined  General  Burnside's  expedition  into  North  Carolina. 
It  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Camden,  in  April,  1862,  led  by 
Colonel  Griffin;  Colonel  Converse  having  resigned  in  March,  and 
Capt.  O.  G.  Dort  having  been  appointed  major  to  fill  vacancy 
caused  by  promotion.  In  August  the  Sixth  joined  the  army  of 
General  Pope  at  Culpeper  Court  House,  and  took  part  in  the 
disastrous  campaign  which  followed.  At  the  second  battle  of 
Bull  Run,  August  29,  1862,  the  regiment  lost  thirty-two  killed. 


l86l]  WAR    or    THE    KEBELLIO.V.  625 

one  hundred  and  ten  wounded,  and  sixty-eight  missing,  or  nearly- 
one  half  the  number  engaged.  Nearly  all  the  missing  were 
killed  or  wounded,  and  the  wounded  were  all  captured.  Of 
twenty  officers,  five  were  killed,  six  wounded,  and  two  captured. 
The  shattered  Sixth  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Chantilly  and  in 
the  battle  of  Antietam.  In  December  the  Sixth  was  in  the 
fight  at  Fredericksburg.  In  the  spring  of  1863,  the  Sixth  was 
transferred  to  Kentucky,  where  in  May  Colonel  Griffin  was  given 
command  of  the  brigade  which  included  the  Sixth^  and  Ninth, 
and  was  sent  with  his  brigade  to  help  General  Grant  invest 
Vicksburg.  At  the  battle  of  Jackson  Colonel  Griffin  com- 
manded the  Ninth  corps.  In  January,  1864,  the  re-enlisted  vet- 
erans enjoyed  a  furlough  of  thirty  days  in  New  Hampshire.  In 
March  the  Sixth,  Ninth,  and  Eleventh  were  brigaded,  and 
stationed  at  Annapolis,  under  command  of  Colonel  Griffin,  and  in 
April  joined  the  army  of  the  Potomac  under  General  Grant  at 
the  Rapidan.  Immediately  the  brigade  was  brought  into  action, 
and  nobly  acquitted  itself  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness.  At 
Spottsylvania  the  Sixth  lost  sixty-eight  killed  and  wounded,  and 
Colonel  Griffin  won  his  star.  Lieutenant-colonel  Henry  H. 
Pearson  lost  his  life  ]\Iay  26,  1864;  and  Phin  P.  Bixby  was  pro- 
moted to  the  command.  The  history  of  the  Sixth,  and  of  Gen- 
eral Griffin's  brigade,  from  this  time  on  to  the  close  of  the  war  is 
inseparably  connected  with  that  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac. 
They  took  part  in  the  battles  of  North  Anna  River,  Tolopotomy 
Creek,  Cold  Harbor,  Petersburg,  Weldon  Railroad,  Poplar  Spring 
Church,  Hatcher's  Run,  and  the  final  assault  on  Petersburg.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  out  July  17,  1865. 

General  Simon  G.  Griffin  was  born  in  Nelson,  August  9,  1824.  He  received 
a  thorough  academical  education,  engaged  in  teaching,  represented  Nelson  in 
the  legislature  two  vears,  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Merri- 
mack county  in  the  fall  of  1S60.  He  commanded  company  B  of  the  Second 
at  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  He  was  commissioned  colonel  of  the  Sixth  April 
22,  1S62.  He  was  commissioned  brigadier-general  May  12,  1S64,  for  judgment 
displayed  at  the  battle  of  Spottsylvania.  He  was  breveted  major-general  for 
"  gallant  conduct"  at  the  attack  on  Petersburg,  April  2,  1865,  while  leading  a 
division.  He  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  in  September,  1S65,  and  settled 
in  Keene.  He  represented  Keene  in  the  legislature  in  1866,  1867,  and  186S, 
being  chosen  speaker  his  last  two  terms.  He  was  nominated  for  Congress  ia 
1871,  and  again  in  1S73,  but  was  defeated. 


624  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1861 

Lieutenant-colonel  Henry  H.  Pearson  was  a  student  at  Phillips  Exeter 
Academy  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  He  was  born  in  Illinois,  February 
26,  1840.  Fired  with  military  and  patriotic  ardor  he  volunteered  among  the 
first,  and  afterwards  returned  to  Exeter  and  raised  a  company,  and  joined  the 
Sixth.  He  was  a  young  man  ot  commanding  figure  and  manner,  kind  and 
attentive  to  the  wants  of  his  men,  while  his  coolness  and  bravery  gained  for 
him  the  love  and  respect  of  all. 

The  Seventh  regiment  was  organized  at  Manchester  in  De- 
cember, 1 86 1.  It  was  raised  through  the  efforts  of  Adjutant- 
general  Joseph  C.  Abbott,  of  Concord,  who  was  appointed  lieu- 
tenant-colonel. The  command  of  the  regiment  was  given  to 
Colonel  H.  S.  Putnam,  a  native  of  Cornish,  born  in  1835,  ^^^  ^ 
graduate  of  West  Point  in  1857.  Daniel  Smith,  of  Dover,  was 
commissioned  major,  and  Andrew  H.  Young,  quartermaster. 
The  Seventh  left  the  State  about  the  middle  of  January,  1862, 
and  for  the  rest  of  the  winter  was  at  Dry  Tortugas.  In  June  it 
was  transferred  to  Port  Royal,  and  some  time  later  to  St.  Augus- 
tine. In  June,  1863,  the  regiment  took  part  in  the  siege  of 
Charleston,  and  in  the  assault  on  Fort  Wagner.  There  they 
lost,  in  a  brief  charge,  two  hundred  and  eighteen  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing ;  Colonel  Putnam  among  the  former. 
At  the  battle  of  Olustee,  Florida,  in  February,  1864,  the  regi- 
ment lost  two  hundred  and  nine  killed,  wounded,  and  miss- 
ing. In  April  the  Seventh  joined  the  army  of  the  James,  and 
for  the  next  year  participated  in  the  siege  of  Petersburg  and  the 
great  battles  in  that  neighborhood,  including  the  capture  of  F'ort 
Fisher.  The  regiment  was  mustered  out  in  June,  1865.  At 
that  time  there  were  less  than  one  hundred  men  of  the  original 
force. 

Colonel  Abbott  was  born  in  Concord,  July  15,  1825.  After  the  war  he 
was  U.  S.  senator  from  North  Carolina.  Lieutenant  Samuel  H.  Henderson, 
of  Dover,  killed  at  Deep  Run,  August  16,  1864,  was  born  in  December, 
1833.  Grovenor  A.  Curtice,  of  Hopkinton,  was  captain  of  company  D  of 
the  Seventh. 

The  Eighth  regiment  was  organized  at  Manchester,  and  was 
mustered  into  the  service  December  23,  1861,  with  Hawkes 
P"earing  as  colonel,  O  W.  Lull,  of  Milford,  lieutenant-colonel, 
Morrill  B.  Smith,  of  Concord,  major,  and  Dr.  S.  G.  Dearborn, 
of  Milford,  surgeon.      In  March,  1862,  the  Eighth  joined  the 


l862]  WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION.  625 

army  of  the  Gulf,  under  General  B.  F.  Butler.  In  May  and 
June,  1863,  the  Eighth  was  in  the  engagement  at  Port  Hudson. 
In  their  first  assault,  out  of  three  hundred  engaged,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  were  killed  or  wounded.  Lieutenant-colonel  Lull 
among  the  former.  In  April  and  May,  1864,  the  Eighth, 
mounted,  took  part  in  the  Red  River  campaign.  In  December, 
the  remnant  of  the  regiment  who  had  not  re-enlisted  passed  up 
the  Mississippi  river,  which  they  had  helped  to  open,  on  their 
way  home. 

The  re-enlisted  veterans,  to  the  number  of  three  hundred 
and  five,  remained,  the  battalion  under  command  of  Captain 
James  H.  Landers,  of  Concord,  and  did  duty  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Natchez  until  the  collapse  of  the  Rebellion.  Amonw 
their  number  was  Captain  Dana  W.  King,  of  Nashua. 
Colonel  Fearing  was  a  merchant  of  Manchester. 
Lieutenant-colonel  Lull,  a  native  of  Weare,  was  born  January 
14,  1826,  studied  law,  and  settled  in  Milford. 

The  Ninth  regiment  was  organized  at  Concord  during  the 
summer  of  1862,  and  left  the  State  near  the  end  of  August, 
under  command  of  Colonel  E.  Q.  Fellows,  to  join  the  army  of 
the  Potomac.  In  twenty  days  they  took  part  in  the  battles  of 
South  Mountain  and  Antietam,  losing  ten  killed  and  over  one 
hundred  wounded.  Lieutenant-colonel  Herbert  B.  Titus  among 
the  latter.  In  December  the  Ninth  was  engaged  in  the  disas- 
trous battle  of  Fredericksburg,  led  by  Colonel  Titus  and  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel John  W.  Babbitt.  In  1863  they  were  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  later  at  Vicksburg,  and  then  in  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee. In  May,  1864,  the  regiment  again  joined  the  army  of 
the  Potomac,  fought  at  Spottsylvania,  in  the  trenches  before 
Petersburg,  and  in  the  great  military  movement  which  crushed 
General  Lee  and  his  army.  It  joined  in  the  grand  review  at 
Washington,  and  was  mustered  out  in  June,  1865. 

Of  the  Ninth  regiment  were  Majors  George  W.  Everett  and 

George  H.  Chandler,  Adjutants  William  N.  Cook  and  William 

I.  Brown,  Quartermaster  William    Pitt    Moses,  and  Captain  L. 

H.  Pillsbury  and  Lieutenant  W.  S.  Pillsbury,  of  Londonderry. 

The  Tenth  regiment  was   organized   at  Manchester  in   the 


626  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1862 

summer  of  1862.  It  was  composed  mostly  of  men  of  Irish 
birth  or  descent,  and  left  for  the  front  under  command  of  Colonel 
Michael  T.  Donohoe,  Lieutenant-colonel  John  Coughlin,  and 
Major  Jesse  F,  Angell.  It  was  joined  to  the  army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. Wm.  H.  D.  Cochran  was  a  first  lieutenant.  Colonel 
Donohoe,  who  was  breveted  brigadier-general  for  gallant  conduct 
in  the  field,  was  born  in  Lowell,  Mass.,  November  22,  1838,  and 
was  educated  at  the  College  of  the  Holy  Cross,  Worcester, 
Mass.  For  the  last  two  years  of  the  war  he  was  in  command  of 
a  brigade.  The  Tenth  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Fredericks- 
burg, in  December,  1862.  During  1863  the  regiment  was  serving 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Norfolk.  In  1864  it  joined  the  army  of 
the  Potomac,  and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor.  Most 
of  its  service  was  with  the  army  of  the  James.  The  Tenth 
showed  splendid  qualities  at  the  assault  on  Fort  Harrison.  The 
regiment  rendered  efficient  service  to  the  Union  cause,  and  dis- 
played coolness  and  bravery  on  many  a  battle-field.  It  was 
mustered  out  in  June,  1865. 

The  Eleventh  regiment  was  organized  at  Concord  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1862,  and  was  mustered  into  service  early  in  September, 
under  command  of  Colonel  Walter  Harriman.  Major  Moses  A. 
Collins,  Adjutant  Charles  R.  Morrison,  and  Quartermaster 
James  F.  Briggs  went  out  with  the  regiment.  It  joined  the 
army  of  the  Potomac  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  battle  of 
Fredericksburg.  In  1863  it  served  in  Kentucky,  and  formed 
part  of  the  force  investing  Vicksburg,  Mississippi.  In  the  fall 
the  regiment  formed  a  part  of  the  garrison  which  defended 
Knoxville.  In  1864  the  Eleventh  was  in  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness,  when  Colonel  Harriman  was  captured,  and  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Moses  N.  Collins  was  killed ;  at  Spottsylvania ;  at 
Cold  Harbor ;  in  the  trenches  before  Petersburg ;  at  Hatcher's 
Run  ;  and  in  the  final  struggle  before  Richmond  and  Peters- 
burg. Colonel  Harriman,  afterwards  governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, was  breveted  brigadier-general.  Leander  W.  Cogswell 
was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Evarts  W.  P'arr,  major. 
The  Eleventh  was  discharged  in  June,  1865. 

The  Twelfth  regiment  was  raised  mainly  from  Belknap  and 


1 862]  WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION.  62/ 

Carroll  counties  in  August,  1862,  and  was  entrusted  to  the 
command  of  Colonel  Joseph  H.  Potter,  a  native  of  Concord  and 
a  graduate  of  West  Point,  class  of  1843.  John  F.  Marsh  was 
lieutenant-colonel  and  George  D.  Savage,  major.  The  regiment 
left  for  the  front  the  last  of  September,  and  was  in  the  battle  of 
Fredericksburg,  as  part  of  the  reserve.  In  May,  1863,  it  was 
engaged  in  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  and  in  July  was  brigaded 
with  the  Second  at  Point  Lookout.  In  1864  it  joined  the  army 
of  the  James  and  fought  at  Drury's  Bluff  and  Cold  Harbor,  and 
formed  a  part  of  the  line  investing  Richmond.  The  Twelfth 
was  mustered  out  in  July,  1865.  Colonel  Potter  was  appointed 
brigadier-general,  and  Thomas  E.  Barker,  colonel.  J.  Ware 
Butterfield  went  out  as  captain ;  Ira  C.  Evans  as  musician. 

The  Thirteenth  regiment  was  organized  in  Concord,  in  the 
fall  of  1862,  and  mustered  into  service  near  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber. Aaron  F.  Stevens  was  appointed  colonel,  George  Bowers, 
a  veteran  of  the  Mexican  war,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Jacob 
Storer,  major.  It  went  to  the  front  early  in  October,  and  took 
part  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  In  1863  the  regiment 
served  in  the  neighborhood  of  Norfolk.  In  1864  the  Thirteenth 
was  in  the  attack  on  the  Walthal  Railroad,  at  the  battles  of 
Swift  Creek,  Kingsland  Creek,  Drury's  Bluff,  and  Cold  Har- 
bor, in  the  trenches  before  Petersburg,  and  in  many  of  the 
skirmishes  and  battles  of  the  last  year  of  the  war,  with  the  army 
of  the  James.  It  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  in  June,  1865. 
Colonel  Stevens  was  appointed  brigadier-general  by  brevet.  In 
the  regiment  was  Person  C.  Cheney,  afterwards  governor  of  New 
Hampshire,  Mortier  L.  Morrison,  George  B.  Twitchell,  John 
Sullivan,  Jr.,  Charles  B.  Gafney,  Henry  Churchill,  Rufus  P. 
Staniels,  George  Farr,  and  Oliver  M.  Sawyer. 

The  Fourteenth  was  the  last  of  the  three  years'  regiments 
raised  in  New  Hampshire.  It  was  organized  at  Concord  in  the 
fall  of  1862.  Mustered  into  service  September  24,  and  left  the 
State  for  Washington  the  latter  part  of  October,  and  for  over  a 
year  did  duty  in  guarding  the  city  of  Washington.  In  P^ebruary, 
1864,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  the  department  of  the  Gulf,  and 
served  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  Orleans   until  midsummer. 


628  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1862 

when  it  joined  General  Sheridan  and  the  army  of  West  Virginia, 
and  fought  with  him  in  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  at  Win- 
chester and  elsewhere.  In  January,  1865,  the  Fourteenth  were 
ordered  to  Savannah,  Georgia.  The  regiment  was  discharged 
the  last  of  July,  1865.  Among  the  officers  of  the  Fourteenth 
were  Colonels  Robert  Wilson,  Alexander  Gardiner,  Carroll  D. 
Wright,  Theodore  A.  Ripley,  and  Tileston  A.  Barker ;  Dr.  Wil- 
liam H.  Thayer,  John  W.  Sturtevant,  Solon  A.  Carter,  Samuel 
A.   Duncan,  and  Stark  Fellows. 

The  Fifteenth  regiment,  of  nine  months'  men,  was  organized 
in  Concord  in  the  fall  of  1862,  and  arrived  at  New  Orleans  and 
joined  the  army  late  in  December.  In  the  summer  of  1863  the 
regiment  took  part  in  the  assault  on  Port  Hudson  and  the  siege 
which  led  to  the  capture  of  that  stronghold.  The  regiment  was 
mustered  out  in  August.  John  W.  Kingman,  of  Durham,  was 
colonel.  Among  the  officers  were  Lieutenant-colonel  Henry 
W.  Blair,  and  Thomas  Cogswell,  jr. 

The  Sixteenth  regiment,  of  nine  months'  men,  was  mustered 
into  the  service  about  the  middle  of  October,  1862,  and  started 
for  the  front  in  December,  with  James  Pike,  colonel,  Henry  W. 
Fuller,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Samuel  Davis,  Jr.,  major.  Their 
destination  was  the  department  of  the  Gulf,  where  on  their  ar- 
rival they  joined  the  "Banks  expedition,"  and  were  present  at 
the  fall  of  Port  Hudson.  On  their  return  North  their  route  was 
up  the  Mississippi  river. 

The  Seventeenth  regiment,  of  three  months'  men,  was  raised 
in  the  Third  Congressional  District,  and  Henry  O.  Kent,  of 
Lancaster,  was  appointed  colonel.  Seven  hundred  and  ninety- 
one  men  were  enlisted ;  and  the  regiment  assembled  in  Concord 
in  November,  1862.  It  received  a  furlough  from  December 
until  April,  1863,  when  upon  reassembling  it  was  decided  by  the 
authorities  to  consolidate  the  Seventeenth  with  the  veteran 
Second. 

Colonel  Henry  O.  Kent,  son  of  Richard  Peabody  and  Emily 
Mann  (Oakes)  Kent,  was  born  in  Lancaster,  February  7,  1834, 
graduated  at  Norwich  Military  University  in  1854,  read  law,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1858.     Soon  after  he  became  editor 


1863]  WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION.  629 

of  the  Coos  Republican.  His  editorials  were  strong,  vigorous, 
and  earnest ;  and  his  paper  became  a  power  in  the  councils  of 
his  party.  After  the  war,  in  1870,  he  sold  his  interest  in  the 
paper  and  afterwards  devoted  himself  to  banking.  In  1857  he 
was  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  a  member  in 
1862,  1868,  and  1869.  He  was  a  supporter  of  Horace  Greeley 
for  the  presidency,  in  1872,  and  thereafterwards  was  a  member 
of  the  Democratic  party.  He  was  accorded  the  Congressional 
nomination  in  the  Third  District  in  1875,  '^^77^  ^"d  1878.  He 
succeeded  Colonel  Daniel  Hall  in  the  naval  office  at  Boston 
upon  the  election  of  President  Cleveland. 

Joseph  A.  Gilmore  received  the  Republican  nomination  for 
governor  in  1863,  and  was  elected  ;  and  was  re-elected  in  1864. 
He  was  a  man  of  wonderful  activity  and  energy,  pushing  to 
completion  any  work  left  to  his  care.  His  messages  were  full  of 
patriotic  expressions  and  suggestions.  He  promptly  furnished  all 
troops  demanded  by  the  War  Department,  and  was  untiring  in 
his  attention  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field  and  in  the  hospitals.^ 

J.  A.  Gilmore  was  born  in  Weston,  Vermont,  in  iSii,  settled  in  Concord 
in  early  manhood,  was  engaged  in  heavy  mercantile  business,  and  was  super- 
intendent of  the  Concord  Railroad.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate 
in  1S5S  and  1S59.     ^^  <^'£d  April  17,  1S67. 

The  Eighteenth  regiment  was  raised  in  the  summer  of  1864, 
and  went  to  the  front  under  command  of  Colonel  Thomas  L.  Li\-- 
ermore.  Joseph  M.  Clough  was  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Wil- 
liam I.  Brown,  major.  The  regiment  did  good  service  in  the 
closing  campaign  of  the  war,  and  was  mustered  out  in  June  and 
July,  1865. 

The  First  regiment  of  New  Hampshire  Cavalry  was  raised  in 
the  spring  of  1864,  and  did  good  service  for  the  Union  cause. 

The  State  also  sent  to  the  front  the  First  Light  Battery,  a 
regiment  of  Heavy  Artillery  and  several  companies  of  Sharp- 
shooters,—  the  latter  were  in  thirty  battles,  —  and  several  com- 
panies to  the  First  New  England  Cavalry. 

During  the  Rebellion  the  State  sent  out  31,426  volunteers: 
In  the  First,  765  ;    Second,  2645;    Third,  2013;    Fourth,   1749; 

'  O.  F.  R.  Waite's  New  Hampshire  in  tlie  Rebellion. 


630  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1865 

Fifth,  2547;  Sixth,  2531  ;  Seventh,  1719;  Eighth,  1586;  Ninth, 
1820;  Tenth,  1293;  Eleventh,  1622;  Twelfth,  1417;  Thirteenth, 
1227;  Fourteenth,  1346;  Fifteenth,  876;  Sixteenth,  874;  Sev- 
enteenth, 203  ;  Eighteenth,  951;  New  England  Cavalry,  419 ; 
Light  Battery,  163  ;  Sharpshooters,  345  ;  First  Cavalry,  1491  ; 
Heavy  Artillery,  1824.  Of  these,  1538  were  killed  or  died  of 
wounds  ;  2541  died  of  disease;  and  285  were  missing  in  action. 
161 3  re-enlisted. 

The  State  was  honorably  represented  in  the  navy  during  the 
struggle  to  suppress  the  Rebellion.  Among  those  who  espe- 
cially distinguished  themselves  were  Captain  George  E.  Belknap 
and  Captain  George  Hamilton  Perkins.^  The  latter,  a  son  of 
Hon.  Hamilton  E.  Perkins,  of  Concord,  commanded  an  ironclad 
monitor  in  the  attack  on  the  defences  of  Mobile  Bay,  and  op- 
erated his  vessel  from  a  position  on  top  of  the  turret. 

During  the  Rebellion  the  country  and  the  Union  cause  was 
served  by  men  of  New  Hampshire  birth  who  had  removed  to 
other  States.  Among  these  were  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  John  A. 
Dix,  William  Pitt  Fessenden,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Henry  Wilson, 
Horace  Greeley,  and  Edward  Henry  Durell,  beside  a  multitude 
of  others  in  less  conspicuous  positions. 

Hon.  E.  H.  Durell,  a  Union  man,  and  an  eminent  lawyer  of 
New  Orleans,  was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln,  in  1863, 
judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  eastern  district 
of  Louisiana.  During  the  occupation  of  that  city  by  the  Union 
army,  he  was  a  friend  to  all  Northern  soldiers,  especially  those 
from  his  native  State.  He  resigned  his  office  late  in  the  year 
1874.  Judge  Durell  was  offered  the  Austrian  mission,  and  the 
office  of  governor  of  Louisiana,  both  of  which  he  declined  ;  and 
•was  the  leading  candidate  of  Southern  Republicans  for  the 
vice-presidency  in  1886.  He  died  in  Schoharie,  N.  Y.,  March 
29,  1887. 

*  George  H-  Perkins  was  bom  October  20,  1836,  was  appointed  cadet  midshipman  in  1851,  and  was 
noted  through  the  war  for  his  coolness  and  bravery. 


BISHOP. OF  MANCHESTER 


CHAPTER  XX. 
IRISH  IN  NEW  HAMPSHIRE} 

Early  Irish  Settlers  —  Soldiers  in  Indian  Wars — At  Louisburg  — 
CoNquEST  OF  Canada  —  Revolution  —  Emigration  of  1840-60  —  Ship 
Fever  —  Terrors  of  the  Plague — Hawthorne's  Description  — 
Mob  IN  Manchester  —  Rebellion  —  Growth  of  Catholic  Church  — 
Bishop  Bradley. 

A  S  the  ore  can  be  traced  by  the  outcroppings  on  the  ledges  in 
the  mountains  of  Colorado  and  Nevada,  so  can  the  nationality 
of  those  sprung  from  the  Emerald  Isle  be  determined  from  the 
old  Milesian  or  Scottish  names  which  appear  in  the  Provincial 
records,  almost  from  the  first  entry  in  1623  down  to  the  out- 
break of  the  Revolutionary  war  in  1775.  The  terrible  condition 
of  affairs  in  Ireland  between  1640  and  the  final  establishment 
of  William  of  Orange  as  the  ruler  of  the  British  Empire  in 
1688,  drove  thousands  away  from  Ireland.  Many  were  sold, 
young  men  and  women,  during  the  reign  of  Cromwell,  in  the 
West  India  Islands  and  New  England,  thus  losing  their  religion 
and  nationality. 

On  the  defeat  of  James  the  Second  the  Irish  army  was  dis- 
banded, the  greater  part  leaving  their  country  for  ever  to  take 
service  in  the  Continental  countries  ;  the  strength  of  their  arms 
and  the  intensity  of  their  hatred  towards  England  being  felt  on 
scores  of  bloody  battlefields  for  more  than  a  hundred  years 
afterwards.  It  is  not  at  all  unreasonable  to  believe  that  many 
were  induced  to  go  to  America  from  a  love  of  adventure,  as 
their  names  appear  on  the  military  rolls  of  the  colony  at  an 
early  date,  doing  good  work  for  the  settlers,  fighting  the  French 

'  From  the  pen  of  Hon.  John  C.  Linehan. 


62>2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1865 

in  the  north  and  the  Indians  around  them.  Not  only  in  New 
Hampshire  but  in  nearly  all  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  and  most 
especially  in  Pennsylvania,  were  their  services  in  demand,  it 
being  a  matter  of  record  that  William  Penn  applied  for  a  con- 
tingent for  the  defence  of  his  infant  colony.  Darby  Field,  an 
"  Irish  soldier  for  discovery,"  is  undoubtedly  entitled  to  the 
credit  of  being  the  first  of  his  race  to  step  foot  on  the  old  Granite 
State.  He  was  sent  here  by  Captain  John  Mason,  in  1631,  and 
according  to  all  writers  on  New  Hampshire  was  the  first  P^uro- 
pean  to  ascend  the  White  Mountains,  in  1635.  From  1641  to 
1660  there  will  be  found  in  the  Provincial  records  such  names 
as  Duggan,  Dermott,  Gibbons,  Vaughan,  Neal,  Patrick,  Buckley, 
Kane,  Kelly,  Brian,  Healey,  Connor,  Murphy,  Malone,  Corbett, 
McClary,  McMullen,  Pendergast,  Keilly,  McGowan,  McGinnis, 
and  Sullivan.  On  following  up  the  records,  it  will  be  found 
that  many  of  the  names  have  in  the  lapse  of  time  been  changed, 
but  their  identity  can  easily  be  established.  In  a  company 
commanded  by  Captain  John  Gilman,  in  17 10-12,  appear  the 
names  of  Connor,  Leary,  Driscol,  McGowan,  Carthy,  and 
Patrick  Greing.  What  is  called  the  "Scotch-Irish"  settlement 
of  Londonderry  took  place  in  17 19,  but  for  seventy  years  before 
that  date  those  distinctive  Irish  names  are  found  here  and  there 
in  the  Provincial  records. 

In  the  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Moore  at  the  capture 
of  Louisburg,  Cape  Breton,  in  1745,  the  following  men  served. 
The  names  are  Celtic,  unmistakably,  some  peculiar  to  Ireland 
and  Scotland,  but  the  majority  to  Ireland  :  — 

Richard  Fitzgerald,  Roger  McMahon,  John  Welch,  Thomas 
Leary,  Daniel  Kelly,  Daniel  Welch,  Patrick  Gault,  Andrew 
Logan,  James  McNeil,  John  Logan,  Thomas  Haley,  John  Foy, 
John  McNeil,  James  McLaughlan,  James  McLeneehan,  Grace, 
Foy,  Kenny,  Malone,  Connor,  Murphy,  Flood,  Griffin,  McGowan, 
Moore,  Kelly,  Farley,  Moloney,  and  McCarthy.  Eleven  years 
afterward,  in  the  war  which  ended  in  the  capture  of  Canada  — 
"  the  Old  French  War"  —  are  enrolled  the  names  of  Moore, 
McDuffy,  O'Neal,  McClary,  Mitchel,  Logan,  Carthy,  Con- 
nor,  Flood,  McCormack,    Malone,    Strafon,    Kelly,    McMahon, 


1865]  IRISH    IN    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  633 

Hart,  Sweeny,  Murphy,  Ryan,  Moloney,  McMahon,  Cunning- 
ham, Mooney,  McGovvan,  Sullivan,  Madden,  Welch,  MoUoy, 
McCarthy,  McLaughlan,  Connor,  McCarrill,  Tobin,  Clark,  Don- 
nell,  McKeon,  Driscol,  Rowan,  McClennen,  Connolly,  Moylan, 
Haley,  Kennedy,  Laney,  McConnihie,  Broderick,  Rankin, 
Grady,  Meroney,  McMillan,  Knnis,  McGec,  Moran,  Murphy, 
and  Powers.  Many  of  these  men  bear  the  distinctive  Irish 
given  names  of  Patrick,  Michael,  Dennis,  Cornelius,  and  Darby, 
and  all  are  in  appearance  "  Irish  as  the  hills." 

Bryan  McSweeny,  a  veteran  of  the  French  war,  was  one  of 
the  selectmen  of  Holderness,  in  1773,  and  Michael  Dwyer,  in 
1786;  Obadiah  Mooney  in  Canterbury,  in  1786,  and  Jacob 
Flynn  in  Duxbury,  the  same  year.  In  Peterborough,  1786,  were 
the  families  of  McNee,  Kenny,  and  McDonnell ;  in  Concord, 
McMillan,  Roche,  Guinlon,  and  Shutc  ;  in  Bedford,  Callahan, 
Flynn,  Murphy,  Manahan,  O'Neil  and  McCleary  ;  in  Aliens- 
town,  in  1787,  the  family  of  Duggan  ;  in  Rochester,  Killev, 
Lynch,  and  Patrick  Murrey.  Hon.  Robert  Means  was  born  in 
Ireland  and  came  to  Amherst  in  1764. 

Antrim's  first  settler  was  Philip  Roiley,  1774  ;  and  two  of  the 
most  eminent  citizens  in  its  early  days  were  Maurice  Lynch  and 
Tobias  Butler,  both  natives  of  Ireland.  Stephen  and  Dennis 
Pendergast  were  among  the  Barnstead  settlers,  in  1788  ;  and  in 
Durham,  1749,  the  Sullivan  family  appear  often.  John,  James, 
Humprey,  Valentine,  Ebenezer,  and  their  descendants,  have  been 
among  the  first  in  New  England.  With  these  were  the  names  of 
Driscol,  P'urness,  Cogan,  Pendergast,  Ryan,  and  Welch.  Fitz- 
geralds  appear  in  the  Boscawen  town  records  in  1757,  and 
Callahan  in  1783.  Carrigain  in  Concord,  and  Kelly  and  Mc- 
Gowan  in  Brentwood,  kept  up  the  connection  ;  and  Dorchester 
furnishes  a  Darby  Kelly  and  McClanathan  ;  Cocheco,  a  Connor, 
Kelly,  and  Hern  ;  Exeter,  Roger  Kelly  and  Cornelius  Lary. 
Dublin  was  first  settled  by  Thomas  Morse,  John  Ale.xander, 
Henry  Strongman,  and  William  Scott,  natives  of  Ireland. 
Epsom  and  the  McClarys  are  inseparable  in  colonial  and  State 
records.  In  Francestown,  1772,  Thomas,  John,  William,  and 
Thomas    Quigley,  jr.,   represented    one    of    the    best    old  Irish 


634  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1865 

families ;  and  in  Gilmanton  were  Magoon,  Malone,  Mooneyy 
Casey,  and  Connor.  In  Goffstown  one  of  the  great  Irish  clans, 
had  a  representative  in  John  O'Neil,  in  1783,  and  Richard 
Coughlan  represented  another  in  Chesterfield,  in  1777.  In 
Holderness  was  quite  a  collection  of  Celts  in  1789 — Hogan, 
Mooney,  Dwyer,  Connor  and  McSweeny  ;  in  Hopkinton,  Connor 
and  McLaughlan  ;  in  Nottingham,  Thomas  Barry  ;  and  in 
Londonderry,  among  the  names  of  others,  are  those  of  Donahoe,. 
O'Neil,  Donavan,  Kelly,  Callahan,  Murphy,  McLaughlan,  and 
Haley  ;  in  Merrimack,  McConihie,  McCormick,  and  Griffin  ;, 
in  Dunstable,  1762,  Donally  and  Lonergan  ;  in  New  Boston,  1775, 
McLaughlan,  Rowan,  Donavan,  Quigley,  Butler,  and  McGinnis  ;, 
in  New  Castle,  Malone,  Neal,  and  Shannon  ;  m  Newmarket, 
Fitzgerald,  Malone,  and  Driscol.  There  is  no  doubt  but 
that  Irish  blood  was  well  mixed  with  that  of  the  English  set- 
tlers in  New  Hampshire  previous  to  the  Revolution;  and  that 
contest  proved  there  was  no  deterioration  from  the  intermixture  ; 
for  the  names  of  Sullivan  and  Stark  will  go  down  to  posterity 
beside  those  of  Poor  and  Cilley,  as  gallant  defenders  of  the 
liberties  of  the  people  of  the  States.  One  illustration  will  prove 
the  presence  of  those  of  Irish  blood  here  before  the  Revolution. 
The  expedition  against  the  Six  Nations,  in  1777,  was  under  the 
command  of  Major-general  John  Sullivan,  theson  of  Irish  parents. 
The  division  was  made  up  of  three  brigades  ;  and  two  of  the  bri- 
gade commanders,  Generals  William  Maxwell  and  Edward  Hand, 
were  natives  of  Ireland ;  and  at  least  two  of  the  regimental  com- 
manders, Colonel  William  Butler  and  Colonel  Thomas  Proctor,  were 
from  the  same  country.  Of  the  part  taken  by  the  Irish  in  New 
Hampshire  in  the  struggle  for  independence,  her  rolls  of  the 
killed  and  wounded  bear  witness,  from  Bunker  Hill  to  Yorktown. 
The  Mac's  and  the  O's  were  generally  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fray,  and  their  record  in  the  new  world  for  bravery  and  deter- 
mination equalled  their  best  efforts  in  Europe. 

The  outbreak  of  the  P'rench  Revolution,  the  long  wars  that 
followed,  ending  only  at  Waterloo,  and  the  brief  period  of  pros- 
perity that  resulted  from  that  contest  to  the  people  of  Ireland, 
in    an   increased  demand  for  her   agricultural   products    at    an 


1865]  IRISH    IN    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  635 

enhanced  value,  checked  for  the  time  being  the  tide  of  emigra- 
tion from  that  country. 

For  the  first  time  for  centuries  the  people  there  had  a  compara- 
tive peace.  No  outbreak  had  taken  place  since  the  rebellion  of 
1 798.  The  population  of  the  country  had  rapidly  increased,  so  that 
in  1840  it  was  over  eight  millions  of  souls.  Up  to  this  year  very 
few  of  the  Irish  people  had  sailed  for  America  since  the  year 
iSoo;  scarcely  any  to  New  England.  The  result  was  that  when 
the  dreadful  famine  broke  out  between  1840  and  1850,  and 
the  exodus  to  America  began,  the  Irish  people  were  strangers 
to  those  of  their  kindred  in  New  Hampshire  whose  ancestors  had 
left  Ireland  more  than  a  century  before.  And  to  add  to  the  feel- 
ing of  estrangement,  the  difference  in  religion  made  itself  felt,  as 
the  great  bulk  of  the  new  emigrants  were  Catholics. 

The  outlook  then  for  the  poor  Irish  Catholic,  whom  poverty 
or  misfortune  had  driven  to  the  United  States  during  the  period 
between  1835  and  1855,  was  anything  but  pleasing,  especially 
in  New  England  ;  while  the  fearful  stories  told  of  the  dreadful 
scenes  on  shipboard,  the  deaths  from  the  famine  fever,  and  the 
consequent  fear  of  infection,  made  their  presence  both  undesir- 
able and  unwelcome.  The  native  American  riots  in  Philadelphia 
and  New  York  ;  the  burning  of  the  convent  in  Charlestown, 
Mass.  ;  the  blood-curdling  stories  circulated  by  Maria  Monk  ; 
and  the  brutal  and  false  harangues  of  the  apostate  priests  — 
Hogan,  Chiniquy,  and  Gavazzi,  —  aided  by  the  insensate  ravings 
of  the  fanatic  madman,  the  "Angel  Gabriel,"  influenced  public 
sentiments  which  had  already  been  deeply  prejudiced  against 
anything  Catholic  by  early  teachings,  strengthened  by  the  liter- 
ature of  the  day.  What  the  Irish  Catholics  suffered  in  those  sad 
days  the  present  generation  can  form  no  conception  of.  Starv- 
ing and  dying  at  home,  those,  who  were  fortunate  enough  to 
have  the  means,  left  their  native  land  in  despair;  and,  turning 
their  faces  to  the  west,  resolved  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  America, 
where  they  could  earn  an  honest  livelihood,  and  give  their  fami- 
lies a  decent  maintenance.  The  emigration  first  inclined  towards 
Canada,  from  whence  it  overflowed  into  the  States.  It  was  but 
natural  that  the  terrible  disease  which  they  brought  across  the 


636  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1865 

ocean  with  them  inspired  terror  and  deepened  the  prejudice, 
already  strong  enough,  against  them,  although  their  sufferings 
and  misery  appealed  strongly  to  the  best  sympathies  of  the 
human  heart.  The  first  of  the  fever-smitten  ships  to  enter  the 
St.  Lawrence  was  the  "Urania"  from  Cork,  with  several  hun- 
<lred  emigrants,  a  large  proportion  of  them  sick  and  dying  from 
the  awful  plague,  on  May  8,  1847  ;  and  before  the  first  week  of 
June  following  eighty-four  ships  of  various  tonnage  were  quar- 
antined at  Grosse  Island,  Quebec,  not  one  of  which  was  free  from 
the  taint  of  malignant  typhus,  the  offspring  of  famine  and  of 
the  foul  ship-hold.  This  fleet  of  vessels  literally  reeked  with 
pestilence.  All  sailing  vessels,  the  merciful  speed  of  the  well- 
appointed  steamer  being  unknown  to  the  emigrants  of  those 
days,  —  a  tolerably  quick  passage  lasted  from  six" to  eight  weeks, 
while  passages  of  ten  or  twelve  weeks,  and  even  a  longer  time, 
were  not  considered  at  all  extraordinary  at  a  period  when  craft 
of  every  kind  the  most  unsuited,  as  well  as  the  least  sea- 
worthy, were  pressed  into  the  service  of  human  deportation. 
Who  can  imagine  the  horrors  of  even  the  shortest  passage  in 
an  emigrant  ship  crowded  beyond  its  utmost  capacity  of  stowage 
with  unhappy  beings  of  all  ages,  with  fever  raging  in  their 
midst.  Under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  it  is  impossible 
to  maintain  perfect  purity  of  atmosphere  between  decks,  even 
when  ports  are  open  and  every  device  is  adopted  to  secure  the 
greatest  amount  of  ventilation.  But  a  crowded  emigrant  ship 
of  forty  years  since,  with  fever  aboard! — the  crew  sullen  or  brutal 
from  very  desperation,  or  paralysed  from  terror  of  the  plague  ; 
the  miserable  passengers  unable  to  help  themselves,  or  afford 
the  least  relief  to  each  other ;  one-fourth  or  one-third  or  one- 
half  of  the  entire  number  in  different  stages  of  the  disease  ; 
many  dying,  some  dead  ;  the  fatal  poison  intensified  by  the  in- 
describable foulness  of  the  air  breathed  and  rebreathed  by  the 
gasping  sufferers  ;  the  wails  of  children,  the  ravings  of  the 
<lelirious,  the  cries  and  groans  of  those  in  mortal  agony  !  Of 
the  eighty-four  vessels  anchored  at  Grosse  Isle,  in  the  summer 
of  1847,  there  was  not  a  single  one  to  which  this  description 
might  not  rightly  apply.     Sheds  were  built  for  the  unfortunate 


1865]  IRISH    IN    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  637 

people,  sick  and  dying  ;  and  round  tlieir  walls  lay  groups  of  half- 
naked  men,  women,  and  children.  Hundreds  were  literally 
fiung  on  the  beach,  left  amid  the  mud  and  stones  to  crawl  on  the 
dry  land  how  they  could.  A  priest  who  was  an  eye-witness  of 
these  distressing  scenes  said  he  had  seen,  one  day,  thirty-seven 
people  lying  on  the  beach,  crawling  on  the  mud  and  dying  like 
fish  out  of  water.  Many  of  these,  and  many  more  besides, 
o-asped  out  their  last  breath  on  that  fatal  shore,  not  able  to  drag 
themselves  from  the  slime  in  which  they  lay. 

The  mortality  was  frightful,  and  on  that  barren  isle  the  dust 
of  more  than  twelve  thousand  human  beings,  the  victims  of 
famine  and  plague,  mingle  with  the  soil  of  the  "  land  of  promise." 
Of  this  number  full  five  thousand  were  simply  described  as  un- 
known. Several  priests  —  a  few  Irish,  the  majority  French  Can- 
adian —  caught  the  infection,  and  out  of  twenty-five  who  were 
attacked  seven  paid  with  their  lives  the  penalty  of  their  devo- 
tion. Not  a  few  were  professors  in  colleges,  but  at  the  appeal 
of  the  archbishop  they  left  their  classes  and  their  studies  for 
the  horrors  and  perils  of  the  fever  sheds.  This  deplorable  havoc 
of  human  life  left  hundreds  of  orphans  dependent  on  the  charity 
of  the  public  ;  and  nobly  did  the  French  Canadians  respond  to 
the  unconscious  appeal  of  this  multitude  of  little  ones.  From 
the  loss  of  the  parents  it  was  hard  to  determine  the  relationship 
between  the  unfortunate  waifs.  It  was  only  by  patiently  observ- 
ing the  little  creatures  when  they  found  strength  to  play,  and 
one  infant  ran  to  meet  another,  or  caught  its  hand,  or  smiled  at 
it,  or  kissed  it,  or  showed  pleasure  in  its  society,  that  a  clue  was 
found,  and  many  children  of  the  same  parents  thus  preserved  ; 
but  many  more  were  separated  forever,  and  both  name  and  iden- 
tity lost.  Thousands  were  in  this  way  adopted  and  brought  up 
by  their  kind  protectors,  but  lost  to  their  tongue  and  name. 
Sunday  after  Sunday,  as  the  children  got  well  enough,  they  were 
<ixposed  at  the  churches  after  mass  by  the  good  priests,  who  made 
touching  appeals  to  those  who  could  provide  them  with  homes  ; 
and  these  appeals  were  not  in  vain,  for  all  found  shelter  and  pro- 
tection from  the  kind-hearted  French  farmers.  But  it  was  not 
alone  at  Quebec  that  such  dreadful  scenes  were  witnessed,  as 


638  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l86$ 

Montreal,  farther  up  the  river,  had  their  counterpart  —  over  six 
thousand  dying  at  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  at  a  point  not  far 
from  the  terminus  of  the  Victoria  Bridge.  As  at  Quebec,  the 
priests  and  nuns  were  unwearied  in  their  care  of  the  afflicted, 
and  thirteen  out  of  thirty  of  the  Grey  nuns  who  were  stricken 
gave  their  lives  a  sacrifice  for  the  poor  and  lowly.  With  one 
exception,  every  priest  in  the  city  was  down  with  the  plague,  and 
eight  of  them  went  to  their  graves.  From  Bishop  Bourget  down 
to  the  lowest  secular  priest  all  were  equally  exposed,  and  faced 
death  to  relieve  the  wants  of  those  unable  to  help  themselves. 
Among  the  first  to  fall  a  victim  was  Father  Richards,  a  venerable 
man  long  past  the  time  of  active, service. 

A  convert  from  Methodism  in  early  life,  he  had  specially 
devoted  himself  to  the  Irish,  who  were  then  but  a  very  small 
portion  of  the  population. 

Not  only  did  he  mainly  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  hundreds 
of  orphan  children,  but,  in  spite  of  his  great  age,  he  labored  in 
the  fever  sheds  with  a  zeal  which  could  not  be  excelled.  "  Father 
Richards  wants  fresh  straw  for  the  beds;"  said  a  messenger  to 
the  mayor.  "  Certainly  he  shall  have  it.  I  wish  it  was  gold, 
for  his  sake  ;"  said  the  mayor.  A  few  days  after  the  Protestant 
mayor  and  Catholic  priest  were  martyrs  of  charity. 

Only  a  few  days  before  stricken  down,  Father  Richards 
preached  on  Sunday  in  St.  Patrick's,  and  those  who  heard  him 
on  that  occasion  never  forgot  the  venerable  appearance  and  im- 
pressive words  of  that  noble  servant  of  God.  Addressing  a 
hushed  and  sorrow-stricken  audience,  as  the  tears  rolled  down 
his  aged  cheeks,  he  thus  spoke  of  the  faith  and  sufferings  of  the 
Irish  :  — 

"  Oh  my  beloved  brethren,  grieve  not,  I  beseech  you,  for  the 
sufferings  and  death  of  so  many  of  your  race,  perchance  your 
kindred,  who  have  fallen,  and  are  still  to  fall,  victims  to  tliis 
dreadful  pestilence.  Their  patience,  their  faith,  have  edified  all 
whose  privilege  it  was  to  witness  it.  Their  faith,  their  resigna- 
tion to  the  will  of  God  under  such  unprecedented  misery,  is 
something  so  extraordinary  that,  to  realize  it,  it  requires  to  be 
seen.     Oh  my  brethren,  grieve  not  for  thera ;  they  did  but  pass 


1865]  IRISH    IX    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  639 

from  earth  to  the  glory  of  heaven.  True,  they  were  ca.st  in 
heaps  into  the  earth,  their  place  of  sepulture  marked  by  no  name 
or  epitaph  ;  but  I  tell  you,  my  dearly  beloved  brethren,  that  from 
their  ashes  will  spring  up  the  faith  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  for 
they  died  martyrs,  as  they  lived  confessors,  to  the  faith."  How 
prophetic  the  words  of  this  good  man  were,  the  innumerable 
spires,  surmounted  by  the  cross,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the 
Golden  Gate,  bear  witness.  There,  as  at  Quebec,  the  orphan  chil- 
dren were  provided  with  homes  among  the  generous  Canadians 
and  their  own  loving  kindred,  the  Irish  of  Montreal.  For  years 
no  stone  or  epitaph  marked  the  last  resting-place  of  the  bodies 
of  those  who  left  their  native  land  with  such  high  hope  of  the 
future  ;  and  it  remained  for  the  workmen  who  built  the  Victoria 
Bridge,  most  of  them  Englishmen,  to  place  a  memorial  there  of 
the  sad  event.  In  the  centre  of  a  railed-in  spot  of  land  at 
Point  St.  Charles,  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  bridge,  there 
is  a  huge  boulder  taken  from  the  bed  of  the  river  and  placed 
on  a  platform  of  roughly  hewn  stone,  and  on  it  there  is  this 
inscription  :  — • 

TO 

PRESERVE  FROM  DESECRATION 

THE  REMAINS  OF  SIX  THOUSAND   EMIGRANTS, 

WHO  DIED  OF  SHIP-FEVER 

A.   D.    1847-8, 

THIS  STONE  IS  ERECTED  BY  THE 

WORKMEN  OF  MESSRS.   PETO,    BRASSY,  AND    BETTS, 

EMPLOYED   IN   THE 

CONSTRUCTION   OF  THE   VICTORIA    BRIDGE, 

A.   D.    1S59. 

In  the  little  church  of  the  Bon  Secour,  familiar  to  all  visitors 
to  Montreal,  can  be  seen  among  the  many  votive  offerings  a  me- 
morial picture,  representing,  with  all  the  painter's  art,  the  horrors 
and  the  glories  of  the  fever  shed, —  the  dying  Irish  strong  in 
th^ir  faith,  the  ministering  sisters  shedding  peace  on  the  pillow 
of  suffering,  the  holy  bishop  affording  the  last  consolations  of 
religion  to  those  to  whom  the  world  was  as  nothing  ;  but  in  its 
terrible  significance  the  rude  monument  by  the  mighty  river's 
side  is  far  more  impressive. 


640  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1865 

But  the  suffering  did  not  cease  here,  but  continued  still  up  the 
river,  which  must  for  that  reason  be  ever  memorable  in  the 
annals  of  the  Irish  Catholic  exodus  of  1847-8.  In  the  grounds 
of  the  General  Hospital  at  Kingston  rests  all  that  was  mortal  of 
1900  emigrants  who  were  in  their  sufferings  tenderly  attended 
to  by  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic  ;  the  Protestant  mayor  and 
aldermen  working  side  by  side  with  the  good  sisters  and  priests. 
The  same  scenes  of  suffering  and  death  were  to  be  witnessed  in 
Toronto.  Sheds  were  constructed,  and  hearses  and  dead-carts 
were  in  hourly  requisition.  The  panic  was  universal,  but  the 
humane  and  high-spirited  of  all  denominations  did  their  duty 
manfull3^  The  priests  were  ceaselessly  at  work,  with  the  usual 
result  —  the  sacrifice  of  several  of  their  number. 

The  greatest  loss  was  that  of  the  bishop,  Dr.  Power,  a  man 
venerable  in  years,  a  native  of  Ireland.  He  was  implored  not 
to  go  to  the  sheds  and  expose  himself,  but  he  replied, "  My  good 
priests  are  down  in  sickness,  and  the  duty  devolves  on  me." 
Rarely  if  ever  has  a  larger  funeral  procession  been  seen  in 
Toronto,  and  never  has  there  been  a  more  universal  manifestation 
of  sorrow  than  was  witnessed  on  that  mournful  occasion.  Every 
place  of  business  in  the  city  was  closed,  and  Protestant  vied 
with  Catholic  in  doing  honor  to  the  memory  of  a  holy  and  brave- 
hearted  prelate.  The  city  of  St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  was 
the  scene  of  a  similar  horror,  and  destruction  of  human  life. 
Wherever  an  emigrant  ship  touched  the  shores  of  the  British 
Provinces,  or  sailed  into  their  rivers,  there  the  same  awful 
loss  of  life  was  recorded.  A  full  description  of  those  terrible 
days  is  given,  in  Maguire's  "Irish  in  America,"  from  which  the 
foregoing  is  condensed ;  and  how  the  appearance  of  the  unfor- 
tunate people,  who  swarmed  over  the  line  into  the  States,  struck 
the  average  American,  has  been  told  by  Nathaniel  Hawthorne, 
in  his  sketch  of  an  "  Inland  Port :" — "  Nothing  struck  me  more  in 
Burlington  than  the  great  number  of  Irish  emigrants.  They 
have  filled  the  British  Provinces  to  the  brim,  and  still  continue 
to  ascend  the  St.  Lawrence  in  infinite  tribes,  overflowing  by 
every  outlet  into  the  States.  At  Burlington  they  swarm  in  huts 
and  mean  dwellings  near  the  lake,  lounge  about  the  wharves,  and 


I  86s]  IRISH    IN    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  64 1 

elbow  the  native  citizens  out  of  competition  in  their  own  Hne. 
Every  species  of  mere  bodily  iabor  is  the  prerogative  of  these 
Irish.  Such  is  their  multitude  in  comparison  with  any  possible 
demand  for  their  services,  that  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  a 
third  part  of  them  should  earn  even  a  daily  glass  of  whiskey, 
which  is  doubtless  their  first  necessary  of  life  —  daily  bread  being 
only  the  second.  Some  were  angling  in  the  lake,  but  had  caught 
only  a  few  perches,  which  little  fishes,  without  a  miracle,  would 
be  nothing  among  so  many.  A  miracle  there  certainly  must  have 
been,  and  a  daily  one,  for  the  sustenance  of  these  wandering 
hordes.  The  men]exhibit  a  lazy  strength  and  careless  merriment, 
as  if  they  had  fed  well  hitherto,  and  meant  to  feed  better  here- 
after. The  women  strode  about,  uncovered  in  the  open  air,  with 
far  plumper  waists  and  brawnier  limbs,  as  well  as  bolder  faces, 
than  our  shy  and  slender  females.  And  their  progeny,  which  was 
innumerable,  had  the  reddest  and  roundest  cheeks  of  any  child- 
ren in  America." 

Not  very  kindly  or  sympathetic  the  remarks  of  the  genial 
Hawthorne,  but  they  are  illustrative  of  the  sentiments  of  the 
natives  to  the  manor  born  in  those  days.  The  most  extravagant 
stories  were  told  and  believed,  and  many  people  would  go  quite 
a  distance  to  see  the  Irish.  One  woman,  when  a  young  girl, 
told  the  writer  that,  in  company  with  a  female  friend,  she 
walked  six  miles  to  the  terminus  of  a  railroad  then  being  con- 
structed to  see  an  Irishman,  and  was  surprised  as  well  as  disap- 
pointed to  find  that  they  looked  just  like  other  men.  Their  first 
employment  was  on  the  railroads,  in  the  canals,  and  in  every 
place  where  their  muscles  could  be  used  to  the  best  advantage. 
Wherever  hard  labor  was  required  in  the  ditch,  the  cut,  the 
mines,  laying  track,  building  roads,  shovelling,  and  spike  driving, 
the  services  of  the  Irish  were  in  demand.  Very  often  the  work 
was  of  the  hardest  description,  the  hours  long,  and  the  pay  small ; 
but  severe  as  the  labor  was,  and  long  as  the  days  were,  and  small 
as  the  wages  might  be,  their  wit  or  humor  never  left  them  ;  and 
the  loved  ones  in  the  "  Old  Art  "  were  not  neglected  when  pay- 
day came  around.  Of  the  sacrifices  made  by  those  faithful 
pioneers,  God  alone  knows.     Day  and  night  their  thoughts  were 


64^2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1865 

constantly  with  the  dear  ones  at  home  ;  and  the  aim  of  all  was  to 
work  and  save  enough  to  bring  them  across  that  ocean  which 
furnished  graves  for  so  many  thousands.  The  experience  of  one 
was  that  of  all.  A  native  of  Cork  who  came  over  in  1847  niade 
his  home  in  New  Hampshire.  He  left  behind  him  a  wife  and 
five  children,  the  oldest  but  eleven  years  of  age.  For  two  long, 
long  years  he  toiled  unceasingly  to  save  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay 
the  expense  of  their  joassage,  and  in  the  meantime  sent  money 
regularly  each  quarter  to  provide  them  with  the  necessaries  of 
life  ;  but  the  happy  hour  finally  arrived,  when,  after  a  long  and 
tempestuous  voyage  of  over  six  weeks,  the  loved  ones  were 
once  more  united,  to  begin  anew  the  battle  of  life  on  the  west- 
ern shores  of  the  Atlantic.  He  located  in  a  village  in  the 
central  part  of  the  State,  with  none  of  his  own  nationality  less 
than  twelve  miles  on  either  side  of  him, — no  church,  the  nearest 
at  Lowell,  seventy-five  miles  south.  Here  he  resided  four  years, 
in  a  small  community,  all  American  and  Protestant,  but  good 
kind  neighbors,  and  friendly  to  the  most  extreme  degree. 

But  if  the  church  and  the  priest  were  not  present,  the  faith 
was  kept  alive.  The  prayers  at  mass  were  read  regularly  every 
Sunday,  and  the  rosary  recited  during  Lent  and  Advent.  That 
good  friend  of  the  race.  The  Boston  Pilot  —  God  bless  it  and 
Patrick  Donahoe  for  the  good  it  has  done  —  was  a  weekly  visitor ; 
and  after  a  time  the  priest  made  an  occasional  call  to  baptize  the 
children,  and  give  their  elders  an  opportunity  to  go  to  their  duty. 

His  life's  work  is  about  done,  but  he  has  seen  grow  up  around 
him  a  community  free  from  the  intolerance  and  prejudice  which 
met  him  forty  years  ago ;  and  this  change  was  brought  about  by 
the  honest  industry  which  has  made  the  good  Irish  Catholic 
respected  wherever  he  cast  his  lot.  The  cities  of  New  Hamp- 
shire have  now  magnificent  Catholic  churches,  where  in  his  day 
there  were  none  ;  and  it  is  a  very  small  village  where  there  are 
any  manufacturing  interests  that  the  little  chapel  surmounted 
with  a  cross,  humble  it  may  be,  cannot  now  be  found.  One  of  his 
sons  is  a  respected  priest  in  the  church  of  which  he  has  all  his 
life  been  a  devoted  adherent.  Another  is  an  honored  citizen  of 
the  State,  and  a  grand-daughter  is  one  of  the  order  of  the  Sisters 


1865]  IRISH    IN    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  643 

of  Mercy.     So  that  in  his  own  hfe  he  but  illustrates  the  expe- 
rience of  others,  not  only  in  the  State,  but  in  the  nation. 

The  period  between  1850  and  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion 
was  one  of  trouble  and  sorrow  for  the  poor  Irish  emigrants. 
Riots  broke  out  in  Baltimore,  New  Orleans,  and  Louisville, 
Kentucky  ;  but  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the  American  people  that, 
in  the  main,  the  outbreaks  were  the  result  of  the  inflammable 
liarangues  of  men  like  those  mentioned.  The  loyalty  even  of  the 
new  comers  was  doubted  ;  and  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  half 
a  dozen  military  companies,  composed  of  men  of  Irish  birth  or 
origin,  were  disbanded  on  the  ground  that  they  could  not  be 
trusted  with  arms  in  their  hands.  The  excitement  all  over  New 
England  was  intense.  A  priest  in  Maine  was  tarred  and  feath- 
ered, from  the  effect  of  which  he  never  recovered.  The  Catholic 
church  in  Manchester  was  attacked  by  a  mob  on  the  4th  of  Jul}', 
1855,  —  the  priest  having  to  flee  for  his  life.  Thirty  years  later, 
at  his  death  in  1885,  a  mark  of  respect  was  paid  to  his  memory 
by  the  citizens  of  Manchester,  that  showed  how  completely  pub- 
lic sentiment  had  changed.  On  the  day  of  his  funeral  all  of  the 
mills  were  shut  down,  and  all  of  the  stores  closed,  during  the  hours 
of  service ;  and  this  was  sincere ;  for  no  man  in  the  city  was  more 
respected  by  Catholic  and  Protestant  alike  than  the  saintly 
Father  McDonald,  whose  whole  life  had  been  devoted  unself- 
ishly to  the  service  of  God.  But  the  time  was  rapidly  approach- 
ing when  the  loyalty  of  the  Irish  Catholic  was  to  be  tried  ;  and 
nobly  he  stood  the  test,  as  the  record  of  the  State  proves  in  the 
eventful  period  from  1861  to  1865.  The  first  call  for  troops  in 
April,  1 86 1,  to  repel  the  threatened  invasion  of  Washington,  and 
the  second  for  300,000  more  to  save  the  Union,  found  the  Irish 
Catholics  of  New  Hampshire  as  eager  to  enroll  themselves  in 
the  ranks  of  the  volunteers,  as  those  who  were  born  here  of  the 
old  stock  and  of  a  different  creed  :  and  from  the  first  conflict  at 
Bull  Run,  in  July,  1861,  down  to  the  end  at  Appomatox,  in  1865, 
the  men  of  New  Hampshire  shed  their  blood  freely  for  the  res- 
toration of  the  Union.  Under  the  old  flag  they  all  loved,  they 
forgot  the  differences  of  creed  and  nationality;  and  in  the  fires  of 
many  battlefields  were  welded  ties  of  love  and  friendship  that 


644  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1865 

fanaticism  can  never  sever.  Not  a  muster  roll  of  a  company, 
battery,  or  regiment,  not  a  soldier's  monument,  rearing  its  column 
to  the  sky,  not  a  tablet  or  monument  in  public  square  or  ceme- 
tery, inscribed  in  memory  of  New  Hampshire's  soldier  dead>, 
but  will  be  found  engraved  with  the  names  of  many  men  or  boys 
of  Irish  birth  or  lineage,  who  gave  all  that  was  dear  for  the  land 
they  loved. 

In  the  Third  regiment,  company  C,  Captain  M.  T.  Donahoe, 
were  one  hundred  of  the  old  race,  and  scattered  through  the 
other  companies  of  the  regiment  were  more  than  double  that 
number.     Company  G,  Captain  M.   O.   Flynn,  of   the  Fourth, 
were  of  the  same  stock.     Two  companies  in  the  Eighth,  under 
Captains  Connelly  and  Healey,  and  nearly  one  full  regiment, 
the  Tenth,  Colonel  Michael  T.  Donahoe,  proved  the  loyalty  of 
the  Irish  to  their  adopted  country.     Not  a  regimental  organiza- 
tion that  left  the  State,  from  the  First  to  the  Eighteenth,  the 
cavalry,  light  battery,  and  the  United  States  navy  and  marine 
corps,  but  what  had  representatives  of  the  race  in  their  ranks  ; 
and  it  can  be  said  to  their  eternal  honor  that  the  great  majority 
of  them,  or  of  those  in  the  regiments  named,  volunteered  be- 
fore the  government  offered  bounties  as  an  inducement  to  enlist. 
During  their  four  years  of  service,  either  in  camp,  on  the  march, 
on  the  battlefield,  on  picket,  in  the  hospital,  or  in  the  prison  pen^ 
the  question  of  nationality  or  creed  was  never  touched  upon  ;  the 
blue  jacket  made  Americans  of  them,  and  the  question  of  loyalty 
was  then  and  there  forever  settled.    The  children  of  the  men  who 
toiled  on  the  railroad,  and  who  served  in  building,  hewing,  cutting, 
digging,  and  trenching,  thirty  and  forty  years  ago,  are  to-day 
many  of  them  skilled  mechanics,  business  and  professional  men, 
and  making  their  mark  in  the  State.     The  great  body  of  them 
are  honest,  industrious,  law-abiding  people,  willing  to  earn  an 
honorable  living,  pay  their  just  obligations,  and  live  in  peace 
with  their  neighbors.     Their  clergymen  are  beloved  by  their 
parishioners,  and   esteemed  by  their  fellow  citizens  generally. 
The  present  generation,  nor  the  one  following,  cannot  forget 
the  labors  of  Father  McDonald  in  Manchester,  Father  O'Donnell 
in  Nashua,  Father  Murphy  in  Dover,  and  Father  Barry  in  Concord. 


1865]  IRISH    IN    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  645 

The  first  two  have  gone  to  reap  the  reward  of  tlieir  la])ors  ;  the 
last  two  still  remain,  loved  and  honored  by  all  who  know  them  ;^ 
and  in  the  State  the  church  is  presided  over  by  a  prelate  ^  whose 
genial  presence  and  loving  devotion  to  the  spiritual  interests  of 
his  flock  are  a  benison  to  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact. 
Realizing,  then,  the  full  significance  of  the  events  of  the  past 
forty-eight  years,  the  American  in  New  Hampshire  of  Irish 
birth  or  origin  can  in  a  few  years  pass  between  the  gates  of  the 
old  and  new  centuries,  conscious  that  he  has  fulfilled  the  duties 
of  the  one,  and  stands  ready  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of 
the  other. 

'  Rev.  Michael  Lucey,  of  Exeter,  died  in  1873,  aged  nearly  67  years;  and  Rev.  Father  Drummond. 
of  Dover,  died  in  1SS3,  aged  75  years:  botli  full  of  years  and  honors.  To  them  is  much  credit  due 
for  the  growth  of  the  Catholic  church  in  New  Hampshire. 

^  Right  Reverend  Dennis  M.  Bradley,  bishop  of  Manchester,  was  born  in 
Castle  Island,  County  Kerry,  Ireland,  February  25,  1S46.  His  father  died  in 
1S53,  and  his  mother,  with  six  children,  came  to  America  the  following  year 
and  settled  in  Manchester.  He  graduated  at  the  College  of  the  Holy  Cross, 
at  Worcester,  Mass.,  in  1867  ;  studied  theology  at  St.  Joseph's  Provincial 
Theological  Seminary,  at  Troy.  N.  Y. ;  was  ordained  in  Jime,  1871;  and  for 
nine  years  was  with  Bishop  Bacon  and  Bishop  Healy,  at  Portland.  In  iSSo 
he  was  chosen  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's  church,  Manchester.  June  11,  18S4,  he 
was  consecrated  first  bishop  of  the  new  see  of  Manchester  (New  Hampshire 
having  been  created  a  diocese),  being  at  the  time  the  youngest  bishop  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States.  In  188S  Bishop  Bradley  had 
under  his  jurisdiction  about  eighty-five  thousand  Catholics  under  the  spiritual 
rare  of  fifty-six  priests,  forty-four  churches,  aside  from  two  building,  thirtv- 
four  parochial  schools — seventeen  for  boys,  and  seventeen  for  girls,  only  four 
of  each  conducted  bv  lay  teachers  —  four  academies  for  girls,  four  orphan 
asylums,  one  hospital,  one  home  for  aged  women,  and  a  Catholic  high  school 
at  Manchester  under  the  care  of  six  "  Christian  Brothers." 

St.  Joseph's  Cathedral  and  the  episcopal  residence  at  Manchester  cost  over 
$125,000. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

SINCE  THE  REBELLION,  1 865-1 

Frederick  Smyth  —  Sylvester  Marsh  —  Provincial  Papers — Rev.  Dr. 
BouTON — Walter  Harriman  —  Public  Instruction — Academies  and 
High  Schools — John  B.  Clark — J.  C.  Moore  —  People  —  Newspa- 
pers—  Onslow  Stearns — James  A.  Weston — Bishop  Baker  —  E. 
A.  Straw  —  Asa  Fowler  —  J.  E.  Sargent  —  Charles  H.  Burns  — 
P.  C.  Cheney  —  PnitLiPs  Exeter  Academy  —  Constitutional  Con- 
vention—  B.  F.  Prescott  —  J.  F.  Briggs  —  White  Mountains  — 
Natt  Head  —  Charles  H.  Bell  — Frank  Jones  —  Ossian  Ray  —  S. 
W.  Hale  —  C.  H.  Bartlett — J.  H.  Gallinger — Moody  Currier  — 
C  H.  Sawyer — Jonathan  Sawyer — Joseph  Wentworth — Jonathan 
Kittredge  —  W.  E.  Chandler  —  Harry  Bingham  —  Railroads  — 
Summer  Resorts  —  Manufacturing. 

TN   the   Republican    convention  of   January,   1865,  Frederick 
Smyth,  of  Manchester,  received  two-thirds  of   an    informal 
ballot,  which  was  then  made  unanimous  by  acclamation. 

'Frederick  Smjth  was  born  in  Candia  in  1819,  and  in  early  manhood  was  in 
business  in  Manchester.  He  soon  became  interested  in  municipal  affairs,  and 
-was  twice  elected  city  clerk.  His  manifest  efficiency  in  citj-  affairs,  and  the 
thoroughness  with  which  he  mastered  every  detail,  suggested  his  fitness  for 
mayor,  and  he  was  accordingly  nominated  and  elected  to  that  office  in  March, 
1852.  He  was  re-elected  for  two  successive  years  thereafter,  and  again  at  a 
time  of  peculiar  importance  in  municipal  affairs  in  1S64.  A  distinguishing 
mark  of  his  first  year's  administration  will  ever  remain  in  the  trees  which  adorn 
the  parks  and  streets  of  Manchester.  In  July  and  in  October  of  Mayor  Smyth's 
first  year,  the  Whig  party  lost  its  two  great  leaders,  —  Henry  Clay  and  Daniel 
Webster,  — and  the  attention  of  the  citizens  was  called  to  some  fitting  expres- 
sion of  feeling  in  both  cases  by  a  brief  message  from  the  mayor.  His  first 
election  was  by  Whig  votes  over  the  opposition  of  Democrats  and  Free-Soilers  ; 
his  second  by  Whig  and  Free-Soil  votes;  his  third  with  very  little  oppo- 
sition, and  his  fourth  with  virtually  none  at  all.     During  his  second  year  the 

'  F.  B.  Eaton.     * 


1865]  SINXE    TMK    KKlii:i.r,I()N.  64/ 

Amoskeag  Falls  biidgewas  rebuilt,  and  parts  of  Gofl'stown  and  Bedford  were 
annexed  to  the  city.  The  most  honorable  monument,  however,  which  will 
stand  to  his  name  is  the  part  he  took  in  the  foundation  of  a  free  public  library. 
In  1S55  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Metcalf  and  council,  chairman  of 
commissioners  to  locate  and  build  a  House  of  Reformation  for  juvenile  offenders. 
It  was  dedicated  in  iSsS.  In  the  year  1S57  and  1858  Mr.  Smyth  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  legislature,  and  was  also  made  treasurer  of  the  Reform  school. 
In  the  convention  which  nominated  Ichabod  Goodwin,  in  1859,  ^^^  stood  fourth 
on  the  list  of  candidates.  In  i86o  lie  was  president  of  the  State  Republican 
Convention,  and  was  soon  after  appointed  by  Secretary  Chase  one  of  the 
agents  to  obtain  subscriptions  to  the  national  loan.  In  1S61  he  was  appointed 
as  one  of  the  agents  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  the  International 
Exhibition  at  London,  where  Her  Majesty's  commissioners  made  him  a  juror. 
Early  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  was  cashier  and  principal  financial 
manager  of  the  Merrimack  River  Bank,  and  also  of  the  Merrimack  River 
Savings  Bank.  His  faith  in  the  government  led  him  to  invest  largelv  in 
bonds  and  to  accept  the  charter  for  the  bank  of  discount,  which  thenceforth 
became  the  First  National  Bank  of  Manchester.  vVt  that  time  few  men  or 
banks  cared  to  follow  his  example,  but  the  event  justified  his  sagacity. 

1  He  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  over  six  thousand,  the  largest 
majority  given  to  any  governor  for  twenty-four  years.  He 
entered  upon  no  easy  task.  The  State  was  beginning  to  feel 
severely  the  stress  of  the  time.  Gradually  a  great  debt  had 
accumulated.  Regiment  after  regiment  had  been  promptly 
equipped  and  sent  into  the  field,  and  the  banks  had  advanced 
money  quite  to  the  extent  of  their  courage,  and  nearly  to  that  of 
their  ability.  In  the  open  market  were  met  the  gold  bonds  of 
the  government,  free  from  taxes.  The  same  trouble  pulsed 
through  all  the  arteries  of  the  body  politic  ;  and  the  people  of  a 
State  always  careful  and  conservative  in  all  its  expenditures  beheld 
with  something  like  dismay  this  mountain  of  obligation  swollen 
into  millions.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  get  money  for  current 
expenses.  A  previous  legislature  had  authorized  the  issue  of 
three  and  one-half  millions  of  six  per  cent.  State  bonds,  payable 
in  currency,  only  $424,000  of  which  had  been  taken.  Governor 
Smyth,  in  his  first  message,  recommended  the  issue  of  bonds 
better  calculated  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  and  that 
current  expenses  be  provided  for  by  taxation.  As  a  matter  of 
interest  to  capitalists,  he  took  care  to  set  forth  the  resources  of 
the  State,  its  prudent  habit  in  expenditures,  and  the  hostility  to 

*  F.  B.  Eaton. 


648  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1865 

repudiation  in  every  form  which  our  people  had  inherited  from 
a  frugal,  patriotic,  and  God-fearing  ancestry.  "  We  must,  "  he 
said,  "now  observe  the  most  rigid  economy  in  expenditure,  and 
bring  the  expenses  to  a  peace  basis  as  soon  as  possible.  Our 
people  are  naturally  economical,  and  hold  sacred  all  pecuniary 
obligations."  He  compared,  in  a  very  effective  manner,  the 
agricultural  products  of  a  State  which  had  hitherto  borne  the 
reputation  of  producing  only  men,  with  those  of  some  of  the 
more  fertile  members  of  the  Union,  to  our  decided  advantage. 
He  called  to  mind  the  unrivalled  water-power  with  its  present 
and  prospective  improvement,  and  urged  that  attention  to  the 
latent  wealth  of  the  State  which  due  regard  to  our  prosperity 
demanded. 

In  the  first  three  months  of  his  administration  he  raised  over 
one  million  of  dollars  on  favorable  terms,  a  large  amount  of  which 
was  obtained  in  Manchester.  From  that  time  forward  the  financial 
affairs  of  the  State  received  the  most  scrupulous  attention.  In 
the  haste  and  waste  of  war,  unavoidable  confusion  at  times  arose 
in  accounts  between  the  several  States  and  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  it  was  not  only  then  impossible  to  pay  our  debts,  but 
equally  so  to  get  our  dues.  Governor  Smyth's  large  acquaintance 
with  men  gave  him  influence  at  headquarters,  and  he  suffered 
no  opportunity  to  pass  to  advocate  the  claims  of  his  State. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  Governor  Smyth  found  the  suspended 
and  disallowed  accounts  of  the  State  against  the  general  govern- 
ment of  over  one  million  of  dollars.  These  disallowances  and 
suspensions  were  mainly  in  the  expenditures  growing  out  of 
earlier  military  operations  previous  to  his  accession  to  office. 
Governor  Smyth  did  not  busy  himself  to  fix  charges  of  petty 
larceny  against  one  officer,  or  of  wholesale  robbery  against 
others.  He  did  not  assume  that  every  man  who  was  charged 
with  fitting  out  the  first  regiment  sent  from  the  State  had  stolen 
all  that  he  couldn't  duplicate  vouchers  for  on  official  paper.  On 
the  contrary,  he  urged  upon  the  accounting  officers,  at  Wash- 
ington, the  impetuous  zeal  with  which  the  State  had  responded 
to  the  call  of  the  government,  and  represented  the  impossibility 
of   complete  exactness  in  the  accounts.     Under  such    circum- 


1 866]  SINCE    THE    REBELLION.  649 

stances  he  exerted  himself  to  obtain  vouchers  where  his  prede- 
cessor had  omitted  to  secure  them,  and  to  explain  their  absence 
when  they  could  not  be  procured.  In  this  way  he  saved  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  treasury  of  the  State,  and 
put  no  stain  on  its  fair  fame. 

At  the  end  of  his  first  year,  his  nomination  for  a  second  term 
followed  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  he  was  re-elected  in  1866  by 
a  large  majority. 

The  second  year  of  Governor  Smyth's  administration  was  in 
all  respects  as  satisfactory  as  the  first.  The  State  debt  was 
funded  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest  than  was  offered  by  the  gen- 
eral government.  The  revision  of  the  statutes,  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  militia,  measures  looking  to  the  restoration  of  fish  to 
our  waters,  and  the  publication  of  ancient  State  papers,  are 
among  some  of  the  matters  of  general  interest. 

Said  the  Boston  Jonrtial,  on  his  retirement  at  the  close  of  the  second  term  : 
"Governor  Smyth's  administration  has  been  higlily  successful,  not  only  in  a 
financial  point  of  view,  which  is  demonstrated  by  statistics,  but  in  all  other 
respects."  Said  the  Commercial  Bulletin:  "He  has  been  as  vigorous  and 
careful  of  the  interests  of  the  people  as  if  those  concerns  were  personal  to 
himself,  and  successfully  sought  so  to  manage  the  financial  affairs  of  the  State 
that  its  credit  stands  as  well  as  any  other  commonwealth."  Said  the  Dailv 
Monitor:  "To-day  Governor  Smyth  resigns  his  trust  with  the  proud  con- 
sciousness of  leaving  nothing  uncertain  or  unsettled  which  diligence,  busi- 
ness tact,  and  untiring  zeal  could  close  up  and  arrange;  nor  has  Governor 
Smyth's  adininistration  been  inerely  a  financial  success ;  he  has  neglected  no 
single  public  interest;  himself  a  practical  example  of  all  the  virtues  which 
constitute  a  good  citizen,  he  has  interested  himself  in  every  movement  which 
looked  to  the  welfare  ot  the  community  and  the  promotion  of  industrv,  tem- 
perance, and  good  morals  among  the  people." 

It  is  a  significant  fact,  that  in  a  time  of  much  party  feeling  the  governor 
was  able  to  say  in  his  valedictory,  "  Whatever  may  have  been  the  difference 
of  opinion  among  us,  there  has  been  no  factious  opposition  from  anv  source 
to  measures  necessary  for  the  public  good,  but  I  have  been  uniform Iv  receiv- 
ing the  hearty  co-operation  of  all  parties  in  this  difficult  work."  Onlv  once 
during  his  two  years'  administration  did  he  consider  it  necessary  to  interpose 
his  veto,  and  the  House  sustained  him  132  to  6. 

So  successful  was  the  administration  that,  contrary  to  precedent,  manv  of 
the  most  influential  and  respectable  journals  of  the  State  advocated  his  nom- 
ination for  a  third  term.* 

2 While  on  a  visit  to  his  native  State  in    1852,  Mr.  Sylvester 

>F.  B.  Eaton.  ^  c.  C.  Coffin. 


650 


IlISTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[j86G 


Marsh  ascended  Mount  Washington,  accompanied  by  Rev.  A.. 
C.  Thompson,  pastor  of  the  EHot  Church,  Roxbury,  and  while 
struggHng  up  the  steep  ascent,  the  idea  came  to  him  that  a  rail- 
road to  the  summit  was  feasible,  and  that  it  could  be  made  a 
profitable  enterprise.  He  obtained  a  charter  for  such  a  road  in 
1858,  but  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  postponed  action  till  1866, 
when  a  company  was  formed  and  the  enterprise  successfully  in- 
augurated and  completed. 


MOUNT     WASHINGTON     RAILROAD. 


The  subject,  referred  to  by  Governor  Smyth  in  his  message 
to  the  legislature  in  June,  1866,  of  preserving  the  documents- 
and  early  archives  of  the  Province  and  State,  met  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  legislature,  and  led  to  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Bouton,  D.  D.,  as  "editor  and  compiler  of  Provincial 
Records."  Dr.  Bouton  was  at  the  time  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  New  Hampshire  Historical  Society.  This  society  was- 
organized  and  incorporated  in  the  summer  of  1823  by  William 
Plumer,  Levi  Woodbury,  Nathaniel  A.  Haven,  George  Kent, 
Jacob  B.  Moore,  Nathaniel  Adams,  Parker  Noycs,  John  Farmer, 


1867]  SIN'CE    THE    REBELLION.  651 

Ichabod  Bartlett,  Timothy  Upham,  Andrew  Peircc,  Samuel 
Dana  Bell,  Richard  Bartlett,  and  others.  William  Plumer  was- 
the  first  president ;  and  he  was  succeeded  in  office  by  Levi 
Woodbury,  Ichabod  Bartlett,  Salma  Hale,  Matthew  Harvey,. 
Charles  H.  Atherton,  Joel  Parker,  Nathaniel  Bouton,  Nathaniel 
G.  Upham,  Samuel  D.  Bell,  Charles  Burroughs,  Levi  Chamber- 
lain, William  Plumer,  jr.,  Chandler  P^  Potter,  P^dwin  D.  Sanborn, 
Joseph  Dow,  William  H.  Y.  Plackett,  Charles  H.  Bell,  and,  in 
1887,  by  J.  Everett  Sargent.  The  society  published,  in  1824, 
their  first  volume;  in  1866,  their  eighth  volume;  in  1888,  the 
first  volume  of  "Proceedings." 

Dr.  Bouton  ^  resigned  his  pastorate  of  the  North  Church,  in 
Concord,  which  he  had  held  since  1825,  devoted  his  time  and 
energy  to  the  work,  and  edited  ten  volumes  of  "  Provincial  and 
State  Papers."  After  Dr.  Bouton's  death,  the  work  was  carried 
on  by  Isaac  W.  Hammond,  who  in  1888  had  published  six  addi- 
tional volumes. 

In  1867  General  Walter  Harriman  received  and  accepted  the 
nomination  of  the  Republican  party  for  governor,  and  after  a 
most  exciting  campaign,  during  which  he  engaged  in  a  joint 
canvass  with  Hon.  John  G.  Sinclair,  the  Democratic  candidate, 
he  was  elected  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  State,  and  was  re- 
elected in  1 868,  after  another  hard-fought  campaign,  by  a  larger 
vote  than  had  ever  been  cast  for  a  gubernatorial  candidate  up  to 
that  time. 

^Walter  Harriman,  of  old  Massachusetts  colonial  stock,  was  born  in  War- 
ner, in  1S17.  He  was  a  forcible  and  eloquent  orator,  for  some  years  in  early 
manhood  in  the  ministry;  but  afterwards  he  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits, 
and  became  prominent  in  military  and  political  affairs.  He  was  chosen  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  1S49,  ^"'^  again  in  1S50,  from  his  native 
town.  In  1853  he  was  elected  State  treasurer.  In  1S58  he  was  again  elected 
to  the  legislature  by  the  people  of  Warner,  and  was  the  Democratic  candidate 
for  speaker.  In  1859  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  was  re-elected 
the  following  year,  occupying  each  year  a  leading  position  in  that  body. 
P'rom  his  entry  into  political  life  he  had  been  an  active  champion  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  part}-  upon  the  stump,  and  soon  came  to  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  most  effective  campaign  speakers  in  the  State,  so  that  his  services  in  this 

'  Nathaniel  bouiuii  was  born  in  Norwalk,  Conn.,  June  20,  1799;  graduated  at  Vale  College  in 
1821 ;  was  ordained  at  Concord,  March  23,  1825  ;  resigned  March  23,  1867;  died  June  6,  1878. 

2 Rev.  S.  C.  Beane. 


652  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1867 

direction  were  most  eagerly  sought  whenever  political  issues  were  occupying 
the  public  mind. 

In  the  spring  of  1S61  he  became  editor  and  joint  proprietor  of  the  Union 
Democrat  at  Manchester.  Regarding  all  other  political  considerations  as  of 
secondary  moment,  in  the  great  emergency  when  the  perpetuity  of  the  federal 
Union  and  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  were  threatened  by  armed  re- 
bellion, he  unreservedly  sustained,  individually  and  in  his  editorial  capacity, 
the  administration  of  President  Lincoln  in  the  measures  adopted  for  the  pros- 
ecution of  the  war  against  Rebellion,  thereby  taking  issue  with  the  great  ma- 
jority of  his  party,  who,  while  they  believed  in  maintaining  the  Union  invio- 
late, persisted  in  their  right  to  criticize  the  policy  of  the  administration,  and 
to  oppose  such  measures  as  they  believed  inappropriate  to  the  legitimate  end 
in  view.  Hence  he  found  himself  acting  with  those  distinctively  known  as 
''War  Democrats,"  and  continued  to  urge  the  surrender  of  all  partisan  issues, 
in  view  of  the  great  contest  in  which  the  country  was  involved. 

In  August,  1862,  he  was  made  colonel  of  the  Eleventh.  He  led  this  regi- 
ment to  the  field,  and  was  at  its  head  most  of  the  time  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  except  the  four  months,  from  May  to  September,  1864,  when  he  was  an 
inmate  of  Confederate  prisons.  With  some  other  captured  Union  officers,  he 
•was,  for  seven  weeks  of  this  time,  imprisoned  in  that  part  of  Charleston,  S. 
C,  which  was  most  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  Union  guns  from  Morris 
Island,  but  providentially,  though  that  part  of  the  doomed  city  was  destroyed, 
no  harm  came  to  him  from  the  guns  of  his  fellow-loyalists. 

The  first  set  battle  in  which  the  Eleventh  bore  a  part  was  that  of  Fredericks- 
burg, in  December,  1S62,  when,  with  unflinching  courage.  Col.  Harriman  and 
his  men  faced  the  dreadful  carnage  of  that  long  day  before  Marye's  Height, 
less  than  three  months  after  their  arrival  in  the  field.  The  loss  of  the  regi- 
ment in  this  engagement  was  terrific.  The  Eleventh,  under  their  colonel,  at 
the  front,  was  in  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  May  6,  1864,  when  they  made 
a  daring  and  stubborn  onset  on  the  Confederate  intrenchments,  carrying  be- 
fore them  two  successive  lines  of  the  enemy's  works.  But  among  the  five 
thousand  Union  men  that  were  captured  in  that  bloody  engagem.ent,  the  com- 
mander of  the  Eleventh  was  included.  Colonel  Harriman  and  the  survivors 
of  the  charge  were  present  at  the  final  grapple  of  the  war  before  Petersburg, 
and  on  the  3d  day  ot  April,  1S65,  he  led  a  brigade  of  nine  large  regiments,  a 
force  three  times  as  great  as  the  whole  American  army  at  Bunker  Hill,  into 
that  fated  city,  on  the  heels  of  Lee's  fleeing  command.  Colonel  Harriman 
was  appointed  brigadier-general,  U.  S.  V.,  by  brevet,  "for  gallant  conduct 
during  the  war,"  to  date  from  March  13,  1865. 

On  his  arrival  home,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  General  Harriman  was  elected 
to  the  office  of  secretary  of  state,  bv  the  legislature  then  in  session,  and  he  at 
once  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office,  which  he  held  two  years,  and  until 
his  promotion  to  the  gubernatorial  chair. 

He  was  distinguished  as  a  platform  speaker.  His  delivery  was  fine,  his 
logic  clear  as  crystal,  his  manner  easy  and  natural,  and  his  physical  force 
tremendous.     With  a  voice  clear  and  distinct  as  a  trumpet,  of  immense  com- 


1867]  SINCE    THE    REBELLION.  653 

pass,  volume,  and  power,  his  influence  over  an  audience  was  complete.  He 
effected  noticing,  but  proceeded  at  once  to  the  Avork  in  hand,  and  from  the 
very  outset  carried  his  hearers  with  him,  rising,  at  times,  with  the  inspira- 
tion of  his  theme,  to  the  loftiest  flights  of  eloquence. 

During  the  presidential  campaign  of  1S68,  Governor  Harriman  engaged 
actively  in  the  canvass,  making  an  extended  tour  through  the  Middle  and 
Western  States  in  advocacy  of  the  election  of  General  Grant,  the  Republican 
nominee,  by  whom,  upon  his  accession  to  the  presidency  the  following  spring, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  position  of  naval  officer  at  the  port  of  Boston,  which 
■office  he  continued  to  hold  during  the  entire  eight  years  of  General  Grant's 
-administration,  retiring  therefrom  in  1S77.  His  voice  has  been  often  heard  in 
many  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  he  was  widely  known  as  an  able  and 
effective  political  debater. 

General  Harriman  retained  his  home  in  Warner  until  the  spring  of  1872, 
when  he  removed  to  Concord,  where  he  died  July  25,  iSS-j.. 

In  1867  a  State  superintendent  of  public  instruction  was 
appointed.  At  first  he  co-operated  with  a  board  consisting  of  the 
governor  and  Council ;  but  later  he  acted  alone.  His  duties 
were  to  cultivate  an  interest  in  the  public  schools  and  to  raise 
the  standard  of  their  efficiency.  Amos  Hadley  was  the  first  to 
fill  the  office.  Ex-senator  James  W.  Patterson  was  appointed  in 
1880.  The  present  system  took  the  place  of  a  county  system  of 
supervision  called  a  Board  of  Education,  which  had  its  secretary 
and  went  into  effect  in  1851. 

The  first  effort  to  organize  a  State  supervision  of  schools  was 
made  in  1846  by  the  appointment  of  a  commissioner.  The  first 
incumbent  of  the  office  was  Charles  B.  Haddock,  who  made  the 
first  State  report.  In  1885  the  towns,  by  law,  were  made 
school  districts,  and  the  schools  were  placed  under  the  direction 
of  a  board  of  education  consisting  of  three  members  directly 
under  the  government  of  the  town.  In  the  larger  towns  there 
has  been  for  many  years  a  system  of  graded  schools  at  which 
the  children  of  the  State  have  been  afforded  good  educational 
facilities.  The  New  Hampshire  State  Normal  School  was 
established  in  1871,  at  Plymouth,  for  the  education  of  teachers, 
and  is  controlled  by  a  board  of  trustees.  Previously  and  since, 
teachers'  institutes  have  been  maintained  for  the  purpose  of 
improving  methods  of  instruction  in  the  State. 

Besides  Dartmouth  College  and  Phillips  Exeter  Academy 
there  are  seminaries,  schools,  and  academies  scattered  throughout 


654  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^^^7 

the  State.  St.  Paul  school  at  Concord,  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  Henry  A.  Coit,  has  become  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
schools  of  America.  There  is  the  normal  school  at  Plymouth,  the 
Holderness  school  for  boys  ;  the  Colby  academy,  at  New  Lon- 
don ;  the  seminary,  at  Tilton  ;  the  institution,  at  New  Hamp- 
ton (1821);  Appleton  academy  (1789),  at  New  Ipswich;  Pink- 
erton  academy  (18 14),  and  Adams  female  academy  at  Derry  ;  Rob- 
inson female  seminary,  at  Exeter ;  Brackett  academy,  at  Green- 
land ;  Valley  academy,  at  Hillsborough  ;  McGaw  normal  institute^ 
at  Merrimack  ;  classical  institute,  at  Milton  ;  McCollom  institute^ 
Mont  Vernon;  Kimball  union  academy  (18 13),  at  Meriden  ; 
Dearborn  academy,  at  Seabrook ;  Barnard  school,  at  South 
Hampton  ;  and  Austin  academy,  at  Strafford.  There  are  acad- 
emies at  Andover,  Atkinson  (1791),  Boscawen,  Bath,  Canaan,, 
Chester,  Colebrook,  Contoocook,  Penacook,  North  Conway,  Doer- 
ing,  Epping,  Francestown  (1819),  Gilmantown  (1794),  Hampton,. 
Haverhill  (1794),  Henniker,  Hopkinton,  Kingston,  Marlow,  North- 
wood,  Orford,  Pembroke  (18 18),  Pittsfield,  Portsmouth,  (1808)^ 
Sandwich,  Salisbury,  Washington,  and  Wolfeborough.  There 
are  high  schools  at  Bristol,  Charlestown,  Claremont,  Concord^ 
Dover,  Dunbarton,  Farmington,  Exeter,  Franklin,  Freedom, 
Hampstead,  Hancock,  Hinsdale,  Jaffrey,  Keene,  Laconia,  Lake 
Village,  Lancaster,  Lebanon,  Littleton,  Manchester,  Marlbor- 
ough, Milford,  Nashua,  Newport,  Petersborough,  Portsmouth, 
Raymond,  Rochester,  Rollinsford,  Great  Falls,  Troy,  Walpole, 
Warren,  Weare,  and  Winchester. 

The  State  industrial  school,  situated  on  the  farm  of  General 
John  Stark,  was  chartered  in  1855,  and  opened  in  1858. 

Col.  John  B.  Clarke,  of  Manchester,  was  elected  State  printer 
in  1867.  He  was  re-elected  in  1868,  1869,  1877,  1878,1879,  1885^ 
and  1887.  John  Badger  Clarke,  son  of  Greanleaf  and  Julia 
(Cogswell)  Clarke,  was  born  in  Atkinson,  January  30,  1820; 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1843  ;  studied  law  ;  and  in 
1852  became  proprietor  of  the  Mirror  and  American,  and  the 
Mirror  and  Farmer.  His  life's  work  has  been  the  building  of 
these  great  newspapers  from  a  small  beginning  to  a  most  influ- 
ential place  among  New  England  journals.     In  1888  the  Mirrof 


^y^ty  A-KFJiohii 


y:  ^      C      7^ 


l868]  SINCE    THE    KEHELLION.  6$^ 

was  welcomed  in  about  thirty  thousand  households,  its  influence 
felt  far  beyond  the  frontiers  of  the  State.  Under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  "genial,  liberal,  enterprising,  and  able"  editor,  the 
Mirror  has  become  a  power.  Colonel  Clarke  has  been  aided  in 
his  editorial  work  by  James  O.  Adams  and  Henry  M.  Putney. 
It  has  always  represented  the  most  aggressive  Republican  ideas. 
Its  Democratic  rival  in  Manchester  is  the  Union^  established  in 
1851,  the  daily  edition  of  which  reaches  nearly  fourteen  thousand, 
while  of  the  Weekly  Union  seventeen  thousand  are  issued.  The 
success  of  the  Union  has  also  largely  been  due  to  the  efforts  of 
one  man,  Hon.  Joseph  C.  Moore,  M.  D.  Joseph  Clifford  Moore, 
son  of  Dr.  F.  and  Frances  F.  Moore,  was  born  in  I.oudon,  August 
23,  1845;  received  a  common-school  education;  attended  the 
New  York  Medical  College  ;  and  commenced  to  practise  with  his 
father  af  Lake  Village,  in  1866.  In  1879  he  became  interested 
in  building  up  the  Union,  andsplendidly  succeeded,  soon  making 
it  a  widely  read  and  influential  morning  newspaper.  In  1884 
Dartmouth  College  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  A.  M. 
He  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  organizing  the  popular  New 
Hampshire  Club,  and  served  as  its  president. 

A  State  news  department,  arranged  by  counties,  was  first 
started  in  the  People,  at  Concord,  in  1868,  by  Henry  H.  Metcalf. 
In  1877  he  started  the  Granite  UTont/ily,  at  Dover  ;  and  in  1879 
issued  it  at  Concord.  From  the  burden  of  his  editorial  work  he 
was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  interest  in  the  magazine  to  John  N. 
McClintock,  who  afterwards  carried  it  on,  until,  in  1888  eleven 
volumes  had  been  published,  devoted  chiefly  to  historical  and 
biographical  matters. 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  seven  publications  issued  in  New 
Hampshire,  the  Gazette  of  Portsmouth  was  established  in  1756, 
iht  Journal  in  1793  ;  the  Cheshire  Republican  in  1793  ;  the  Se7i- 
tinel  in  1799,  both  of  Keene  ;  the  Amherst  Cabinet  in  1802  ;  the 
People  and  Patriot  in  1809,  the  Statesman  in  1823,  both  of  Con- 
cord ;  the  Argus  and  Spectator,  of  Newport,  in  1823  ;  the  Dover 
Enquirer  ^iXiA  Nashua  Gazette  in  iSzy  ;  the  Exeter  News  Letter 
in  1 83 1  ;  "CviQ.  Nashua  Telegraph  in  1832.  The  ]\[anchester  Union 
and  the  People  and  Patriot  claim  to  be  the  leading  Democratic 


656  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [iS/O 

journals.  The  two  leading  Republican  papers  are  the  Statesman 
and  the  MancJiester  Mirror  and  American. 

In  the  Republican  State  convention  of  1869  no  name  but 
that  of  Onslow  Stearns  was  presented  for  the  gubernatorial  nom- 
ination, which  was  conferred  upon  him  by  acclamation,  a  cir- 
cumstance of  rare  occurrence  in  the  case  of  a  first  nomination. 
He  was  elected,  by  a  decided  majority  over  Gen.  John  Bedel, 
the  Democratic  candidate,  and  was  renominated  the  following 
year.  He  sent  a  letter  to  the  convention,  declining  the  renom- 
ination,  on  account  of  the  state  of  his  health  and  the  pressure  of 
business  cares,  but  the  convention  refused  to  accept  the  decli- 
nation, and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  wait  upon  him  and 
urge  its  withdrawal,  which  was  finally  successful  in  its  efforts. 
His  re-election  followed,  and  foi*  another  year  he  devoted  no 
small  share  of  his  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  State,  not. 
withstanding  the  varied  demands  of  the  extensive  corporate 
interests  under  his  management.  To  the  financial  affairs  of  the 
State  his  care  was  especially  directed,  and  during  his  administra- 
tion the  State  debt  was  reduced  nearly  one-third,  while  the  State 
tax  was  also  reduced  in  still  greater  proportion.  He  also  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  management  of  the  State  Prison,  and  was 
instrumental  in  effecting  great  changes  therein,  securing  more 
thorough  discipline  and  putting  the  institution  upon  a  paying 
basis,  whereas  it  had  long  been  run  at  a  pecuniary  loss  to  the 
State. 

In  the  discharge  of  all  his  public  duties,  Mr.  Stearns  always 
sought  to  treat  the  matter  in  hand  in  a  thoroughly  practical  and 
business-like  manner,  exercising  the  same  judgment  and  dis- 
crimination as  in  the  management  of  his  private  and  business 
affairs.  Although  firmly  attached  to  his  party,  he  was  less  a 
partisan  in  the  exercise  of  his  official  functions  than  many  of 
his*  predecessors  had  been,  and  was  the  first  Republican  gover- 
nor of  New  Hampshire  to  nominate  a  Democrat  to  a  position 
upon  the  supreme  bench,  which  he  did  in  1870,  when  Hon- 
Wm.  S.  Ladd  of  Lancaster  was  made  an  associate  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  re- 
tirement of  Judge  George  W.  Nesmith. 


Cy~^'^^X^*-^iJ'--<LCc^a2^t^,^^^ 


■  CCny^^A^ 


'^/mTctu^^^ 


iS/l]  SINCE    THE    REBELLION.  65/ 

Governor  Stearns  was  born  in  Billerica,  August  10,  1810;  settled  in  Con- 
cord in  1845,  where  he  was  largely  interested  in  the  railroad  enterprises  of 
New  England;  and  died  December  29,  1S7S. 

He  was  a  public  spirited  and  generous  man,  contributing  liberally  to  all 
that  was  calculated  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  adopted  city. 

The  long  and  arduous  labor  of  his  life  was  not  without  its  substantial  re- 
ward, and  he  became  the  possessor  of  an  ample  fortune,  enabling  him  to 
dispense  a  liberal  hospitality.  Among  the  many  distinguished  persons  enter- 
tained in  his  elegant  mansion  were  two  incumbents  of  the  chief  magistracy 
of  the  United  States  —  General  Grant  and  Mr.  Hayes,  each  of  whom  became 
his  guest  when  visiting  Concord. 

Ill  1 87 1  James  A.  Weston  was  chosen  governor. 

'James  Adams  Weston  was  born  in  Manchester,  August  27,  1827,  and  was 
descended  from  John  Weston,  one  of  the  founders  of  Weymouth,  Massachu- 
setts, and  James  Wilson,  one  of  the  Londonderry  colonists. 

As  a  civil  engineer,  he  occupies  a  place  in  the  front  rank  in  his  profession 
in  New  England  ;  and  his  services  have  been  in  demand  far  beyond  his  ability 
to  respond,  in  making  surveys  for  proposed  railways  and  water-works. 

In  his  political  convictions  and  associations,  Mr.  Weston  has  been  a  Dem- 
ocrat from  youth. 

A  devoted  supporter  of  the  principles  and  policy  of  his  party,  he  has  won 
and  held  the  personal  respect  of  both  friends  and  opponents  in  political 
affairs;  so  that,  when  a  candidate  for  public  oiKce,  he  has  never  failed  of 
strong  popular  support,  measurably  exceeding  that  of  his  party  strength 
alone.  In  1861  he  was  persuaded  to  accept  the  Democratic  nomination  for 
mayor  of  Manchester. 

Again,  in  1867,  Mr.  Weston  was  pressed  into  service  by  his  party  associates 
in  the  city,  as  a  mayoralty  candidate  against  Hon.  Joseph  B.  Clark,  then 
mayor,  and  Republican  candidate  for  re-election.  This  canvass  resulted  in 
his  election. 

At  the  next  election  the  Republicans  made  a  strong  and  determined  effort 
to  regain  their  ascendency  in  the  city  ;  the  returns  gave  Mayor  Weston  a 
majority  of  seven  votes  over  his  Republican  opponent,  Hon.  Isaac  W.  Smith. 
The  "  revising"  process  was  resorted  to,  however,  and  the  latter  declared 
elected  by  twenty-three  majority.  In  1S69  Mr.  Weston  defeated  Mayor  Smith 
by  a  good  majority,  and  was  re-elected  the  following  year. 

Mayor  Weston's  remarkable  success  as  the  standard-bearer  of  his  party  in 
the  city  of  Manchester,  and  the  increased  popularity  he  had  secured  by  wise 
and  efficient  administration  of  municipal  affairs  in  that  large  and  prosperous 
community,  suggested  him  to  the  Democracy  of  the  State  at  large  as  a  most 
fit  and  available  candidate  for  the  gubernatorial  nomination  ;  and  at  the  State 
convention,  in  January,  1S71,  he  was  made  the  nominee  of  the  party  for  gov- 
ernor. 

The  election  resulted  in  no  choice  of  governor  by  the  people, 

«H.  H.  Metcalf. 


658  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1871 

though  Mr.  Weston  received  a  decided  plurality  of  the  votes 
cast,  and  was  chosen  governor  by  the  legislature  in  June  follow- 
ing,—  the  Republicans  thus  losing  control  of  the  State  govern- 
ment for  the  first  time  since  their  advent  to  power  in  1855. 
Determined  to  retrieve  their  fallen  fortunes,  the  Republican 
leaders,  in  1872,  brought  to  the  front,  as  their  standard-bearer  and 
gubernatorial  nominee,  Hon.  Ezekiel  A.  Straw,  agent  of  the 
Amoskeag  Manufacturing  Company,  a  man  of  great  resources 
and  unparalleled  influence  in  manufacturing  circles,  not  only  in 
Manchester,  but  throughout  the  State.  His  defeat  of  Governor 
Weston  in  the  following  canvass  was  a  matter  of  no  surprise  to 
either  party  ;  and  his  re-election  the  subsequent  year  naturally 
resulted.  The  Democracy,  however,  insisted  on  continuing  Mr. 
Weston  as  their  candidate  ;  and  in  1874  he  secured  a  handsome 
plurality,  and  was  again  elected  governor  by  the  legislature.  In 
December  previous  he  had  received  the  unusual  distinction  of  a 
fourth  election  as  mayor  of  the  city,  being  chosen  by  a  majority 
much  larger  than  he  had  ever  before  received,  reaching  some  six 
hundred  votes.  Although  there  was  great  partisan  excitement 
in  the  State  during  Mr.  Weston's  second  administration,  his 
official  integrity  and  thorough  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the 
State  were  conceded  even  by  his  most  determined  political  oppo- 
nents; and  no  man  holds  in  fuller  measure  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  the  people,  regardless  of  party,  than  does  James  A. 
Weston,  the  only  living  Democrat  who  ever  occupied  that 
position. 

Other  men  in  New  Hampshire  have  attained  greater  wealth  and  more 
varied  public  honors ;  but  when  all  the  elements  of  substantial  success  are 
considered,  there  are  none,  certainly,  who  outrank  James  A.  Weston.  Cau- 
tious, sagacious,  and  methodical;  with  a  well-balanced  mind,  and  executive 
ability  of  a  high  order;  scrupulously  exact  in  the  performance  of  every  duty 
and  the  discharge  of  every  trust,  public  or  private ;  uniformly  courteous  in 
his  intercourse  with  others,  and  mindful  of  every  obligation  to  society  and 
humanity, —  the  ample  measure  of  success  he  has  attained,  and  the  general 
esteem  in  which  he  is  held,  are  but  the  legitimate  outcome  of  his  life  and 
conduct.' 

Bishop  Baker  died  in  Concord,  December  20,  1871.  Right 
Rev.   Osmand    Cleander  Baker,  son  of  Dr.   Isaac  and  Abigail 

'  H.  H.  Metcalf. 


1872]  SINCE    THE    REllELLION.  659 

(Kidder)  Baker,  was  born  in  Marlow,  July  30,  18 12.  Entered 
Middletown  University  in  1830,  and  left  at  the  end  of  his  junior 
year  on  account  of  sickness.  He  was  consecrated  bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  1852. 

In  1872,  the  Republican  party,  after  the  defeat  of  the  previous 
year,  selected  as  their  standard  bearer  Hon.  Ezekiel  A.  Straw, 
of  Manchester,  the  agent  of  the  Amoskeag  corporation,  and 
elected  him. 

Governor  Straw  was  born  in  December,  1S19,  in  Salisbury;  was  educated 
at  the  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  and  became  a  civil  engineer.  He  received 
employment  in  July,  1S3S,  from  the  Amoskeag  company,  and  continued  in 
their  employ  until  his  death.  He  was  in  the  company's  service  as  engineer 
for  thirteen  years.  In  1S51  Mr.  Straw  was  appointed  to  the  position  of  agent 
of  the  land  and  water-power  department  of  the  company.  Five  years  later 
the  machine  shops  were  also  put  in  his  charge,  and  in  1S5S  the  mills  were 
added;  so  that  he  became  the  active  manager  of  the  entire  business  of  the 
company.  He  was  representative  from  1859  to  1863  inclusive,  and  served 
efficiently  for  the  last  three  years  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance, 
at  that  time  — the  war  period  —  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  legislative 
committees.     In  1S64  he  was  chosen  a  senator. 

In  the  office  of  chief  magistrate  of  the  State,  which  he  filled 
for  two  years,  being  re-elected  in  1873,  Mr.  Straw  maintained  his 
independence  of  character,  and  acted  throughout  as  his  own 
judgment  dictated,  looking  only  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
people  as  viewed  from  his  standpoint.  No  governor  ever  brought 
to  the  position  a  higher  degree  of  executive  ability  and  practical 
knowledge  of  affairs,  or  was  more  universally  governed  in  the 
performance  of  his  duties  by  his  own  convictions  of  right.  After 
he  retired  from  the  office  of  governor,  Mr.  Straw  was  not  engaged 
in  public  service  until  his  death. 

Asa  Fowler  was  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
1872. 

Asa  Fowler  was  born  in  Pembroke,  February  23,  1811  ; 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1833  ;  studied  law,  and  settled 
in  Concord.  In  1855  he  was  nominated  by  the  Independent 
Democrats,  or  Free-Soilers,  as  their  candidate  for  governor,  and 
the  same  year  he  accepted  the  position  of  associate  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  He  resigned  in  1861.  He  died  April 
26,  1885. 


66o  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l^/S 

Judge  Fowler  was  one  of  the  most  diligent,  laborious,  and 
successful  lawyers  in  the  State,  and  for  many  years  he  had  the 
largest  practice.  At  different  times  he  was  associated  with 
Franklin  Pierce,  John  Y.  Mugridge,  and  William  E.  Chandler. 
He  drafted  more  bills  for  the  legislature  than  any  other  man. 

The  beautiful  Fowler  Library,  presented  in  1888  as  a  gift  to- 
the  city  of  Concord  by  his  children,  may  be  considered  a  monu- 
ment to  his  memory. 

In  March,  1873,  upon  the  death  of  Chief  Justice  Bellows,. 
Judge  J.  Everett  Sargent  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the 
State,  which  place  he  held  until  August,  1874,  when  the  court 
was  overturned.  Chief  Justice  Sargent,  at  the  time  of  his  ap- 
pointment as  chief  justice,  had  become  the  oldest  judge  upon 
the  bench,  both  in  age  and  date  of  commission,  so  frequent  had 
been  the  changes  in  its  members  since  his  appointment  to  that 
bench,  less  than  fourteen  years  before. 

Jonathan  Everett  Sargent  was  born  at  New  London,  October  23,  1816.  He 
lived  at  home,  working  upon  the  farm  until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age. 

He  studied  at  Hopkinton  and  Kimball  Union  academies.  Entered  Dart- 
mouth College  and  graduated  in  1S40.  He  studied  law  with  Hon.  W.  P. 
Weeks,  of  Canaan,  and  on  a  visit  to  Washington  was  admitted  to  the  bar  ire 
1842. 

After  returning  home,  he  continued  his  legal  studies  with  Mr.  Weeks  until 
the  July  law  term,  in  Sullivan  county,  in  1843,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  He  then  went  into  company  with  Mr  Weeks  at  Canaan,  where  he  re- 
mained till  1S47,  when  he  removed  to  Wentworth  and  opened  an  office  there. 
He  had  been  appointed  solicitor  for  Grafton  county  in  November,  1844, 
while  at  Canaan,  and  he  at  once  commenced  a  lucrative  business  at  Went- 
worth; was  reappointed  solicitor  in  1849  ^°^  ^^^  years  more,  thus  holding 
the  office  for  ten  years,  to  1854,  performing  the  duties  to  the  entire  acceptance 
of  the  county  and  the  people.     He  declined  a  reappointment. 

In  185 1  he  was  first  elected  a  member  of  the  legislature  from  Wentworth 
and  served  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  incorporations.  The  next  year 
he  was  re-elected,  and  was  made  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee,  and  in 
1853  he  was  again  a  member,  and  was  nominated  with  great  unanimity  and 
elected  as  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  served  with  ability 
and  impartiality  and  to  the  general  acceptance  of  all  parties. 

The  next  winter  a  new  man  was  to  be  selected  as  a  candidate  for  senator  in 
his  district,  and  at  the  convention  he  was  nominated  with  great  unanimity, 
and  was  elected  in  March,  in  a  close  district,  by  about  three  hundred  major- 
ity. When  the  Senate  met  in  June,  there  was  some  discussion  as  to  a  candi- 
date for  president,  but  at  the  caucus  he  was  nominated  upon  the  first  ballot. 


En.^  ^-liyARFcLtciVJ. 


L^Av^a/^^-XjL-<^   iyvTl  Ui 


UUt-T^ 


1873] 


sinCf.  the  reci 


and  was  du'y  elected  ns  president  ofthe  Sena; 

in  the  spring  of  1855.  ^"^  ^^'^-  K.n6w-Nothi 

everything  before  it,  and  he  m'hs  defeaf  -d,  \' 

cratic  nominees  in  the  State.     On  the  2.i  d.is  cl  .\,'.   i   , 

cult  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  IMeas  hor  the  Sl.«ti 


6€,i 

was, renominated 

:iat   year  carried 

iie  other  Demo- 

.'  as  appointed  ;•  cir- 

But  in  June  of  that 


year,  the  ohl  cnirts  were 
Avas  making  ijis  arrangeir.' 
received  .•  ivqntst  from  Govt' 
place  on  ihc  bench  of  the  new  ^ 


ind  new  ones  organizi'd.     JuJge  Sargent 

■■"'o  pr:ictico  again  at  the  bar  when   he 

■  f  that  he  would  accept  th^   »c«  ond 

:   v.'oinmwn  P\eas.      Ti  i^   •?■'•       ...s.  ;n-. 


cepted   and  Juc'ge  Sargent  wa«  uppointed  a*  ^n  aMocVte  juii 
of  Common  Pleas.  \ 

After  tl'.e  repeal  ofthe  Missouri  comproniJKe  and  the  p^n&ita;, 
Nebraska  Act  in  1854,  the  great  question  between  the  p< '' 
eral  years,  during  the  contests  in  Kansas  that  fallow f  I 
slavery  should  be  allowed  in  the  Territories,  or  v.het+io 
In  the  mind  of  Judge  Sargent  thei  e  could  be  but  one  an.-^ 
and  in  acting  according  to  his  convictions  of  right  in  th  '■ 
compc  He'    o  ^.■)po«e  the  party  with  which  he  hud  hitherto  a 
ryjntr  ivictions  consistently  he  could  do  no  othn' 

wi  ■  ^an  party. 

ige  of  the  new  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  t 
i3-,y,  wi.c      .V  .1  Matute  of  that  jea'r.  that  court  was  abolish 
preme  Judicial  Court  was  to  do  th'"  work  of  that  court  (n  ado 
and  one  new  judge  was  to  he  added  to  that  court,  m.ikirg  th. 
preme  Court  judges  six  instead  of  five,  as  before.     Jud-^i;  Sfn 
appointed  to  that  place  on  the  supreme  bench.     He  wa 
member  nf  the  court  in  age,  as  well   .ts  in  the  dote  of    . 
remained  upon  the  bench  of  that  ci  urt  Just  firtet'n  yHn 
He  was  distinguished  to'  his    laborious   industry,  his  i 
ability.     His  written   opinions  are  contained  in  the  siv, 
New  H;-»^--- '      -  l-     ■■"  •-     from  the  39th  t6    t^  ■       "'■ 
about  Many  of  these  an- 

subjC-  '■        irningand  research, 

h.  s  r  ru.  devoting  his  attention  :i! 

1  'ies.     }Ie  succeeded  Hoi! . 

i  e  Historical  Society  in  ii- 

Charles  fl.  liurns,"  v>f  Wilton,  * 
yers  a;.>.  one  «>f  the  most  eloquent  ora 
was  elected  to  the  State    .Senate.     C 
Charles  A.  and  L^lizabeth  (Hutchinsom 
o;        hn  Burns,  the  pioneer  S 
Mili'ir-i  in  1 746,  was  b' •  ■    '" 
ceive-i 


high-schc*!  ( 
graduated  at  the  Marviir. 


ablest  la.w- 

Hampshire, 

I;  'S,  son  of 

scend?tril 


O   W 


i«5«,  y 


^2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [iS/S 

after  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  settled  in  Wilton,  although  his 
business  grew  to  require  an  office  at  Nashua.  In  1876  he  was 
appointed  county  solicitor  of  Hillsborough  county,  and  served 
seven  years.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  Senate  in  1879.  In  1881 
he  was  appointed  United  States  district  attorney  for  New 
Hampshire  and  re-appointed  in  1885.  In  1883  his  many  friends 
•desired  to  elect  him  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

During  Governor  James  A.  Weston's  second  term  in  office,  in 
1874,  he  was  supported  by  a  Democratic  majority  in  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives.  There  was  a  complete  overturn 
in  all  State  offices. 

^  In  1875,  under  peculiar  circumstances,  Person  C.  Cheney  be- 
came the  Republican  candidate  for  governor.  In  1874  the  Re- 
publicans had  lost  the  State  for  causes  which  it  would  not  be 
useful  to  recite ;  and  the  Democrats,  having  control  of  every 
branch  of  legislation,  had  used  their  power  to  fortify  themselves 
in  the  possession  of  the  State  government,  by  making  new  ward 
divisions  in  the  city  of  Manchester,  and  redistricting  for  coun- 
cillors and  senators,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  put  their  adversaries 
at  great  disadvantage,  and  render  it  almost  impossible  to  recover 
the  State.  Under  such  circumstances  it  became  absolutely 
necessary  for  them  to  place  at  the  head  of  the  ticket  a  name  of 
the  greatest  personal  popularity.  Such  were  the  prestige  of  Mr. 
Cheney,  gained  by  his  successful  administration  as  mayor  of 
Manchester,  his  personal  magnetism  among  those  who  knew 
him,  and  his  well-known  energy  as  a  canvasser,  that,  unexpect- 
■edly  to  himself,  he  was  selected  as  the  standard  bearer  of  his 
party,  and  the  result  proved  how  wisely.  The  hottest  campaign 
ever  known  in  a  State  proverbial  for  the  violence  of  its  political 
contests  ensued,  and  there  was  no  choice  of  governor  by  the 
people ;  but  Mr,  Cheney  had  a  plurality  of  the  votes  cast,  al- 
though Judge  Roberts,  his  competitor,  received  the  heaviest 
vote  his  party  had  ever  polled  in  New  Hampshire.  The  Repub- 
licans secured  a  majority  in  the  legislature,  which  elected  Mr, 
Cheney  governor.  In  1876  Governor  Cheney  was  again  a  can- 
didate, and  after  a  canvass  which  exceeded  in  intensity  even  that 

»  Daniel  Hall. 


waaum 


K^  -..-. 


1876]  SINCE    THE    KEHEI.LION.  66^ 

of  1875,  he  was  rc-elcctcd  by  ^  flatterin;^;  majorit)-  of  the  popuhir 
vote,  which  was  heavier  than  had  ever  before  been  cast  in  New 
Hampshire.  Mr.  Cheney  brought  to  the  of^ce  of  governor  a 
patriotic  love  for  the  State  and  soHcitude  for  her  good  name,  a 
clear  insight,  great  executive  ability,  thorough  business  habits, 
and  personal  dignity,  urbanity,  and  tact  of  a  high  order.  These 
qualities,  combined  with  his  undoubted  integrity  and  earnest- 
ness of  purpose,  enabled  him  to  give  the  State  a  most  prudent 
and  successful  administration  of  its  affairs.  The  retrenchment 
of  expenses,  so  much  needed  in  a  period  of  financial  depression 
following  years  of  sharp  distress,  was  kept  steadily  in  view,  and 
a  thorougii  business  system  inaugurated  in  all  branches  of  the 
government  ;  the  affairs  of  the  adjutant-general's  office  were  re- 
deemed from  years  of  neglect  and  confusion  ;  the  State  debt  was 
materially  reduced ;  at  his  suggestion  a  law  was  passed  requiring 
vouchers  to  be  filed  for  all  disbursements  from  the  governor's 
contingent  fund;  and  the  finances  of  the  State  were  left  in  all 
respects  upon  a  sound  and  stable  basis.  The  prominent  part  of 
New  Hampshire  in  the  Centennial  Exposition  was  due  largely 
to  his  foresight,  his  faith  in  its  benefits,  and  his  untiring  efforts 
in  its  behalf.  None  who  participated  in  them  will  ever  forget 
the  brilliant  success  of  "New  Hampshire  Day"  at  Philadelphia, 
or  the  reception  of  Governor  and  Mrs.  Cheney,  during  his  term 
of  office,  to  the  members  of  the  legislature  and  the  citizens  of 
the  State,  at  White's  Opera  House,  which  was  a  memorable 
social  event. 

Governor  Cheney  retired  from  office  with  the  universal  respect 
and  esteem  of  men  of  all  parties,  and  has  since  devoted  himself 
closely  to  business. 

Person  C  Cheney  was  born  in  that  part  of  Holderness  which  is  now  Ash- 
land, February  25,  1828.  The  square,  old-fashioned  New  England  house, 
where  the  family  resided,  is  still  to  be  seen.  It  stands  in  the  picturesque 
village  of  Ashland,  overlooking  the  valley  below,  and  commanding  a  view  of 
lofty  hills  and  beautiful  scenery.  Mis  boyhood  and  early  manhood  were 
passed  at  Peterborough. 

Mr.  Cheney  took  an  early  interest  in  politics,  and  represented  the  town  of 
Peterborough  in  the  legislature  in  1853  and  1S54.  He  entered  ardently  into 
the  memnrable  events  of  iSfJo  and  i86i.  and  zealously  aided  and  promoted  the 
preparation  of  the  State  for  the  great  struggle  to  maintain  the  Union.      In  due 


664  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^^7^ 

time  he  offered  his  personal  services,  and  in  August,  1S62,  was  appointed 
quartermaster  of  the  Thirteenth  regiment,  and  proceeded  with  the  regiment 
to  the  seat  of  war.  Joining  the  annj  of  tlie  Potomac,  he  rendered  faithful 
service  to  the  regiment  and  the  country,  until  exposure  and  overwork  in  the 
campaign  before  Fredericksburg  brought  on  a  long  and  dangerous  sickness. 
Barely  escaping  with  his  life,  he  was  compelled  to  resign  and  return  home. 
He  received  an  honorable  discharge  in  August,  1863.  In  1864  he  was  chosen 
railroad  commissioner  for  New  Hampshire.  In  1S66  Mr.  Cheney  removed  to 
Manchester. 

Mr.  Cheney,  upon  becoming  a  resident  of  Manchester,  became  at  once 
thoroughly  and  prominently  identified  with  the  development  and  prosperity 
of  that  rapidly  growing  city;  and  very  soon  his  business  capacity  and  in- 
tegrity, his  liberal  spirit  and  engaging  manners,  attracted  attention  to  him  as 
a  man  not  only  highly  fitted  for  public  honors,  but  as  pre-eminently  capable 
of  commanding  them  at  the  hands  of  the  people.  He  was  brought  forward 
as  a  candidate  for  mayor  of  Manchester  in  1S71,  and  elected  by  a  larger  ma- 
jority than  any  candidate  had  received  since  1863.  He  performed  the  duties 
intelligently  and  to  general  acceptance,  but  declined  a  re-election.  Mr. 
Cheney  for  many  years  has  been  extensively  interested  in  rrianufacturing  en- 
terprises and  in  banking. 

During  Governor  Currier's  administration,  a  vacancy  occurring  in  the 
United  States  Senate  by  the  death  of  Hon.  Austin  F.  Pike,  Mr.  Cheney  was 
appointed  by  the  governor  to  act  as  senator  until  the  meeting  of  the  legisla- 
ture the  following  June,  which  position  he  accepted  and  filled,  but  declined 
to  be  a  candidate  for  an  election  by  that  body. 

'  A  brave,  true,  and  honest  man,  a  sincere  and  warm-hearted  friend,  of 
positive  convictions,  of  unflinching  devotion  to  principle,  and  fitted  for  any 
station;  his  useful  service,  his  honorable  and  upright  character,  and  his  high 
and  unselfish  aims,  have  made  him  a  power  in  the  State. 

Having  considered  Exeter  in  1776,  a  glance  at  the  town  a  cen- 
tury later  maybe  of  interest.  It  chief  object  of  interest  at  the 
latter  date  is  Phillips  E.xeter  Academy. 

2  This  venerable  institution  is  one  of  the  oldest  nurseries  of 
classical  education  in  America.  It  was  founded  in  1783  by  Dr. 
John  Phillips,  a  merchant  of  Exeter,  in  the  days  when  that  town 
was  a  business  centre  and  the  shipment  of  heavy  goods  was  by 
water,  in  vessels  of  afew  hundred  tons  burden.  Dr.  Phillips  hav- 
ing amassed  a  considerable  fortune,  seems  to  have  determined  on 
the  perpetuation  of  the  family  name,  not  especially  to  satisfy 
family  pride,  but  to  confer  a  lasting  blessing  on  a  posterity  ever 
ready  to  acknowledge  its  obligations  to  the  world's  benefactors. 

Exeter  of   1888  only  contains  double  the   number  of  inhabi- 

'  Daniel  Hall.  ^  h.  H.  Metcalf. 


1876]  SINCE    THE    REBELLION.  665 

tants  it  did  in  1776.     Yet  its  natural  beauty  remains  almost  un- 


disturbed.    The  Squamscott  river  is  as  placid  and  the  falls  above 
it  awaken  scarcclv  a  new  echo,  while  many  of  those  incident  to 


666  IIISTOKV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [l^76 

shipping  died  along  its  banks  forty  or  fifty  years  since.  A  cot- 
ton-mill by  the  river  side  and  a  machine-shop  and  foundry  nccir 
the  depot,  are  the  principal  manufactories,  and  occupy  the 
place  of  corn-mills,  saw-mills,  and  a  few  tanneries.  The  latter, 
in  active  operation,  with  shipping,  ship-building,  and  country 
trade,  were  the  foundation  of  prosperity  and  wealth  one  hundred 
years  ago.  It  was  the  fortune  of  Dr.  Phillips  to  endow  an  in- 
stitution more  lasting  than  all  of  these,  and  the  fortune  of  pos- 
terity to  reap  the  manifold  results  of  such  a  beneficent  endow- 
ment. It  appears  by  the  catalogue  of  1783  that  56  students 
attended,  and  of  these,  38  belonged  to  Exeter.  As  early  as 
1785  there  was  one  student  from  the  West  Indies.  Before  the 
year  1800  a  dozen  had  attended  from  the  West  Indies  ;  and 
other  States  besides  New  Hampshire  were  well  represented. 
The  number  attending  to  April,  1869,  was  3855.  This  number 
must  have  increased  to  nearly  five  thousand. 

The  list  of  principals  is  wonderfully  short.  Only  four  names 
appear.  Dr.  Benjamin  Abbott,  Dr.  Gideon  L.  Soule,  Albert  C. 
Perkins,  and  W.  Q.  Scott.  The  labors  of  Dr.  Abbott  and  Dr. 
Soule  cover  more  than  three-fourths  of  a  century  of  indefatiga- 
ble toil  and  unremitting  aid  to  those  climbing  the  hill  of  science. 
Dr.  Abbott  was  principal  of  the  academy  from  1788  to  1838, 
— just  half  a  century.  Dr.  Soule,  having  been  already  associated 
with  Dr.  Abbott  for  about  seventeen  years,  was  elected  princi- 
pal in  1838,  and  held  the  position  until  1873.  The  success,  the 
fame,  and  the  lasting  reputation  of  the  school  is  largely  attribu- 
table to  the  efforts  of  these  venerable  instructors. 

Among  the  pupils  of  Exeter  were  Lewis  Cass,  Daniel  Web- 
ster, Leverett  Saltonstall,  Joseph  G.  Coggswell,  Edward  Everett, 
John  A.  Dix,  John  G.  Palfrey,  Jared  Sparks,  George  Bancroft, 
and  others  eminent  in  learning  and  statesmanship. 

The  academy  building  being  destroyed  by  fire  in  December, 
1870,  donations  for  the  new  building  delicately  and  modestly 
dropped  into  the  trustee's  hands  from  members  of  the  alumni, 
until  (with  contributions  from  other  beneficent  sources)  the  sum 
swelled  to  jS5O,O0O,  or  enough  to  complete  the  new  academy 
buildincr. 


^DM^c^LA/U,Cyfpti^X^^ 


m 


^m; 


1^76] 


SINCr.   THE   REBELT-ION 


The  academy  building  destroyed  -n  1870  was  er«\ 
with  the  exception  Af  the  "wings, '  which  were  afterwa 

In   1S76  a  constitutional  convention  was  held   at    <.  01 
As  a  result  of    lis   deliberations,  the   religious  qualificatit   . 
office-holders    vvas    removed ;    biennial   elections   were   decideii 
upon  ;  but  the  work  was  so  pooiiy  done  that  another  convention 
was;  soon  demanded. 

':  1876,  Deccmb.-T  8,  there  died  in  Dover  Daniel  M.  Christie^ 
who  for  ha^f  a  century  >ms  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  New 
Hampshire  bar  Daniel  Miltimore  Christie  wvs  of  Scotch 
Irish  stock.  He  was  born  in  Antrim,  Octo!)er  15,  1790;  grad 
Mated  at  Dartmouth  College,  in  181 5,  at  th<;  head  of  his  class  ; 
lead  law  In  Peterborough  ;  and  settled  at  first  in  York,  Maine. 
In  1823  he  moved  to  Dorer.  He  was  first  elected  tr»  the  Icl.- 
islature  in    1S26  and  was  re-elected  eleven  t  .    ^'. 

Christie,   LL.D.,  was  a  man  of  e>^raordinary 
ic:  .  r.ing  in  his  labors  and  his  diligence,     li 
man,  not  at  ,a  bound,  but  slowly  and  steadily.     Ii 
was  the  contemjiorary  and  peer  of  Daniel  VV<  ' 
Smith,  Jeremiah  Mason,  George  Sullivan,  an  ! 

He  married  Mrs.  Dorothy  Dix  VVoodi; 
Wheeler,  Esq.,  and  widow  of  Hon.  C  ' 
home  iifi-'  he  was  a  model  father  and  h, 
and  indulgent.     They  were  the  paren 

At  the  spring  election  in   1S77  ^^^ 
its   candidate,    Benjamin   F.   Proscott. 
ci-:itic  competitor  was  Hon.  Daniel  TTo 

Mr.  Prescott,  a  descendant  of  Captain 
Pepperrell  at  the  siege  of  Louishur^' 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in 
T^sociate  editor  with  Amos  Had 

572  he  was  elected  secretary  ■ 
1S76.     To  him,  while  se'  . 
due  the  uneqiialled  collect  . 
mouth  College,  and  at  P! 
made  a  member  of  the  Rt  • 


!Hf 


^' 


Under  Governor  V 
State  were  revised,  th 


^^^  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [iS// 

^anized,  and  judicial  appointments  made.  The  prison  was  built 
within  the  appropriation.  In  all  his  official  acts,  Governor  Pres- 
cott  was  animated  by  a  purpose  single  to  the  welfare  of  the 
State,  and  upon  his  retirement  to  private  life,  at  the  end  of  his 
term,  he  took  with  him  the  respect  of  its  people,  irrespective  of 
party  or  sect. 

While  governor  he  was  frequently  called  upon  to  address  pub- 
lic and  private  gatherings,  and  he  seldom  failed  to  respond.  His 
first  address  was  at  Epping,  on  the  occasion  of  a  public  recep- 
tion given  him  by  the  citizens  of  the  town,  without  distinction 
of  party,  on  the  day  after  his  inauguration.  He  was  present  at 
the  inauguration  of  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Bartlett,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  as 
president  of  Dartmouth  College,  and  gave  an  address  of  welcome 
to  that  eminent  scholar.  The  governor  visited,  with  a  large  de- 
tachment of  the  State  militia  and  distinguished  citizens  of  the 
State,  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  battle  of  Bennington, 
Vt.,  and  spoke  there  for  the  State  at  the  banquet  on  that  mem- 
orable occasion.  He  was  also  at  State  and  town  fairs  and  meet- 
ings of  various  kinds. 

In  1877  James  F.  Briggs,  of  Manchester,  was  elected  a  mem- 
l)er  of  Congress,  and  was  re-elected  in  1879  and  in  1881. 

James  F.  Briggs,  son  of  John  and  Nancy  (Franklin)  Briggs, 
was  born  at  Bury,  Lancashire,  England,  October  23,  1827,  and 
in  infancy  was  brought  by  his  parents  to  the  United  States.  In 
1836  the  family  settled  in  Ashland,  where  the  father  commenced 
the  manufacture  of  woollen  cloth.  Here  the  son  served  his  ap- 
prenticeship, educated  himself,  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  185 1.  He  at  first  settled  at  Hillsborough  Bridge, 
representing  the  town  in  1856,  1857,  and  1858.  During  the  Re- 
bellion he  served  as  quartermaster  of  the  Eleventh.  In  1871  he 
established  himself  at  Manchester,  where  he  was  appointed  city 
solicitor.  He  was  soon  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  constitutional  convention.  During  his  term  in 
Congress  he  was  a  faithful,  hard-working  member,  wielding  a 
^reat  influence,  and  commanding  the  confidence  of  his  associ- 
ates. A  ready  writer  and  an  able  speaker,  he  fairly  won  his 
success  at  the  bar  and  his  influence  in  legislative  assemblies. 


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1877] 


SINXE    THE    REBELLION. 


669 


From  Among  the  Clouds,  a  newspaper  published  on  the 
summit  of  Mount  Washington,  and  established  in  1876,  the 
following  summary  of  leading  events  in  White  Mountain  history 
has  been  selected. 

The  Indian  name  of  the  White  Mountains  was  Waumbek 
Methna;  of  Mount  Washington,  Agiochook.     The  first  ascent 


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ECHO   LAKE,    FRANCONIA  NOTCH. 


of  Mount  Washington  was  by  Darby  Field.  The  first  account 
of  the  mountains  was  published  in  John  Jossclyn's  "Now 
England  Rarities  Discovered,"  1672.  Conway  was  settled  in 
1764.  The  White  Mountain  Notch  was  discovered  by  Nash 
and  Sawyer,  1771.  Franconia  was  settled  in  1774;  Bartlett 
about  1777;  and  Jackson  (formerly  Adams),  about  1778. 
Mount  Washington  was  named  in  1784.  Bethlehem  was  settled 
in  1790.     The  first  settlement  at  site  of  Fabyan  House  was  by 


6/0 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1877 


Captain  Eleazer  Rosebrook  in  1 792.  Abel  Crawford,  the  "  Patri- 
arch of  the  Mountains,"  Rosebrook's  son-in-law,  settled  near 
Bemis  Station,  about  1793.  The  iirst  house  for  visitors  was 
built  by  Capt.  Rosebrook  in  1803.  Ethan  Allen  Crawford, 
Abel's  son,  who  was  born  at  Guildhall,  Vt.,  1792,  and  died  at 
Fabyan's,  1848,  took  Rosebrook's  house,  in  18 17.  He  ojDened 
the  first  foot-path  to  the  summit  of  Mount  Washington  in  18 19, 
and  built  a  stone  cabin  near  the  Summit  soon  afterwards. 


CASTELLATED  RIDGE  OF  MOUNT  JEFFERSON, 

A.  N.  Brackett,  J.  W.  Weeks,  and  five  others,  from  Lancaster, 
went  over  the  entire  White  Mountain  range,  with  E.  A.  Craw- 
ford as  guide,  in  July,  1820,  and  named  Mounts  Madison, 
Adams,  Jefferson,  Monroe,  Franklin,  and  Pleasant.  They  were 
the  first  to  spend  the  night  on  Mount  Washington.  The  first 
ladies  to  ascend  Mount  Washington  were  three  Misses  Austens 
of  Portsmouth. 

The  family  of  James  Willey,  jr.,  was  destroyed  by  a  land- 
slide in  White  Mountain  Notch,  August  28,  1826.  The  first 
bridle-path  to  the  summit  was  opened  in  1840,  by  Thomas   J. 


18/8]  SINCE    THE    REIJELLION.  6/1 

Crawford,  brother  of  Ethan.  His  father,  Abel  Crawford,  then 
seventy-five  years  old,  rode  the  first  horse  that  elimbed  the 
mountain. 

The  old  Summit  House  was  built  by  J.  S.  Hall  and  L.  M. 
Rosebrook,  in  1852.  The  old  Tip-top  House  was  built  by  Sam- 
uel F.  Spaulding-  &  Co.,  in  1853. 

The  carriage  road  was  begun  in  1855,  and  finished  in  1861  ; 
the  engineers  were  D.  O.  Macomber  and  C.  II.  V.  Cavis.  The 
railway  was  projected  by  Sylvester  Marsh,  of  Littleton  ;  it  was 
chartered  in  1858  ;  work  was  begun  in  1866  ;  the  road  was  oi)ened 
to  the  public  when  built  to  Jacob's  Ladder,  August  24,  1868  ;  and 
finished  in  July,  1S69.  The  depot  was  built  at  Summit  in  fall 
of  1870  ;  it  was  blown  down  in  spring  of  1876.  The  Summit 
House  was  built  by  John  E.  Lyon  and  Walter  Aiken  in  1872. 
The  signal  station  was  built  in  1874.  The  Glen  stage  office  was 
built  in  1878.  The  Tower  was  built  in  1S80.  The  first  winter 
ascent  of  mountain  was  made  by  the  sheriff  of  Coos  county  and 
B.  F.  Osgood  of  the  Glen  House,  December  7,  1858.  The  first 
party  spent  a  night  on  the  mountain  in  winter,  February  19, 
1862.  The  signal  station  was  established  in  1870.  Private 
William  Stevens  died  at  the  station,  February  26,  1872. 

Frederick  Strickland,  an  Englishman,  perished  in  the  Am- 
monoosuc  Ravine,  October,  185  i.  Miss  Lizzie  Bourne,  of  Ken- 
nebunk,  J\le.,  perished  on  the  Glen  bridle-path,  near  the  Sum- 
mit, on  the  night  of  September  14,  1855.  Mr.  B.  L.  Ball,  of 
Boston,  was  lost  on  ]\Iount  Washington,  in  October,  1855,  in  a 
snowstorm,  but  was  rescued  after  two  days'  and  nights'  expo- 
sure without  food  or  sleep.  Benjamin  Chandler,  of  Delaware, 
perished  near  Chandler's  Peak,  August  7,  1856,  in  a  storm,  and 
his  remains  were  not  discovered  for  nearly  a  year.  Harry  W. 
Hunter,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  perished  on  the  Crawford  bridle-j^ath, 
September  3,  1874,  a  mile  from  the  Summit.  The  remains 
were  discovered  July  14,  1880. 

In  the  election  of  1878  Governor  Prescott  was  the  successful 
candidate  against  Hon.  Frank  A.  McKean,  of  Nashua. 

The  amended  constitution  was  to  go  into  effect  in  June,  1879, 
the  election  of  governor  and  members  of  the  legislature  taking 
place  in  November  instead  of  IMarch  as  formerly. 


6/2  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1878 

At  the  convention  in  September,  1878,  which  was  the  first  to 
select  candidates  for  a  biennial  term,  Natt  Head  was  nominated 
upon  the  first  ballot  by  a  decided  majority.  By  reason  of  the 
third  party  or  "  Greenback  "  movement,  it  was  not  expected  by 
his  most  sanguine  supporters  that  he  would  be  elected  on  the 
popular  vote,  yet  the  result  was  that  he  was  chosen  over  all  by 
a  large  majority. 

Governor  Natt  Head  was  descended  from  Welsh  and  Scotch  ancestry,  and 
was  born  in  Hooksett,  May  20,  1S28.  His  great-grandfather,  Colonel  James 
Head,  had  command  of  a  garrison  in  "  Suncook"  during  the  French  war  and 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Bennington.  Colonel  Head  had  three  sons,  of 
whom  Nathaniel,  born  in  Bradford,  in  1754,  was  the  grandfather  of  Governor 
Natt  Head.  When  a  young  man  the  son  paid  his  addresses  to  Miss  Anna 
Knox,  daughter  of  Timothy  Knox,  of  Pembroke.  She  was  of  Scotch-Irish 
blood,  and  one  day,  as  the  father  and  son  were  plowing,  the  former  remarked, 
"  Nathaniel,  do  you  intend  to  marry  that  Irish  girl.^"  The  son  respectfully 
but  emphatically  answered  in  the  aflirmative;  whereupon  the  father  added, 
"Then,  understand,  you  can  never  share  in  my  property."  Young  Nathan- 
iel's answer  was  :  "  Very  well ;  I  will  take  care  of  myself."  And  in  accordance 
with  his  declaration  he  dropped  the  goad-stick,  and  in  a  few  houi-s  left  the 
paternal  roof  to  take  up  a  farm  in  the  wilderness  and  build  a  home.  The 
father  made  good  his  threat,  and  at  his  death  Nathaniel  received  one  dollar 
and  his  brothers  the  remainder  of  the  property.  Nathaniel  located  in  that 
portion  of  Chester  now  Hooksett,  and,  building  a  log-house,  carried  to  it  Anna 
Knox,  his  wife.  The  site  of  the  primitive  cabin  was  the  identical  spot 
where  Governor  Head's  residence  now  stands. 

The  appointment  which  brought  Governor  Natt  Head  most  conspicuously 
before  the  public  was  that  of  adjutant,  inspector,  and  quartermaster-general 
of  the  State,  which  he  received  from  Governor  Gilmore,  in  March,  1864.  He 
was  called  to  that  office  at  a  period  when  the  Republic  was  in  one  of  the  most 
serious  crises  of  the  great  civil  war,  and  when  the  loyal  people  of  New 
Hampshire  were  putting  forth  every  effort  to  enlist  the  men  called  for  under 
the  president's  proclamation  of  the  preceding  month. 

The  reports  issued  during  General  Head's  administration  not  only  give  the 
name  and  history  of  every  officer  and  soldier  who  went  into  the  service  from 
the  State,  but  they  embrace  biographical  sketches  of  all  the  field  officers  who 
fell  in  battle  or  who  died  of  disease  during  the  war,  together  with  a  brief 
history  of  all  the  organizations,  giving  their  principal  movements  from  their 
departure  to  their  return  home.  These  books  also  include  the  military  his- 
tory of  New  Hampshire  from  1623  to  1861,  the  data  for  which  were  gathered 
with  great  perseverance  and  under  many  discouragements  from  various 
sources  in  this  and  other  States,  and  from  the  rolls  in  the  War  Department  at 
Washington,  thus  making  the  united  reports  a  work  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  present  and  coming  generations,  and,  at  the  same  time,  constituting  an 


1879]  SINCE    THE    REBELLION.  673 

invaluable  contribution  to  the  martial  history  of  the  nation.  lie  was  the 
first  adjutant-general  in  our  country  who  conceived  the  idea  of  having  hand- 
somely engraved  on  steel,  with  attractive  and  appropriate  symbols,  and  of  a 
size  adapted  to  framing,  a  memorial  certificate  to  be  presented  to  all  surviving 
orticers  and  soldiers  from  the  State,  and  to  the  widows  or  nearest  relatives  of 
those  who  gave  their  lives  in  the  great  struggle  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Republic. 

His  gubernatorial  administration  was  throughout  eminently- 
successful,  creditable  alike  to  his  own  ability  and  fidelity  and  to 
the  fair  fame  of  the  State  which  he  so  honorably  served. 

During  his  term  of  office  there  arose  many  important  measures 
and  questions  whose  consideration  demanded  practical  good 
sense,  wisdom,  and  impartial  judgment.  The  well-known  Buz- 
zell  murder  case,  which  finally  became  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
in  the  criminal  records  of  the  world,  had  been  twice  tried  when 
Governor  Head  entered  the  executive  chair,  l^uzzell  was  then 
awaiting  execution,  and  thousands  had  petitioned  for  a  commu- 
tation of  his  sentence.  His  Excellency  and  his  official  advisers 
gave  a  long  and  patient  hearing  to  counsel  for  the  State  and  for 
the  defence,  and  to  all  others  who  desired  to  be  heard,  and  then, 
after  mature  deliberation,  refiised  the  prayer  on  the  ground  that 
no  new  evidence  had  been  presented  that  would  warrant  the 
changing  of  the  decision  of  the  court.  Buzzell  suffered  the  ex- 
treme penalty  of  the  law,  and  the  conclusion  in  his  case  was  su.s- 
tained  by  legal  and  public  opinion.  The  project  of  a  new  State 
Prison,  which  had  been  successfully  inaugurated  under  his  prede- 
cessor, was  carried  forward  to  its  completion.  The  commissioners 
selected  to  superintend  the  work  consulted  with  the  governor  at 
every  step,  and  without  even  a  whisper  of  extravagance  or  job- 
bery the  building  was  finished,  dedicated,  and  opened  for  use, 
and  stands  to-day,  in  thoroughness  of  structure  and  excellence  of 
arrangement,  second  to  no  other  penitentiary  in  the  country. 
There  came  before  Governor  Head  many  judicial  and  other  ap- 
pointments, all  of  which  were  made  with  the  single  aim  of  serv- 
ing the  highest  interest  of  the  State.  His  administration  took 
its  rank  in  history  as  one  of  the  purest,  wisest,  and  best  that 
New  Hampshire  has  ever  had. 

The  "  Holderness  School  for  Boys  "  was  opened  in  1879  as  a 


6/4  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1880 

diocesan  school  in  the  old  mansion  of  the  Livermores,  and  the 
venerable  church  served  as  its  chapel  until  the  erection  of  a  beau- 
tiful Gothic  chapel  was  demanded.  Destroyed  by  fire  in  March, 
1882,  the  historic  homestead  has  given  place  to  new  buildings 
specially  adapted  to  the  school  work.  Rev.  Frank  C.  Coolbaugh 
is  the  rector  of  the  school,  and  also  of  Trinity  church  in  the 
town  of  Holderness. 

St.  Mary's  school  for  girls,  in  Concord,  was  opened  seven  years  later,  or  in 
18S6,  in  the  mansion  occupied  by  Hall  Burgin,  Governor  Gilmore,  and  Judge 
Asa  Fowler.  The  Chase  Home  for  Children,  an  orphanage  under  episcopal 
patronage,  was  opened  in  Portsmouth  in  1879. 

In  1880  Aretas  Blood,  of  Manchester,  was  chairman  of  the 
electors  who  cast  the  vote  of  New  Hampshire  for  James  A. 
Garfield  for  president  of  the  United  States. 

Aretas  Blood,  a  descendant  of  James  Blood,  an  early  settler  of 
Concord,  Mass.,  was  born  October  8,  1816,  in  Weathers  field, 
Vt.  Having  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith  and  machinist, 
Mr.  Blood,  after  having  visited  the  West,  settled  in  Man- 
chester in  1853,  and  established  the  next  year  the  Manchester 
Locomotive  Works.  In  1857  he  became  the  agent  and  manager 
of  the  company.  Here  his  mechanical  skill,  executive  ability, 
and  judgment  in  financial  affairs  have  had  full  scope  for  their 
exercise ;  and  he  has  built  up  one  of  the  largest  manufacturing 
establishments  in  the  State.  The  works  can  turn  out  one  hundred 
and  fifty  locomotives  and  fifty  steam  fire  engines  every  year,  and 
give  employment  to  seven  hundred  skilled  workmen.  Over 
thirteen  hundred  of  these  locomotives  are  now  in  use.  Mr. 
Blood's  financial  ability  has  been  called  into  the  service  of 
several  manufacturing  enterprises  and  banks. 

Mr.  Blood  has  been  very  successful  in  business  ;  and  his 
success  in  life  may  be  attributed  to  his  stubborn  perseverance, 
as  well  as  his  good  judgment  and  remarkable  common  sense. 

Mr.  Blood  was  married  September  4,  1845,  to  Lavina  K.  Kendall.  His 
daughter  Nora  married  Frank  P.  Carpenter;  his  daughter  Emma  married 
Dr.  L.  M.  French. 

Hon.  Charles  H.  Bell,  of  Exeter,  the  Republican  candidate 
for  governor,  elected  in  the  fall    of    1880,  was  inaugurated  ir. 


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i88i] 


SINCE    THE    REBELLION. 


675 


June,  1 88 1.  As  was  expected  at  tlie  time  of  his  election  the 
administration  of  Governor  Bell  was  marked  by  the  dignity 
and  high  character  of  the  chief  magistrate. 

Governor  Charles  H.  Bell,  son  of  Governor  John  and  Persis 
(Thorn)  Bell,  and  nephew  of  Governor  Samuel  Bell,  was  born  in 
Nov.,  1823,  in  Chester,  was  educated  at  Pembroke  and  Phillips 
Exeter  Academies,  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1844,  read 


CHARLES  H.   BELL. 


law  with  Bell  and  Tuck  in  Exeter,  and  subsequently,  continued 
with  his  cousin  Hon.  Samuel  Dana  Bell,  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent lawyers  in  the  State,  and  who  for  five  years  held  the  office 
of  chief  justice  of  New  Hampshire.  On  his  admittance  to  the 
bar,  the  young  lawyer  commenced  to  practice  in  his  native  town, 
and  later  removed  to  Great  Falls,  and  finally  settled  in  Exeter. 
He  entered  actively  into  practice,  and  speedily  manifested  abil- 
ities of  a  high  order  and  unusual  professional  attainments,  which 
at  once  raised  him  to  prominence.  In  1856  he  was  appointed 
solicitor  of  Rockingham  county,  and  filled  the  office  for  ten 
years.  He  was  a  representative  in  1858,  and  chairman  of  the 
judiciary  committee.  He  was  re-elected  in  1859  and  i860,  being 
elected  speaker  the  last  year.     He  developed  rare  qualities  as  a 


6^6  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1881 

presiding  officer.  With  an  extended  knowledge  of  parliamentary- 
law,  coupled  with  his  native  dignity  and  firmness,  he  wielded 
the  gavel  with  such  ability  and  judicial  fairness  as  to  make  him 
one  of  the  most  popular  of  speakers. 

In  1863  and  1864  Mr.  Bell  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  during  the 
latter  jear  served  as  president  of  that  body.  In  1872  and  1873  he  was  again 
chosen  to  the  House,  bringing  with  him  a  ripeness  and  experience  in  legisla- 
tive duties  that  gave  to  him  the  leadership  of  his  party,  and  made  him  one 
of  its  most  influential  members.  In  1879  ^^^-  ^^^^  "^^^  appointed  United 
States  Senator,  for  the  special  session  of  that  year,  by  Governor  Prescott,  to 
take  the  place  of  Bainbridge  Wadleigh,  whose  term  of  office  had  expired. 

At  the  commencement  at  Dartmouth  College  in  June,  1S81,  the  degree  of 
LL.  D.  was  conferred  upon  him. 

The  Democratic  candidate  for  governor  in  the  fall  election  of 
1880  was  Hon.  Frank  Jones,  of  Portsmouth.  Mr.  Jones  was 
born  in  Barrington,  September  15,  1832.  He  was  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Mary  (Priest)  Jones,  and  a  grandson  of  Pelatiah 
Jones,  a  successful  shipmaster  of  Portsmouth.  Mr.  Jones 
started  in  business  in  Portsmouth,  and  soon  gained  a  reputa- 
tion for  business  sagacity  and  executive  ability.  Financially  he 
became  the  most  successful  man  in  New  Hampshire. 

'  Frank  Jones  is  a  familiar  name  with  the  people  of  New  Hampshire,  antt 
well  known  beyond  its  borders.  It  is^  synonymous  with  pluck,  energy,  and 
success.  He  has  been  four  times  the  Democratic  candidate  for  mayor  of 
Portsmouth,  and  twice  elected  to  that  office — in  1868  and  1869 — although  the 
Republican  party  was  in  a  majority  in  the  city  at  the  time.  He  was  also,  for 
two  years,  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  State  senator,  and,  though  failing  of 
an  election,  very  nearly  overcame  the  decided  Republican  majority  in  the  dis- 
trict. In  1875  he  was  nominated  with  great  unanimity  by  the  Democratic 
convention  at  Newmarket  for  representative  in  Congress  for  the  First  Con- 
gressional District,  and  in  the  election  defeated  the  Republican  nominee,  Col. 
Charles  S.  Whitehouse,  of  Rochester,  although  at  the  previous  election  the 
Republicans  elected  their  candidate.  Renominated  for  the  next  Congress,  in 
1877,  the  Republicans  made  a  determined  effort  to  secure  his  defeat,  selecting 
as  their  candidate  Gen.  Gilman  Marston,  of  Exeter,  who  had  won  distinction 
in  military  as  well  as  civil  life,  and  had  been  three  times  elected  to  the  same 
office  in  past  years;  yet  so  great  was  Mr.  Jones'  popularity  and  so  well  satis- 
fied were  the  people  with  his  services  for  the  previous  term,  that  his  oppo- 
nents were  unable  to  compass  his  defeat,  and  he  was  returned  by  a  plurality 
of  forty  votes  over  the  formidable  candidate  who  had  been  pitted  against  him. 
At  the  close  of  his  second  term  in  Congress,  although  strongly  importuned  to 

'  H.  H.  Metcalf. 


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W 


be  again  a  ca.   ' 
railroad  war  «>i 
uses  in  a  public- 
Portsmouth  upon  t 
Langdon,  a  brothei 
preme  Court.  The  c  • 
tated  Portsmouth  in  i, 
In  1S30  the  place  was  piu 
Coming  into  the  possessit  • 
and  again  in  1S84.     "The  \^ 
Portsmouth  harbor,  was  compi    * 

One  of  the  leading  menif 
Hon.  V.  C.  Oilman,  of  Nas  . 

Virgil  Chase  Oilman,  a  nv 
i!y,  a  descendant  of  Moses 
Delia  (Way)  Oilman,  was  bo: 
educated  at  the  public  schco 
Nashua  in  1S43.     -^^  the  agi 
in  the  manufacture  of  card-b- 
fant  enterprise  in  this  cdunt 
for  over  twenty  years.      His  ]. 
.ifter  long  application  to  oflfi', 
gies  to  cultivating  a  farm,  r. 
horses,  and  PlvmcTuth  Rock 
office  of  treasui-er  of  the  Na^ 
deposits  of  over  three  millf 
Nashua  Iron  and    Steel    C 
Company,  the  Amesbury  , ' 
National  Bank.     Mr.  Oili; 
every  office  from  ward  c\>- 
the  board  of  education,  a 
the  public  library.     In  \ 
the  judiciary  committee, 
habits  were  of  great  a(' 
Senate  and  by  the  pu' 
'ing  common  sense  1 
active  and    inflluer* 
public-spirited  in 
rity,  and  disci 


If  WM  activelv  intrrrsted  ]n  llie 

..   '   rjje  fortune,  which  h« 

house,  the  pride  of 


island   town  in 


6j8  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1882 

Sarah  Louise,  daughter  of  Gideon  Newcomb,  Esq.,  of  Roxbury. 
Of  their  two  children,  one  died  in  infancy,  and  the  other,  Har- 
riet Louise  Gihnan,  married  Charles  W.  Hoitt,  a  lawyer  of 
Nashua. 

At  the  death  of  Hon.  Evarts  W.  Farr,  in  November,  1880, 
Mr.  Ossian  Ray,  of  Lancaster,  was  elected  to  fill  out  the  unex- 
pired term.  He  was  twice  re-elected  and  served  until  March  4, 
1885. 

Ossian  Ray  was  born  December  13,  1835,  in  Hinesburg,  Vt., 
and  traces  his  descent  from  Revolutionary  patriots.  In  1854 
he  settled  in  Lancaster,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  and  formed  a  partnership  with  Hon.  Jacob 
Benton.  He  has  since  been  associated  with  Hon.  William  S. 
Ladd,  Hon.  Imng  W.  Drew,  Hon.  Chester  B.  Jordon,  and 
Philip  Carpenter.  Mr.  Ray  represented  Lancaster  in  1868  and 
1869,  and  was  solicitor  of  Coos  county  from  1862  to  1872.  He 
was  appointed  United  States  attorney  for  the  district  of  New 
Hampshire  by  President  Hayes.  He  was  an  active  and  influen- 
tial member  of  Congress,  and  ranks  very  high  in  the  legal  pro- 
fession. 

Samuel  W.  Hale,  of  Keene,  was  elected  governor  in  the  fall 
of  1882,  defeating  M.  V.  B.  Edgerley,  of  Manchester,  the  Dem- 
ocratic candidate,  and  was  inaugurated  in  June,  1883. 

Governor  Hale's  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  common- 
wealth was  characterized  by  dignity,  moderation,  and  prudence  ; 
and  he  retired  from  his  high  office,  at  the  close  of  his  term,  with 
the  respect  of  political  friend  and  foe. 

Governor  Hale  was  born  in  Fitchburg,  Mass.,  in  1S23,  and  in  1845  set- 
tled in  Dublin,  removing  to  Keene  in  1859,  when  he  became  extensively  in- 
terested in  manufacturing  enterprises,  railroads,  and  large  financial  transac- 
tions. 

He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  legislature  in  1866,  and  was  re-elected 
the  next  year.  In  1869  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  governor's  Council, 
to  which  position  he  was  re-elected  in  1870. 

Charles  H.  Bartlett,  of  Manchester,  was  chosen  president  of 
the  State  Senate  in  1883.  Charles  Henry  Bartlett,  son  of 
John  and  Jane  (Sanborn)  Bartlett,  and  a  descendant  of  Richard 
Bartlett  (of    Newbury,    Mass.,  in   1635),  was  born   in  Sunapee, 


iSSo, 


[t^lected 


)r'sCoui 


,-^y 


^.y^.^    ^ 


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il 


$ 


m-  o^^A^.-^. 


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1  K 


1884] 


TIIIC    KI-.HKLLION. 


679 


'  an  academic  education  ;  studictl 

1858;  settled  in  Wentworth, 

From   1867  to  his  election 

xl  States  District  Court. 

Mr.   Bartlett  brought 

•oil-balanced  mind, 

member  of  the 

he  degree  of 

olect  a 
Midi- 

•  e 


October  15,  1833.     H 
law  ;  was  admitted  t< 
and"  in  1863  moved  to 
to  the  Senate,  he  wa.v 
lie  was  mayor  of  M: 
to  his  tho.scn  j>rofessi<  ' 
with  faculties  always  .. 
constitutional  convention 
A.  M.  from  Dartmouth  CoIk 

The   Republican  majon'v 
United  States  .=;enator  im 
dates  offered  to  the  suft 
leading   men  of  the  pari)"  ^'igi 

Austin  F.  Pjke,  of  Franklin,      liv-  died  a. 
in  1884.  ■ 

In  the  fall  election  of   1884,  !->»"•  Jacob  H,  »^ i^.  ,.  .,. 

cord,  was  elected  to  r'?prcsent  the  Second  Congressional  Dis 
and  was  re-elected  in  1886.     Dr.  Gallingerwas  born  in  Corn 
Ontario,  March  28,  1837.     At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  cnic  ?.•■ 
a  printing  office,  and  at  tlie  age  of  eighteen  he  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine-  in  Cincinnati,     In  i860  he  settled  in  Kecne, 
and  t»vo  years  later  in  Concord.      He  represented   Concord  in 
the  legislature  in  1872  and  1873;  was  a  member  of  the  consti- 
tutional convention   in   1876;  State  senator  in    1878  and  1879. 
president  of  the  Senate  during  his  last  ter.n ;  and  chairman  of 
the  Republican  State  Committee  since  1882.     Dr.  Gallinger  is 
one  of  the  most  popular  and  successful  can^paign  orators  in  the 
State.     As  a  Sj^eaker  he  is  rapid,  direct,  and  practical,  has  an  e.\ 
cellent  voice,  and  always  commands  the  close  attention  of  his 
audience.     He  is  also  a  facile  and  effective  writer,  and  has  fre- 
quently been  called  upon  for  public  addresses  on  topics 
from    politics.     As  an  organizer  he  is  noted  for  his  execui  ve 
abilit)       As  a  physician  he  has  a  large  ]'ractice. 

Hon    Moody  Currie*,  of  Manchester,  was  inaugurated  gov- 
ernor in  June,  1885,  havin^g  been  elected  the  preceding  falT. 

Governor  Currier  wan  b«;rn  in  Boscawen  in  April,  iSc/^.    He  is  tlie  architect 
of  his  own  fortunes.     He  was  brought  upon  a  farm  in  Bow,  but  early  evinced 


68o  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1885 

an  insatiable  desire  for  information.  He  fitted  for  college,  and  graduated  at 
Dartmouth  in  1834,  read  law  with  Hon.  Daniel  Clark,  and  engaged  in  literary 
pursuits.  He  settled  in  Manchester  in  1S41,  and  became  cashier  of  the  Amos- 
keag  Bank  in  184S  at  its  organization.  He  is  still  connected  with  the  insti- 
tution as  well  as  other  large  financial  interests.  He  was  clerk  of  the  Senate  in 
1843  and  1844,  senator  in  1856,  president  of  the  Senate  in  1857,  councillor  in 
i860  and  1861,  chairman  of  the  war  committee  of  the  Council  during  the  first 
fifteen  months  of  the  Rebellion.  In  that  position  he  exhibited  great  abilit'y 
and  energy,  and  rendered  efficient  service  to  the  State  and  the  nation.  He 
entered  with  his  whole  soul  into  the  business  of  raising  and  equipping  troops, 
and  won  great  praise  from  all  parties  for  his  efforts  in  this  direction.  The 
first  eight  regiments  of  infantry,  a  battery,  four  companies  of  cavalry,  and 
three  companies  of  sharpshooters  were  organized,  equipped  and  sent  to  the 
front  with  the  utmost  despatch  while  Mr.  Currier  was  at  the  head  of  the 
war  committee.  In  compliment  to  him,  the  rendezvous  of  the  Eighth  regi- 
ment at  Manchester  was  named  "  Camp  Currier." 

Gcvernor  Currier  has  an  ardent  temperament  and  versatile 
talent.  His  practical  judgment  is  shown  in  the  success  of  the 
banking  institutions  which  he  has  managed  for  many  years,  and 
also  in  the  success  of  the  various  other  enterprises  with  which 
he  has  been  connected  in  an  official  capacity.  He  is  method- 
ical and  cautious  in  his  habits,  and  has  always  sustained 
the  reputation  of  being  honorable  and  upright  in  all  his  business 
relations.  He  maintains  a  high  rank  as  a  scholar,  and,  unlike 
many  other  men  who  have  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  liberal 
education,  he  has  throughout  his  whole  life  taken  a  strong  inte- 
rest in  the  study  of  literature,  science,  and  philosophy.  He 
retains  a  taste  for  the  ancient  classics  and  is  quite  familiar  with 
French,  German,  and  other  modern  languages.  He  has  written 
many  pieces  of  poetry,  creditable  in  taste  and  composition.  By 
industry  and  prudence  he  has  acquired  a  handsome  fortune,  and 
his  residence  is  a  model  of  taste.  He  is  liberal  in  his  gifts  to 
worthy  objects  and  especially  to  those  which  relate  to  intellectual 
culture. 

His  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  State  was  marked  by 
the  prudence,  sagacity,  and  caution  so  characteristic  of  him  all 
his  life  ;  and  he  retired  from  office  at  the  close  of  his  term  with 
the  respect  of  all. 

At  the  fall  election  in  November,  1886,  Rev.  Luther  F.  Mc- 
Kinney,  of  Manchester,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Congress- 


'  "■■•'- Senate  in 
-•■■  "^ivahr  in 

'■-:  ftrst 

:■  lie 

■-::""5  troops, 

'silittction.  The 
w  of  Qvalrj,  and 
■^iindseiitlothe 
»". '--.{ head  of  tiie 
i  'M  Eighth  regi- 

■■:  ad  versatile 
■:>Jccesso(tlie 
•:.::.)■  years,  and 
jfjttwithwliidi 
He  is  metliod- 
liavs 


i;esotal 


,'.-.  1  i 


:.;'.Obopli)',  He 

:!irailiarwitli 

He  has  written 

■•::<isition,  By 

.ictune.and 

-  ;;j  gilts  to 

to  intellectual 


■:erF.Mc- 


1887] 


Lh 


man  in  the  First 

was  re-elected  in  t'it:  :■' 

In  the  fall  of    1880 
Republican  candidate  i 
Colonel  Thomas   Cog-- 
voted  for  Co!.  Joseph 
Governor  Sawver  was 
in  June,  1887.     '  He   . 
held  to  tin- doings  of 
sition  in  the  world,      i  . 
pride  in  the  fact  that  he  i^ 
genious  workers,  who  mn 
their  generations. 

Charles   H.  Sawyer  is  ;. 
farmer  of  Lincolnshire  ii 
emigrated  to  this  counti} 

Phineas,  the  great-great 
father  of  Charles  H.  S;>.w 
century  later,  a  water  j)ii\ 
added  acotton  factory  ;    • 
:  hat  early  day. 

Jonathan    Sawyer,     r.    ■    yc 
was  born  at  Marlborough,  ^ 
with  his  mother    and   other 
he  was  twelve  years  old,  -to 
years  he  attended  schoal.      ' ' 
that  entered  the  high  sc, 
mates  Hon.  Benjair-o  I"    ivi 
Fox,  assistant  secret; 
account  of  a  severe  s 
age  left  school,  and  •■■■■ 
his  brother,  Alfred 
dyer  at  Amesburv' 
where    he  was  c 
clotl'  -]  - 

Jona 


(iution  It 


/ VI  iv,i,  Gov.  ii 
.  \   the  navy  durin 
i-ss,  young  Snw\  t 
.  recruiting  hi' 
•wyer,  who,  uti 
•at  Falls,  h.T 
a   grist 


fiti 


682  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE  [^^^7 

working  for  his  brother.  In  the  fall  of  1835  he  returned  to 
Lowell.  His  mother,  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  upon  her 
son  a  more  complete  education,  sent  him  to  the  great  Methodist 
school  at  Wilbraham,  which  at  that  time  was  a  most  flourishing 
preparatory  school  for  the  Wesleyan  University  at  Middletown, 
Conn.  Here  he  remained  two  terms,  when,  at  nineteen  years  of 
age,  returning  to  Lowell,  he  went  into  a  woollen  establishment  as 
a  dyer.  Afterwards  he  went  into  this  business  on  his  own  ac- 
count, and  continued  in  it  until  1839.^ 

Forty  years  ago  Dover  received  Jonathan  Sawyer,  then  a 
young  man  full  of  hope  and  ambition,  honesty  and  executive 
ability,  whose  career  has  done  so  much  to  advance  the  prosper- 
ity of  his  adopted  home.  He  found  on  Bellamy  river  a  small 
water-power,  about  which  to-day  is  built  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  prosperous  manufacturing  establishments  within  New 
PZngland,  the  products  of  which  are  welcomed  in  a  million 
American  homes.  He  gathered  about  him  a  score  of  working 
people  at  first,  whose  pay  was  small  in  those  early  days  of  free 
trade.  But  when  our  goveinmcnt  threw  its  protecting  arm  and 
fostering  care  about  the  infant  industries  of  the  country,  the  es- 
tablishment prospered  and  grew.  Willing  hands  found  ready 
work.  The  fame  of  the  goods  became  widespread  ;  new  mills 
were  built  ;  new  machinery  was  introduced  ;  new  operatives 
were  employed.  The  profits  of  the  business  were  embarked  in 
it  enlargement,  until  five  hundred  busy  workmen  found  employ- 
ment. While  their  number  was  increasing  the  pay  had  doubled. 
He  is  still  a  principal  and  active  proprietor  of  the  Sawyer  Wool- 
len Mills,  in  the  enjoyment  of  health,  competence,  and  the  res- 
pect won  by  a  life  of  honorable  exertion  and  spotless  integrity. 

Charles  H.  Sawyer,  the  eldest  son  of  Jonathan  and  Martha 
(Perkins)  Sawyer,  was  born  in  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  March  30, 
1840.  At  the  age  of  ten  he  was  brought  by  his  father  to  Dover, 
and  acquired  the  basis  of  his  education  in  the  excellent  public 
schools  of  that  place.  When  he  became  seventeen,  his  father, 
who  designed  him  for  the  hereditary  calling  of  manufacturing, 
placed  him  in  the  flannel-mill  as  an  ordinary  hand,  to  enable  him 

■  Rev.  Dr.  George  B.  Spalding. 


Ml  her 


tanni 


HHHH 


^--^ 


-7 


1887]  SINCE    THE    REI5ELLI0N.  6S5 

to  form  a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  various  and  compH- 
cated  processes  required  to  transform  the  rough  fleece  into  the 
finished  fabric.  Here  he  supplemented  his  book  education  by  the 
education  of  work,  observation,  and  experience.  Step  by  step  he 
rose  to  the  higher  grades  of  employment,  mastering  every  de- 
tail of  the  business  as  he  went,  until  at  the  age  of  twcnty-si.\  he 
was  appointed  superintendent  of  the  establishment.  He  soon  be- 
came interested  in  large  financial  operations.  Though  so  diligent 
a  man  of  affairs,  Governor  Sawyer  finds  the  time  for  mental 
cultivation.  His  library  contains  the  best  books  of  solid  value, 
and  he  has  made  himself  acquainted  with  their  contents.  On 
all  subjects  of  public  interest  and  practical  importance  he  keeps 
thoroughly  informed,  and  has  well-considered  opinions.  Nat- 
urally somewhat  reticent,  he  never  obtrudes  his  views ;  but 
when  they  are  sought  for,  they  are  found  to  go  straight  to  the 
mark,  and  to  have  behind  them  all  the  force  of  rare  sagacity  and 
careful  thought.  He  makes  no  pretentions  to  oratory,  yet  ora- 
tors might  well  envy  the  impression  which  his  plain,  convincing 
statements  command.  In  the  recent  panic  caused  by  the  with- 
drawal from  the  State  of  foreign  insurance  companies,  it  was 
mainly  Colonel  Sawyer's  calm  and  clear  demonstration  of  the 
feasibility  of  a  manufacturers'  mutual  system  of  home  insurance 
that  quieted  the  needless  feelings  of  alarm. 

It  has  been  truly  remarked  of  Governor  Sawyer  that  ''Nature 
made  him  on  a  large  scale."  His  great  interests  he  wields  easily, 
and  carries  his  broad  responsibilities  without  fatigue.  His  re- 
markable executive  ability  never  seems  to  be  taxed  to  its  full 
capacity  ;  there  is  always  an  appearance  of  reserve  strength  be- 
yond. He  has  a  large  way  of  estimating  men  and  things.  No 
petty  prejudices  obscure  the  clearness  of  his  vision  or  weaken 
the  soundness  of  his  judgment.  He  has  the  courage  of  his 
convictions,  and  does  not  shrink  from  telling  an  unpalatable 
truth  when  necessary  ;  but  he  has  the  rare  faculty  of  giving  no 
needless  offence.  In  the  wide  round  of  his  occupations  he 
must  needs  have  caused  some  disappointments  ;  but  his  char- 
acter for  justice  and  fair  dealing  is  so  universally  understood 
that  censure  finds  no  vulnerable  spot  to  fasten  on.     Modest  and 


684  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [^^^7 

unassuming  in  a  remarkable  degree,  the  public  positions  he  has 
held  have  come  to  him  through  no  longing  or  efforts  of  his  own  ; 
in  his  case  it  is  emphatically  true  that  "  the  office  has  always 
sought  the  man."  ^ 

Governor  Sawyer  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  society 
in  Dover,  and  a  liberal  contributor  to  its  support,  as  well  as  to 
every  worthy  object  of  charity  and  scheme  of  benevolence  that 
is  brought  to  his  notice  from  whatever  quarter.  Though  his 
manner  is  reserved,  his  heart  is  warm,  and  his  sympathies  are 
quick  and  wide  ;  and  his  generosity  and  helpfulness  in  a  good 
cause  are  not  limited  by  place  or  creed  or  nationality.  Gover- 
nor Sawyer  has  too  great  an  interest  in  public  affairs  to  be 
without  decided  political  convictions.  He  cast  his  earliest  vote 
for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  has  ever  since  been  unswerving  in  his 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party.  His  experience  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  public  has  not  been  inconsiderable.  After  having 
served  with  credit  in  both  branches  of  the  city  council  of 
Dover,  he  was  chosen  a  representative  in  the  State  legislature 
in  the  years  i869and  1870,  and  again  in  1876  and  1877.  His 
ability  and  standing  in  that  body  are  indicated  by  the  fact  of  his 
assignment  to  the  important  committees  on  the  judiciary,  rail- 
roads, manufactures,  and  national  affairs.  His  last  political 
service  before  election  was  that  of  delegate  at  large  to  the  Na- 
tional Republican  Convention  at  Chicago,  in  1884.^ 

The  Democratic  candidate  for  governor  in  1886,  Colonel 
Thomas  Cogswell,  of  Gilmanton,  was  a  veteran  of  the  Union 
army,  a  lawyer  and  farmer,  and  popular  with  his  party. 

Colonel  Joseph  Wentworth,  of  Concord,  the  candidate  of  the 
Prohibition  party  for  the  office  of  governor,  again  called  into 
prominence  a  member  of  the  historical  Wentworth  family,  who 
for  so  many  years  influenced  the  destinies  of  Province  and  State. 
He  traces  his  descent  from  Elder  William  Wentworth,  the  pro^ 
genitor  of  the  New  England  branch  of  the  family,  through 
Ezekiel,  of  Dover,  Benjamin,  of  Dover,  Colonel  John  Wentworth, 
a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  a 
member  of   the    Continental    Congress,  and  Hon.   Paul  Went- 

«  Ex-Gov.  C.  H.  Bell. 


^^^' y^^^^^^^^w^ 


KXS7I 


I"    KKKELLION. 


worth,  a  lea.tiug  citiz 
present .  century.  li, 
wort:I',s,  'he  Gihnans.  i 
■  'i^s  lis  broihff,    Hon. 

Lvcn  p:oininently 
ment  of  that  webi*- 


inclwich  in  the  early  half  of  the 
uiiitiHl  liic  blood  of   the  W'^ 
s,  ihe  Cogswells,  and  the  L 
John    Wentworth,  of   Chicago,  ha 
Illinois. snice  the  »^eti!e 


Colonel  Joseph  Wcn*T«rort.h,  bor  i  in  baintwich.  January  30,  iHib,  ul- 
tended  school  at  ihc  Now  Hamiv.  iii.  liopkinlon,  and  fteruick  .\cailemies 
and  settl*".';  I  -  M  iiiyi*  town,  whtre  for  ttiirty  years  he  kept  a  ■■<.ii<r;il  .  (  •im  \ 
store,  lo^l^'  -.  farrn  and  bttnking  interests. 


•ir&t.  register  of  decd^  for  (,..ii..»ii   v.ui.ii 
i.<  the  legislature  in  i8m  -j5..  and  a  nicni 
;  ulster    (iiljcen   ve;M>,  also 
lional  Bank      iti   iS7o  he 
•i 


;    the  ►am. 
in  Chica^^ 

■rj,   h.i     liau  Miiich  i  *'*^  : 
supports  those  r 


He  was  iiiu:;        •  >  /»  erno-- '' -  • 
sheriff  for  ^ve  years,  repr< 
ber  of  the  constitujiona!   o:: . 
president   and  chief  owner  01 
moved  to  Concord  and  v:- 
stitiitionaJ  convention  irt,; 
Mr.  Wentworth  was  niarriec 
Mass.,  and  is  the  fci  ,?.r  of  si\ 
living,     lit  KonSj  Prful  and  M 
and  graduated  the  saiTje  dsi       •• 
the  other  in  Sandwich. 

Mr.  Wentworth,  since  b 
social  and  financial  circle: . 
rines  which  he  btiieves  to  .  ,        ' 

not  so  strong  in  numbers,  . 
cnnceive  to  l>e  their  duty. 

One  of  the  earliest  ; 
■A^as  Jonathan   Kittrcj... ,  -...:.    ,. 

of  Common  Pleas.  He  was  son  of  Dr.  Jonathan  and  Ajjphia 
(Woodman)  Kittredge,  and  was  born  in  Canterbury,  July  i/'  I793- 
He  gr.u'itated  at  Dartmouth  <",.'!  ve  in  1813.  read  law.  and 
settles;  ic  Lyme.     He  afterwa.  at  Canaan  ;   and  in  1859 

moved  .0  Concord.   .  He  died  Apni  8,  1864. 

N.nth.ii'icl    White,    of   Concord,    was   a   leuling   advocate  of 
tempera/ice  hy  precept  and  example 

The  suc:cbs»ul  ctiuiidate  in  the  race  lor  the  United  States 
^(  '  . ->o-  -■-^,  .  Hon.    William    Eaton 

(,  •  '  June  15,  for  the  term  of 

twenty  monr  mpshire  had  another  strong 

senator.       '  h.tmber  with  a  national  repu- 


686  HISTORY    OP^    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1887 

tation  for  sagacity  and  wisdom  already  acquired,  with  the  ex- 
perience of  his  whole  youth  and  manhood  devoted  to  public 
affairs,  with  the  acquaintance  and  confidence  of  officials  and 
statesmen  of  every  section,  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
wants  and  needs  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  and  of  the 
citizens  of  the  State  of  every  degree,  with  a  familiarity  with  the 
intricate  mechanism  of  all  the  departments  of  the  government, 
with  a  full  and  discriminating  understanding  of  law — State,  na- 
tional, and  international — which  would  grace  the  bench  of  any 
court,  and  with  judgment  almost  intuitive. 

The  following  is  from  Applcton  s  Cyclopcedia  of  A^nerican  Biog- 
raphy : — 

"  Chandler,  Wilham  Eaton,  cabinet  minister,  born  in  Concord, 
N.  H.,  December  28,  1835.  He  studied  law  in  Concord,  and  at 
the  Harvard  Law  School,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1855.  For 
several  years  after  his  admission  to  the  bar  in  1856  he  practised 
in  Concord,  and  in  1859  was  appointed  reporter  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Supreme  Court,  and  published  five  volumes  of  re- 
ports. From  the  time  of  his  coming  of  age  Mr.  Chandler  was 
actively  connected  with  the  Republican  party,  serving  first  as 
secretary,  and  afterward  as  chairman  of  the  State  committee.  In 
1862  he  was  elected  to  the  New  Hampshire  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, of  which  he  was  speaker  for  two  successive  terms,  in 
1863-64.  In  November,  1864,  he  was  employed  by  the  navy 
department  as  special  counsel  to  prosecute  the  Philadelphia 
navy-yard  frauds,  and  on  March  9,  1865,  was  appointed  first 
solicitor  and  judge-advocate-general  of  that  department.  On 
17th  June,  1865,  he  became  first  assistant  secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  On  30th  November,  1867,  he  resigned  this  place  and 
resumed  law  practice.  During  the  next  thirteen  years,  although 
occupying  no  official  position  except  that  of  member  of  the  con- 
stitutional convention  of  New  Hampshire  in  1876,  he  continued 
to  take  an  active  part  in  politics.  He  was  a  delegate  from  his 
State  to  the  Republican  national  convention  in  1868,  and  was 
secretary  of  the  national  committee  from  that  time  until  1876. 
In  that  year  he  advocated  the  claims  of  the  Hayes  electors  in 
Florida  before  the  canvassing  board  of  the  State,  and  later  was 


stmni 


first  as 


odsei 


Repre- 
veteros,i« 

■'m  navy 


On 
tk 
and 


..ice 


contiw 
.  iiotn 


liis 


until  i8j6. 


i  liters 


^-^  "^s-.-^^-^- 


A/m£ 


m^ 


1887]  SINCK    Till;    KKIJI  l.LldN.  687 

one  of  the  counsel  to  prepare  the  case  submitted  by  the  Repub- 
lican side  to  the  electoral  commission.  Mi".  Chandler  afterward 
became  an  especially  outspoken  opponent  of  the  Southern  policy 
of  the  Hayes  administration.  In  1880  he  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Republican  national  convention,  and  served  as  a  member  of  the 
committee  on  credentials,  in  which  place  he  was  active  in  secur- 
ing the  report  in  favor  of  district  representation,  which  was 
adopted  by  the  convention.  During  the  subsequent  campaign 
he  was  a  member  of  the  national  committee.  On  March  23, 
188 1,  he  was  nominated  for  United  States  solicitor-general,  but 
the  Senate  refused  to  confirm,  the  v^ote  being  nearly  upon  party 
lines.  In  that  year  he  was  again  a  member  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire legislature.  On  7th  April,  1882,  he  was  appointed  secre- 
tary of  the  navy.  Among  the  important  measures  carried  out 
by  him  were  the  simplification  and  reduction  of  the  unwieldy 
navy-yard  establishment  ;  the  limitation  of  the  number  of  annual 
appointments  to  the  actual  wants  of  the  naval  service  ;  the  dis- 
continuance of  the  extravagant  policy  of  repairing  worthless 
vessels  ;  and  the  beginning  of  a  modern  navy  in  the  construction 
of  the  four  new  cruisers  recommended  by  the  advisory  board. 
The  organization  and  successful  voyage  of  the  Greely  relief  ex- 
pedition in  1884  were  largely  due  to  his  personal  efforts.  Mr. 
Chandler  was  a  strenuous  advocate  of  uniting  with  the  navy  the 
other  nautical  branches  of  the  federal  administration,  including 
the  light-house  establishment,  the  coast  survey,  and  the  revenue 
marine,  upon  the  principle,  first  distinctly  set  forth  by  him,  that 
'  the  officers  and  seamen  of  the  navy  should  be  employed  to  per- 
form all  the  work  of  the  national  government  upon  or  in  direct 
connection  with  the  ocean.'  " 

Mr.  Chandler  has  been  twice  married, —  in  1859  ^o  ^  daughter 
of  Governor  Joseph  A.  Gilmore,  and  in  1874  to  a  daughter  of 
Hon.  John  P.  Hale. 

Since  the  days  of  Franklin  Pierce  and  Isaac  Hill,  the  Demo- 
cratic ])arty  has  had  many  and  able  leaders,  prominent  among 
v^^hom  have  been  Colonel  John  H.  George,  Hon.  Josiah  Minot, 
Hon.  Daniel  Marcy,  Hon.  Harry  Bingham,  Hon.  Frank  Jones, 
Hon.  A.  W.  Sullowav.  Hon.  James  A.  Weston,  Colonel  Thomas 


Oyyt^   /^ 


188/1 


IK    RKBEI.LION.. 


6H9 


Cogswell,  John  M    Hill,  Hon.  Hose*  W.  Parker,  Hon   Ediri'ind 
Burke,  John  H.  Pearson,  and  Charles  F.  Stone. 

Hon.  Harry  Biut^ham,  born  Mnrch    ^o,  1821,  in  :.. 

b£  New  Hampshire  .stock  ;  was  brou^iit  up  oi    1  •■! 

at  Lyndon  (Vt.)  Academy  ;  graduated  at  D. 
1843  ;  studied  law  with  George  C.  < 
Hon.  Harry  Hibbard  ;  taught  schc 
mitted  to  the  bar  at  the  May  term,  i  ■-  . 
in  the  practice  of  the  law.     In  1861,  j^- 
1868  he  was  elected  representative,  anrl   v 
until   1881,    sixteen  terms  in  all,  when  he 
State  Senate.    He  has  been  frequently  the  Demi 
for  United  States  senator,  ami  a  member  of  th< 
tional  convention  in  1876.     Mr.  Bingham  is  uni  ils 

the  Episcopal  church,  has  been  the  stand  ird-bearer  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  on  many  a  hard-fought  held,  and  is  a  lawyer,  orator, 
and  statesman  of  national  reputation.' 

During  the  session  of  the  legislature  in  the  summer  and  full 
of   1887  the  railroad  question  w;i  '  he 

contest  arising  between  the  C(m<  ■  .nd 

Maine  Railroad,  for  the  possession  of  the  road.s  .d 

part  of  the  State. 

During  the  extended  hearing  before  the 'Railroad  Conri 
certain  interesting  historical  facts  were  developed.     Fi 
address  of  Hon.  Samuel  C.  Eastman,  speaker  of  th» 
1883,  are  taken  the  following  :  — 

When  railroads  were  first  chartered   the    Democratic   party, 
which  then  controlled  the  legislature  of  the  State,  was  excc'i 
inc^lv    'vdous  of  all  corporations.     It  refused  for  a  lor      '  «. 

rci  /;e  the  public  lua easily  there  was  for  the  incoi^  'f 

railroads  ;  and  it  was  only  when  they  had  declared  tha' 
should    be    public   corporations    and    should    be    cot' 
discharge  their  duties  as   public  corporations,  that  t..        _      ' 
ture  decided  to  charter  one  of  them.     The  Concord  Railroad. 
one  of  the  first  chartered,  it  '.t  be  a  monnpoly 

If   w.!v    il>;o  fonrf,]  that  thcu    .,  •     .^mj^tatioT)  i-  .■'-.,. 


^IH 


■I'] 


% 


•  H    M 


V 


690 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1887 


the  power  that  had  been  conferred  upon  it  by  the  State  and  to 
place  more  money  in  the  pockets  of  the  stockholders  than 
was  right ;  therefore  two  limits  were  placed  upon  its  powers,  for 


o 


the  purpose  of  protecting  the  public.  One  of  them  was  a  pro- 
vision that  at  any  time,  after  a  certain  period,  the  State  should 
have  the  right  to  take  the  property  of  the  railroad,  paying  to  its 
stockholders  the  amount  of  money  thev  had   invested  in  build- 


1887J  SINCE    THE    KEHELLION.  691 

ing  the  road  and  an  annual  dividend  of  ten  per  cent,  on  the 
amount  they  had  so  invested,  provided  it  had  not  already  been 
paid  them  out  of  the  earnings  of  the  corporation.  The  other 
restriction  was,  in  case  the  corporation  should,  after  a  period  of 
five  years,  earn  more  money  and  pay  to  its  stockholders  more 
money  than  ten  per  cent,  per  annum,  the  legislature  should 
have  the  right  to  adjust  their  tariff  so  as  probably  for  the  next 
five  years  to  bring  their  income  down  to  the  limit  of  ten  per 
cent.  These  two  provisions  seem  very  important  indications 
both  of  the  intention  of  the  legislature  and  of  the  State  in 
chartering  the  railroads,  for  the  provision  was  incorporated  in 
•other  railroad  charters. 

The  paternal  system  of  the  management  of  railroad  corpora- 
tions was  in  force  in  the  State  down  to  1883,  when  the  general 
railroad  law  was  passed.  At  that  time  it  was  proposed  to  prac- 
tically abandon  the  paternal  system  of  the  State  exercising 
jurisdiction  over  railroads,  as  a  father  over  the  actions  of  his 
children  ;  but  leave  them  to  the  management  of  their  own 
affairs  in  just  such  a  way  as  seemed  best  to  them,  subject  of 
course  still  to  certain  general  regulations.  And  if  any  railroad 
should  ask  permission  to  destroy  its  own  existence  or  transfer 
its  powers  to  another  corporation,  the  legislature  no  longer 
thought  it  necessary  for  them  to  intervene.  The  law  did  not 
accomplish  what  was  expected,  for  the  court  decided  that  the 
legislation  was  insufficient. 

The  Concord  Railroad  has  accumulated  a  large  surplus,  not 
necessarily  divisible  nor  due  to  the  State.  The  management 
have  done  nothing  with  their  surplus  which  was  not  legitimate, 
praiseworthy,  and  commendable,  devoting  it  to  the  development 
of  their  ability  the  better  to  discharge  their  public  duties  to  the 
State. 

For  various  reasons,  which  the  inquisitive  antiquarian  may 
discover  by  consulting  the  dusty  files  of  contemporary  news- 
papers, the  so-called  Hazen  bill,  said  to  have  been  in  the  inte- 
rest or  to  the  liking  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad,  having 
passed  the  legislature,  was  vetoed  by  the  governor.  The  Ather- 
ton    bill,   which  was  supported   by  the  friends  of  the  Toncord 


692  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  [1887 

Railroad,  was  killed  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  The 
supporters  of  the  two  bills  were  not  divided  according  to  their 
political  creeds.  The  members  of  both  the  House  and  the 
•Senate  had  the  advantage  of  much  interested  advice  from 
attorneys  and  local  political  magnates,  assembled  at  Concord 
from  every  section  of  the  State.  Feeling  ran  very  high,  charges 
and  counter-charges  were  made,  but  after  adjournment  the  dis- 
puted points  were  referred  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State. 

Prominent  in  railroad  circles  for  many  years  has  been  Mr.  J. 
W.  White,  of  Nashua. 

Jefremiah  Wilson  White,  son  of  Jeremiah  White  of  Pittsfield 
(a  leading  farmer  of  the  town,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Pittsfield  Academy),  was  born  in  Pittsfield,  September  i6,  1821  ; 
received  his  education  at  the  Pittsfield  Academy,  of  which  James 
F.  Joy  was  at  the  time  principal  ;  entered  a  drug  store  in  Bos- 
ton, and  served  an  apprenticeship  ;  and  in  the  summer  of  1845 
settled  in  Nashua,  and  embarked  in  business  for  himself.  From 
the  first  his  habits  of  industry,  his  sound  business  judgment, 
his  foresight,  and  his  rare  knowledge  of  men,  insured  success, 
and  he  soon  became  one  of  the  solid  and  substantial  business 
men  of  Nashua.  To  his  efforts  are  due  some  of  the  finest  busi- 
ness blocks  of  that  city  and  the  establishment  of  the  Second 
National  Bank  of  Nashua.  For  many  years  he  has  been  an  ex- 
tensive dealer  in  coal  ;  and  in  1876  became  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  management  of  the  Nashua  and  Lowell  Railroad. 
By  prompt,  daring,  and  aggressive  measures  Mr.  White  obtained 
control  of  the  corporation,  and  secured  a  recognition  of  the 
value  of  the  railroad,  and  caused  its  stock  to  be  greatly  enhanced 
in  value.  Although  a  Whig  and  later  a  Republican,  Mr.  White 
has  never  been  active  in  politics.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Rebellion  private  business  had  necessitated  his  presence  in 
Charleston,  S.  C,  where  he  was  granted  an  interview  with  his 
friend  Captain,  afterwards  General,  J.  G.  Foster,  U.  S.  A.,  who 
was  second  in  command  at  Fort  Sumter  before  the  bombard- 
ment. In  a  subsequent  interview  with  General  Scott  he  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  it  would  require  a  force  of  ten  thousand 
men  to  relieve  the  fortress,  while  the  authorities  considered  two 
thousand  men  an  ample  force. 


atives.  The 

h  to  their 
"•ii  and  the 
-•'•ice  from 
^  It  Concord 
'"ijii.  charges 
anient  the  dis- 
oi  the  State, 
i  been  Mr,  I, 


ttol 
Noders  of  the 
■ber  16,1821; 
(rf  which  James 
\  store  in  Bos- 
nmerof  184; 
hJBself.  From 
MS  judgment, 
success, 


Bstial 

tin  finest  busi- 
ol  the  Second 
'iis  been  an  ex- 
tsentiy  identi- 
«eil  Raitad. 
White  obtained 

.:T.;tion  of  the 

.,•,•;,;  enhanced 

'Mr.  White 

^^-■o'jtolthe 

_,  nresence  in 

,.;'eff  with  his 

-•  c  \,who 

,  .■..  bonibata- 

■;....  he  ex- 


;!il 


o  {^c^^-^::^.^^^ 


(2J^CiIj^^ 


188;: 


i 


ini      RHTEiLION. 


'  Ml     vVhite  is  treasurer  of  the  Nashua  and  Lowell  Raili^..  ' 
treasun-T  of  tic  Nashua  Savings  Bank,  president  of  the  St> 

National  ?5aiik  of  N;,vhua,  and  presilent  of  'he  White  Mout. 
Freez'T  C-  i'i;>any  an.;  of  the  Nash  i  i  1"'   r-rir  Light  Com|)any. 

If  any  one  family  may  be  said  b-en  identified  with 

the  ince[:tion  and  <;ro\Vth  of  the  ramoaii  <«ys{<  m  of  the  State, 
it    is    the    Spalding    family   of    Nashua.      '  "-     'ling.    Dr. 

Edward  Spalding,  K.   H.  Spalding,  and    I  'ing  are 

names  well  known  in  railroad  circles. 

Dr.  Edwan;  Spalding,  pTcsident  of   the  Pel,  ■  '   ■' 

road,  and  one  of  the  most   n'spected  citizens  of 
born  in  Arnherst,  September  15,   1813.      He  was  the   st.n  of 
Dr.    Matthias    ..nd    Reber        '''    it  worth    (Athcrton)   S 
arid  a  descendant  of  the  j  I'uitan,  Edward  Sji.' 

Braintree,   Mass.,  in    1632,  Kdward  Johnson  of    Woburn,   and 
Joshua  Atherton   of   Amherst.     He   graduated*  at   D 
College  in  1833,  studied  medicine  with  his  father,  and  - 
Nashua  in  1837.     He  practised  his  profession  for  twenty  years, 
until  gradually  he;  wiis  '  10  relinquish  it  to  care  for  i'; 

tant  financial  trusts  cl  .;...  .  :^>  him.  President  of  the  N.i;  ..u  . 
Savings  Bank,  of  the  Indiin  Head  National  Bank,  and  of  tht 
Pennichuck  V.  ai-r-w.  or  of  each  of  the  t'wo  cotton 

manufacturing  <.:ornp,u   .  ^    -^  dia,  a  trustee  of  Dartnv  •  ^'" 

College,  of  thi-  A:;ricul-L;.:i;  loiiu-e,  and  of  the  Nashua  .1' 
Library,  and  a  patron  of  literary,  historical,  and  geneajo;  ical 
enterpris''.'^.  overwhelmed  with'carcs  and  trusts,  he  has  yet  f  ■  ' 
timetosc.c  his  fellow-citizens  in  important  offices.  H. 
mayor  of  N  >'iua  in  1864,  and  a  delegate  to  the  Baltimore  con*- 
vention  '  i..-  same  year,  a  member  of  the  con^fitutional  conven- 
tion in  1876,  and  a  councillor  in  1878  and  r879. 

Dr.  Spalding  was  married  June  23,  r842,  to  Don.  Everett  Barrett.  Of 
their  tJiree  children,  a  son,  Kdward  Atherioti  Spfilding,  died  in  boyhood,  and 
two  daugliters  ar€  living. 

Atti-r  the  establishment  of  railroads  and  manufacturing  enter- 


«Mr    V; 

<-    vAS  inarfi'- 

i  in  1846  to  Caroline  ( 

ne.l.    . 

Prich.ird,  of  Bradf 

Wii-..      - 

ary,  ■"TO,  .ng«d  26  •. 

>f  J'ltufield,  who  ilied  in  iHf...     Uc  mAr 
'    flrei  died  in  inUqcir.     Hit  *-.m  Jimiw 


l888]  SINCE    THE    REBELLION.  695 

prises  throughout  the  State,  a  new  industry  was  developed,  /.  r, 
the  entertainment  of  summer  guests.  Such  are  the  attractions 
of  the  seaside,  mountain,  and  rural  scenery,  that  a  constantly 
increasing  throng  of  tourists  have  sought  through  the  summer 
months  to  enjoy  its  advantages  ;  and  sumptuous  hotels  have 
everywhere  been  erected  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  travelling 
public.  They  are  built  on  mountain  summits,  in  deep  gorges, 
in  the  valleys,  on  the  hillsides,  by  the  rivers,  and  on  the  borders 
of  beautiful  lakes.  The  sea-coast  of  the  State  is  fringed  with 
hotels  and  private  summer  residences. 

From  an  agricultural  State,  New  Hampshire  has  become  a 
manufacturing  centre  of  great  importance, —  the  Merrimack 
river  turning  more  spindles  than  any  other  stream  of  water  in  the 
world.  In  its  fall  of  five  hundred  feet  from  Lake  VVinnipi- 
siogee  to  the  ocean  it  is  nearly  everywhere  fettered  in  its  course  ; 
and  the  Lake,  a  reservoir  of  over  seventy  square  miles,  is  of  the 
greatest  service  to  commerce.  Manchester,  Nashua,  Dover. 
Concord,  Portsmouth,  and  Keene,  are  all  manufacturing  cities, 
Exeter,  Rochester,  Farmington,  Newmarket,  Epping,  Deering, 
Franklin,  Tilton,  Laconia,  Bristol,  Claremont,  Newport,  Peter- 
borough, Lebanon,  Lisbon,  Littleton,  Plymouth,  and  Berlin, 
are  important  manufacturing  towns.  Suncook,  Great  Falls,  and 
Lake  Village,  are  flourishing  manufacturing  communities.  Mills 
and  factories  are  on  every  stream  which  affords  power  ;  and 
shops  are  in  every  village. 

In  Concord,  early  in  the  century,  Louis  Downing  and  J. 
Stephens  Abbot  were  making  wagons  and  coaches ;  the  Abbot 
Downing  Co.  continued  the  work.  James  R.  Mill  made  har- 
nesses,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  business  by  George  H.  liimery 
and  J.  E.  Dwight.  Belting,  leather  hose,  granite  work,  silver 
ware,  churns,  furniture,  musical  instruments,  shoes,  machinery, 
stoves,  tools,  and  many  other  articles,  are  manufactured  at 
Concord. 

In  the  State  are  made  cotton  and  woollen  cloths,  locomotives, 
stockings,  glassware,  and  a  thousand  other  things. 

George  Henry  Emery  is  a  descendant  of  Anthony  Emery, 
of    Newburv,    Mass.,    in    1640.    and    later    of    Dover;   of  James 


696 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


[1888 


Emery,  a  representative  to  the  General  Court  in  1676;  of  Job 
Emery  of  Kittery  in  1699  ;  of  Joseph  Emery,  of  Job  Iilmery,  of 
Ichabod  Emery,  and  of  Joseph  Emery  of  Stratham,  his  father, 
who  was  a  skilled  machinist  and  a  farmer.  George  H.  Emery 
was  born  in  Stratham,  May  12,  1836,  received  his  education  in 


GEORGE    HENRY    EMERY. 


the  public  schools  of  Concord,  and  in  boyhood  "went  West." 
He  became  a  professor  in  Bell's  Commercial  College  in  Chicago. 
During  a  visit  to  his  old  home  in  Concord  in  1859  he  was 
offered  a  situation,  and  accepted  it.  His  energy,  sagacity,  and 
executive  ability  were  soon  recognized.  In  1865  he  was  admitted 
as  a  member  of  the  firm,  and  became  the  senior  in   1884.     He 


698  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE.  ['^88 

was  married  September  12,  1861,  to  Abbie  W.  Clark.  Three 
daughters  grace  his  home. 

Mr.  Emery  is  a  representative  of  the  active  and  enterprising 
younger  business  men  who  have  been  building  up  and  sustain- 
ing manufacturing  enterprises,  and  reaching  for  a  market  for 
their  products  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  world.  He  directs 
a  great  industry  with  apparent  ease,  and  finds  time  to  devote 
to  the  amenities  of  life  and  to  social  duties. 

The  writer  has  endeavored  to  condense  into  one  volume  the 
history  of  a  great  commonwealth  from  its  first  beginnings  at 
Little  Harbor  in  1623  to  the  year  1888,  a  period  of  two  hundred 
and  sixty-five  years.  That  he  has  omitted  much  of  interest  will 
not  be  denied.  The  task  of  enlarging  upon  historical  facts  and 
placing  them  on  record  will  be  continued  in  the  pages  of  the 
Granite  MontJily.  New  Hampshire  is  a  charming  place  to  live 
in.  The  air  is  bracing,  dry,  and  salubrious ;  the  climate  is  in- 
vigorating ;  the  scenery  is  everywhere  attractive,  in  places 
grand  ;  the  water  is  pure  ;  the  drainage  is  perfect ;  the  women 
are  fair  and  pure  minded  ;  the  men  are  honest  and  honorable.  In 
no  other  State  of  the  Union,  perhaps,  is  a  deeper  interest  mani- 
fested in  the  doings  of  the  pioneers.  The  people  of  every  com- 
munity live  and  build  as  if  they  were  satisfied  with  the  State  as 
a  home  and  did  not  expect  to  move  on.  The  Commonwealth  for 
over  a  century  has  been  a  nursery  of  men  and  women  who  have 
gone  forth  into  other  States  to  build  up  and  improve  the  homes 
of  their  adoption.     The  West  is  full  of  them. 


PoiHLATIOX    01 

Nkw 

II\MI' 

s  1 1 1 R I : . 

Counties. 

i«So. 

1870. 

i860. 

1850. 

1840. 

lS,f,. 

1820. 

1810. 

1800. 

Belknap, 

i7i97i 

i7,6Si 

18,549 

17,721 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Carroll, 

18,291 

17,332 

20,465 

20,157 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Cheshire, 

28,840 

27,265 

27,434 

30,144 

62,429 

27,016 

45,376 

40,988 

38,82s 

Coos,    . 

18,615 

14,932 

13, "ii 

",853 

9,849 

8,388 

4,549 

3,99' 

— 

Grafton, 

38,802 

39,103 

42,260 

42,343 

42,3" 

38,682 

32,989 

28,462 

23.093 

Hillsborough, 

75,583 

64,238 

62 , I 40 

57,478 

42>494 

37,724 

53,884 

49,249 

43,899 

Merrimack,  . 

46,291 

42,151 

4 1 , 408 

40,337 

36,253 

34,614 

— 

— 

— 

Rockingham, 

49,110 

47,297 

50,122 

49,194 

45,771 

44,325 

55,107 

50,175 

45,427 

Strafford,      . 

35,593 

30,243 

31,493 

29,374 

61,127 

58,910 

51,117 

41,595 

32,614 

Sullivan, 

18,162 

18,058 

19,042 

19,375 

20,340 

19,669 

— 

— 

— 

Total,       .        347,3"     318,300    326,073     317,976    284,574   269,328     244,022    214,460     183,858 


I  N  D  H  X. 


Abbott  307. 

Allen.stown  149  235  336337450 

Benj.  433  666. 

(•33. 

Ephraim  132. 

Allin,  Edward  99. 

J.  C.  612  624. 

Allison,  Samuel  142. 

J.  C.  A.  23  133. 

.Almonie,  Robert  100. 

J.  Stephens  693. 

.'\lstead  261  279  290  334  3S7. 

Joshua  339  34'- 

Centre  261. 

Abenakis  306. 

.Aniazeen  128. 

Abercrombie,  Gen.  236  245246289. 

Ambrose,  Alice  61. 

Aberdeen,  Scotland  362. 

Henry  48. 

Abigail,  Squaw  144. 

America    So  103  140  152   175   192 

Abolitionist  607. 

200  219  239  248  250  252   29S 

Acadie  79  117. 

344  348  354  368  39S  402   419 

Ackland,  jMajor  387. 

424   471   483  48S   501   507  597 

Ac\voRTH28i,  335  337  39°- 

604  631   635  636  640  641    645 

Adams  276  657  669  670. 

664. 

Academy  654. 

American  201   203  205  227  233  250 

Ephraim  40S. 

252  291   299  31S  320  321  322 

Hugh  176. 

325-327  328  331  339  340  346 

James  142. 

358.  360  364  378  381  3S3  406 

James  O.  655. 

423   453   488  49"   50'   507  535 

John  142,  176  353. 

552   571   605  612  635  636  640 

John  481  507  541.    ■ 

642  643  644  645  652. 

John  Q  491. 

Academy  of  Arts  298  375. 

Joseph  135. 

Army  289  385. 

Nathaniel  650. 

Colonies  230  240. 

Phinehas  533  542  553. 

Home  600. 

Samuel  303  305  334  371. 

Patriot  4S0. 

Winbom  387. 

Amesbury,  Mass.  113   146  422  42S 

Adjutant-Gen.  335  495  496  611. 

677  6S1. 

Admiralty  Court  300. 

Amherst  66  70   167  176  206  264 

Advent  642. 

453  462  499  527  53962 1  622  623. 

Africa  520. 

Cabmet  4S0  50S  574  655. 

African  420. 

General  246  247  291. 

Agamenticus  Mt.  40. 

Ammonoosuc  R.  R.  574. 

(ship)  614. 

river  233  332  333  335  338  339408. 

Agiochook  669. 

Among  the  Clouds  6f>9. 

Agricultural  Coll.  523. 

Amoskeag  149  208  233  39S  476  477 

Aiken,  Andrew  339. 

530  531   532    533  553   563    596 

Aiken,  James  142  212. 

597- 

John  145  147  14S. 

Falls  89  139  557647- 

Nathaniel  142. 

Hotel  557. 

Walter  671. 

Manuf.  Co.  658. 

Aix  la  Chapelle  230. 

Veterans  613. 

Alabama  582  611. 

Amran,  Rev.  S.  148. 

Albany  281. 

Anabaptist  41  49  54. 

Albany,   N.  Y.    63  162  231  233  236 

Anasagunticook  307. 

241    348  365    381    389  445  47.1 

!  Anderson,  Allen  142. 

5";- 

1      James  142. 

Albee,  John  38  125. 

John  142. 

Aldrich  276. 

Robert  612. 

( leorge  334. 

An  DOVER  464  520  576. 

Alexander  Col.  392. 

1      Mass.   145  156  159  164  167  197 

James  142. 

322  553- 

John  633. 

.Andre,  Major  392. 

Randel  142. 

Andrew  86  89. 

Algonquin  21. 

Sergt.  338. 

Allen,  C.  W.  2.2. 

.Andros,  Sir  Ldmnnd  79  90  103  106 

Daniel  132. 

107  no  123. 

John  132. 

-Androscoggin  iS  S7  117. 

Josinh  337. 

Angel  fJabriel  635. 

Samuel  107  121  123  128  133  1/5. 

.Annals  of  Lynn  195. 

Stephen  212. 

.Annapolis,  Md.  623. 

Thomas  133. 

1  Antietam  618  621  623  625. 

William  131- 

1  Antifederalist  416  417. 

Co 

mplle.l  hy  .I..I111  T.  :iii.l  IMivanl  P.  McClIn 

Antinomians  40  41  49. 
Antrim   108  182  462   554  601  6]] 
667. 
Apollo  35.). 
Apostles  52^. 
.Appeal  to  kmg  65. 
Applebce  276. 
Appledore  60. 
Appleton,  Ur.  552. 

Academy  654. 

Jesse  70. 
Applcton's  Cyclopsedia  68f». 
Appomatox  643. 
Apthorp  279  302  304  414. 
Aquadahian  55. 
Arbuckel,  R«l>ert  142. 
Arcadians  231. 
Archibald,  John  142  196. 
Ardell,  Wm.  130. 
Ardra,  Ireland  356. 
Argus  and  .Spectator  655. 
Arlington  219. 
Armenia,  Turkey  520. 
Armour,  Andrew  196. 
Armstrong,  John  196. 
Army  of  the  (Julf  625-627-62S. 

of  the  James  6i6  619  620  624  626 
627. 

of  the  Potomac6i6  62i  623  626. 

of  the  United  States  346. 
Arnold,  Benedict    345  365  386  39c 
392- 
Articles  of  ConfederaHo"  4«8. 
Ash  276. 

Ashburton  Treaty  s*!'-. 
Ashland  663  668. 
.Ashley,  Sam.  279  2'<«>. 
Asluielot  Bank  599 

R.  R.  574. 

River  391. 
.Assembly  95-97  lor  104  117  12R- 
132  134  137  14S  162  175  I7<> 
■So  1K2  189  198  204  211  252 
253  267  268  291  300  301  342 
346  349-35'   363    378    420  4*'' 

Asten,  Abiel  156  159. 
Athenian  381. 
Athens  344. 
Atherton  441. 
Charles  394. 
Charles  ('>.  594  598  600. 
Charles  H.  467  651. 
.       loshua  417  5S2. 
I      BilU..)!. 

i  Atkinson  2S7  373  406654. 
I      Academy  461. 
'      George  403  4i>7. 
Samuel  339. 

Theodore    125    126  128  1311    ''•2 

174    175  205  111   355  3'"    <*« 

423  424  425  426  514 

Atlantic  18  20  1S4  185  230  266  js'i 

642. 

&  St.  Lawrence  R.  R.  574 


JiXDEX. 


Attorney-Cjeneral  300. 
Atwood,  John  601. 
Auburn  145  149  267. 
Aulb,  John  47. 
Austin  Academy  654. 

Hope  535. 

Joseph  4S. 

Misses  670. 
Austria  487. 
Austrian  Mission  630. 
Austyn,  Theo.  99. 
Avery,  Daniel  25S. 
Averytown  257. 
Ayer,  Ebenezer  156  151)  215. 

F.  D.  164  167  559. 

R.  H.  509. 

Babbett,  Geo.  M.  473. 

J.  W.  625. 
Bacon,  Bishop  645. 
Badger  654. 

Joseph  406  417  459  569. 

Wm.  569  570  571  b2o. 
Bailey  2  76  390. 

E.  L.  615  616. 

Jonathan  302. 
Bahamas  501. 
Baker,  Abel  604. 

Abigail  658. 

Isaac  65S. 

James  207. 

John  76. 

Joseph  4S3. 

Mark  97. 

Moses  270  409. 

Nath'l  B.  604. 

O.  C.  658  ..59 

Samuel  389. 

Wm.  262. 
Baker's  Corner  260  262, 

Pond  228. 

River  226  22S  398. 
Balch,  John  42S. 
Baldwin,  Mr.  273. 

Col.  469  510. 

Henry  47. 

Isaac  289  33S. 

Thomas  263. 
Ball,  Capt.  387  390. 

B.  L.  671. 

Peter  100. 
Ballard,  Ebenezer  275. 

John  207. 

Joseph  275. 
Ballock,  G.  W.  622. 
Baltimore  577  643. 
Bancroft,  Geo.  320329  383  399  666. 
Bandfield,  Jno.  100. 
Bannister,  Warner  261. 
Baptist   71  195  197  260  261  264  277 
488  490  505   522  523   530   559 
566. 
Barbadoes  61  64  105  287. 
Barclay,  Capt.  317  350. 
Barber,  Daniel  281. 
linrefoote,  Walter  61  96  loi  102  104 
105  423. 
I'.arker,  T.  E.  616  627. 

T.  A.  628. 
Barnard,  Jeremiah  176. 
F'arlow,  Geo.  48. 
Harnett,  John  142. 

Moses  142. 
I5arney,  Humphrey  99. 
Barnstable  41  195. 
Barnstead  173  211  569633. 
Barn  urn,  P.  T.  262. 
Baron  de  St.  Castine  1 10. 

Dieskan  233. 
Barr,  John  142. 


Barr,  Samuel  142. 

Barrett  276. 

Barrington  143  149211  251  337. 

Barron,  Elias  156  159  160. 

Micah  464. 
Barry,  J.  E.  644. 

Thorn.  634. 
Barstow,  Geo.  515  527. 
Bartlett,  433. 

Bradbury  502  514  515  546  600. 

Charles  H.  67S  679. 

Ichabod,  564  566  568  Coo  651 
667. 

John  100. 

J.  C.  526. 

Jane  678. 

John  678. 

Josiah  367  381  393  394  403  417 

419  428  429  430  431  432  434  444 

446  448. 

Richard  539  651  678. 

Samuel  C.  516  668. 

Thomas  344.345  3^7  407- 
Bartlett's  Dictionary  310. 
Barton,  Cyrus  600. 

Goodwife  57. 

I.  McL.  612  622 

Josiah  334. 
Basques  20. 
Batchelder,  Benjamin  133. 

Daniel  599. 

Elijah  458. 

Increase  290. 

John  290. 

Nathan  55  133  40S. 

Nathaniel  97. 

R.  N.  612. 

Stephen  42  48  53  69. 
Bates,  Dexter  261. 
Bath  263  409  618  654. 

Me.  617. 
Bayard,  J.  A.  471  472. 
Bay  Colony    32  44  45  47  6S  72  >i2 
170172. 

Magistratis  46. 

State  454. 

of  Fundy  231. 
Bayley,  Josiah  133. 
Beal,  Capt.  Hezekiah  389. 

Joseph  47. 
Beaman,  John  207. 
Bean,  John  98  207. 

Jonathan  270. 

Joseph  286. 

Lieut.  286. 

S.  C.  651. 

Sinclair  553. 
Beard,  Joseph  99. 

Wm."85. 

Robert  208. 

Thomas  47. 
Beaver  River  196. 
Beaufort  619. 
Beckwith,  Eben  260. 
Bedelj  Hazeii  600. 

John  5SS  599  618  619  656. 

iVIoody  4S9  494  505  588  61S. 

Timothy  378  409  618. 
Bedford  214  239  240  241  337  633. 
Beede,  Daniel  459. 
Belcher,  Jonathan  173  174  175  176 
178  183  184  187  188423. 
Belfast,  Me.  356. 

Belknap,  Jeremy  21  23  24  25  26  36 

37  3S  39  95  '57  158  17S  '99  2M 

26S-303  363  379  430  432. 

Co.  626  . 

Geo.  E.  630. 

William  276. 
Bell,  128. 


Bell,  Charles  H.  366  376  378  450 
553  ^5'  661  674-676  684. 
Ensign  387. 
Fred  387. 

James  257  600  605  606. 
John  142  450  611  675. 
Jonathan  526. 
Joseph  578. 
Louis  612  619  620. 
Persis  T.  675. 
Samuel  448  511   514  515  524  525 

526  533  553  570  595  6^i'<>75- 

Samuel  Dana  651  675. 

&  Tuck  675  682. 
Belletre,  Mons.  248. 
Bellingham,  Rich.  54  74. 
Bellona  557. 
Bellows,  Benjamin  219  417. 

Herbert  A.  613. 

Chief  Justice  Henry  A.  577. 

Falls  462. 
Belmon't  256  257  569. 
Belvidere  83. 
Bemis  Heights  346  388. 

Station  661. 
Bennington  274. 

Vt.  372  382  383  384   391  407  412 
419  481  545  668  672. 
Benton  279. 

Jacob  678. 

lames  408. 
Berlin  287288483  488. 
Bermuda  501. 
Berry,  James  132. 

Joseph  132  163. 

Nathaniel  132. 

Nathaniel  S.  576  617.  1 

William  47.  j 

Berwick,  Me.  160  161  356  360  361.     I 
Bethel  535.  ' 

Bethlehem  414  660. 
Belton,  James  408. 
Betts  639. 

Beverly,  Mass.  540. 
Bible  171  255. 
Biblical  Journal  258. 
Bickford,  John  99.  • 

William  210. 
Bicknall,  Nathaniel  263. 
Biddeford,  Me.  i6r. 
Bill  276. 

Billerica,  Mass.   156  262   322   469 
657. 
Billings,  John  47. 
Billy  249. 
Bilsby,  Eng.  41. 
Bingham  436. 

Elisha  263. 

Harry  687  689. 
Bird,  Samuel  213. 
Bishop  276. 

Elder  263. 

Thomas  323. 
Bixby,  Phin.  P.  623. 
Black,  Israel  133. 

Brook  53 1 . 

Point  89  I J  8. 

Rocks  85. 
Blackbourne  293. 
Hlackstone  453. 

Blackwater  River  553.  ] 

Blaine,  T.  G.  608.  : 

Blair,  H.  W.  409628.  ; 

James  142.  j 

John  142.  1 

Montgomery  541.  ] 

Blake,  Amos  J.  290  342  365. 

John  97. 

Moses  133  304. 

Nathan,  207. 


/XDEX. 


Ill 


Blake,  Philip  133 

Timothy  134 
Blake's  Pond  304 
Blanchard,  Abel,  5:;2 

Colonel  213  233  234  297 

David  5S6 

Jonathan  167  403  419  421 

Joseph  14S 

Richard  A.  57S 

Thomas  154 
Blind  Will  S9 
Bliss  276 

W.  W.  S.  599 
Blodgett  212 

Newcomb  27S,  531 

Samuel  477  563 
Blood  213 

Aretas  593  674 

Caleb  260 

Ebenezer  335 

Ephraim  340 

Francis  403  406 

James  674 

Joseph  335 

Nathan  340 
Bloody  Point  46  -2  135  234 
Blunt,  John  125 
Board  of  Assistants  50 

of  Trade  loi  105  183 
Boardman,  Joseph  367 
Boating  Company  475 
Bohonnon,  Andrew  177 
Boiling  Rock  73 
Bologna  219 
Bolton,  Conn,  276 
Bon  Secour  639 
Bonny  Place  576 
Boott's  Spur  37 
Borough  543 

BOSCAWEN  i6g  176  206  264  2S5  33S 
339  454  464  473  499  554  55^  57^ 

Admiral  177  192  194 
Boston  37  39-43  50  54  60  62  63  65  69 
-73  79 81  iiS  103  104  106  107  in 
iiS  123  129  134  13S  139  150  182 
183   201   204  210  217  236  261 
2S0  2S7  293  297  302  316-322  326 
329  333   335   338   339  342   344 
345  355  358  360  363  364  3S1  391 
408414  419424  426449450457 
458462  467-469  475  478  499  506 
510  540  541  544  550  556  557  561 
562  572  575  586596597600607 
622  671 
Boston  Common  327  455 
Concord  &  Mont.  R.  R.  573  600 
Courier  563 
Journal  649 
Liberator  5S5 
&  Lowell  R.  R.  468  469 
&  Maine  R.  R.  573 
Neck  364 
News  Letter  194 
Pilot  642 
Post  Boy  194 
Botta  329 

Boulter,  Nathaniel  97 
Boundaries  iS 

Boundary-line  Com'n  181  1S2  185 
Bourget,  Bishop  636 
Bourne,  Lizzie  671 
Bouton,  Nathaniel  34  51   155    167 
214267268335  337559650651 
BoutweU,  James  197 
Bow  157  161   171   173  176  ig8  211 
214  215  221222224  225234  235 
265  266  33b  33S  461  477  510  525 
564 
Act  224  235 


Bowdoin  College  70  591 
Bowen,  John  554 

Peter  554 
Bowers,  464 

George  599  627 
Boyd,  Nathan  337 
Boyes,  Wattliew  53 
Boyle  276 

Boyne,  Battle  of  482 
Boynton,  Jacob  340 
Brackett  163 

Academy  554 

Anthony  47 

A.  N.  670 

Joshua  431 

William  47 
Braddock,  General  231  235 
Bradford  338  4O4  554 

(Historian)  28 

^lass.  i6  146  672 

Captain  273 
Bradley,  Dennis  yi.  045 

Jonathan  207 

Samuel  207 

Sarah  524 
Bradstreet,  Dorothy  69 

Nathan  147 

Simon  52  6g  74  107 
Braintree,  Mass.  41 
Brakin,  Wm.  47 
Bratnen  597 
Bramhall,  George  100 
Brandywine  340  354 
Brant  355 
Brassy  639 
Bratz,  Mons.  du  82 
Breakfast  Hill  114 
Breckeuridge,  J.  C.  611 
Breed's  Hill,  31S  321  323  328  363 
Brentwood  197  388 
Breton  20 
Brewer,  Colonel  324  331 

Ensign  241 
Brewster  428 

C.  W.  95 
Nero  395 

Brewster's  Ram'oles  268 
Breyman,  Col.  3S7 
Bridge,  Ebenezer  322  332 
Bridgew.\ter  2S1  458  526  527 
Bridgeman's  Fort  207  20S 
Briggs,  T.  F.  626  668 
John  668 
Nancy  F.  668 
Nathan  388 
Brigham,  David  277 
Bristol  526  617 
Eng.  22  24  46 
R.  1.  82 
British  174  192  231  232  239  240  245 
248  250  295  298  299  3i4  3t8- 
327329331  339340342343350 
353  354  359363-3653693*^2383 
385  387  391-393  396  39S  425  448 
488  491  501  502  505507550631 
640 
Brittany  20 
Broadhead,  John  459 
Broderick,  633 

J-  337 
Broeck,  Ten  387 
Brookin,  William  100 
Brookline  2S7  337 
Brooks,  Major  323 

General  3.87 
Brown,  Arthur  178  249  589 

Colonel  290 

D.  A.  619 
Elizabeth  249 
Francis  261  508 


Brown,  Hannah  339 

Hugh  196 

James  335 

John  48  100  133  592 

Joseph  70 

Josiah  334 

Michael  99 

S.  F.  619 

Timothy  207 

William  133 

William  L  625  ^20 

University  59S  Sr)  O20 
Brunswick,  f.ic.  70 
Bryant,  John  .32 

Kobert  132 

Walter  157  iSS 
liuchanan,  James  501,  608 
Buckminster,  Joseph  71 

Lieut.  Col.  324 
Buckstreet  171  235 
Buena  Vista  599 
Buffee,  Thomas  334 
Bulkley ,  Peter  67 
Bull,  Dixy  37 

Run  612  615  616622  623 
BuUgar,  Richard  48  53 
Buoncomiiagni,  Hugo  219 
Bunker  Hill  257  274  2.S9  299  316 
318  32>3-i3  325  327  330  331-335 
336339-346  363  370  40S  550634 
653 
Burbank  Moses  177 

Samuel  207 
Bureau  of  Education  520 
Burge  213 

Burke,  Edmund  577  6S9 
Burleigh,  M.  C.  613 

Place  554 
Burlington  494 
Buniap,  Jacob  212 
Burnet,  William  152  173 
Burnham,  Abraham  459 

Abraham  W.  522 

Elizabeth  153 

S.  O.  615 
Bums  143 

Charies  A.  661 

Charles  H.  661  662 

Elizabeth  H.  601 

John  303-601 
Burnside,  Gen.  622 
Burpee,  Nathaniel  262 
Bun-,  Aaron  449 
Burt  276 
Burroughs,  Dr.  591 

Charles  551 

Joseph  65 
Burton  281 
Bur\-,  Eng.  668 
Butler  499 

Benj.  V.  345  625  630  681 

Henry  345-49' 

John  212 

Judge  538 

Tobias  633 

William  634 

Zephaniah  345 
Butler's  Tavern  461 
Butterfield,  J.  Ware  627 
Butt's  Hill  354 
Buzzell  673 

Caldwell,  James  142  ig6 
Calf,  John  144  146  148  439 

Robert  14S 
Cahoon,  G.  C.  6.V) 
California  sgc)  60S 
Calisto,  Mari-  261  262 
Call,  Philip  553  554 

Stephen  285  553 


nVDEX. 


Callahan  633-634 
Calvin  68 

Cambridge,  Eng.  49 
Cambridge  College,  Eng.  70  71 
Cambridge,  Mass.  201  274  314  322 
331  332  340  342  343  344  363  380 
447  574 
Camden,  N.  C.  622 
Cameron,  Simon  611  612 
Cammet,  Silas  269 
Campbell,  Daniel 
Henry  196 
James  142 
John  ig6 
Campton  409  287  300 
Canaan  263  45S  654  660  685 
Canada  24  86  89  no  in   112   114 
115   118   119   152   154   157   162 
205  207  208  210  211  212  230 
245  246  255  271   275  278  280 
306  307  345  346  365   378  379 
396  398  433  469  53^-  554  5S7 
588  63s 
Canadians  636 
Canal  Company  475 
Canaugh,  Jeremy  98 
Candia  145  146  148   149  267  279 
333  408  646 
Canie,  Joseph  99 
Canney,  Thomas  47 
Canning,  Thomas  135 
Canseau,  199  205  317 
Canterbury  173  207208  211  256 
302  3S8  395  40S  421  545  583  584 
633 
Carthy  632 
Cape  Ann  23  39 

Breton  198  199  280  289  632 
Cod  21 
Capitol  565 

Cardigan  Mount  434  435 
Cargill,  David  142 
Carlton  or  Carleton 
David  334 
Edward  53 
George  334  365 
Robert  414 
Theodore  367 
Carling,  S.  J.  59S 
Carpenter,  Abraham  264 
Frank  P.  674 
Philip  67S 
Carr,  John  153  268  269 

Jesse  576  338 
Carre,  Sir  Robert  61 
Carribee  Islands  178 
Carrigain  633 
Carrigan's  Mass  235 
Carrington,  H.  B.  318,  363 
Carroll  Co.  627  685 
Carter,  Ezra  214  235 
Philip  98 
Stephen  334 
S.  A.  628 
William  G. 
Carthaginians  82 
Cartier,  Jacques  20 
Cartwright,  George  61 

Rev.  Dr.  530 
Casco  Bay  51  90  115  117 
Case,  Samuel  100 
C'asey  634 
Cass,  Benjamin  270 
Jonathan  371 
John  134 
Joseph  97  134 
Lewis  371  501  565  666 
Samuel  97 
Castle  Island  645 
Castine  91  1 16  117 


Castine,  Baron  de  St.  gi 
Caswell,  Me.  263 

Nathan  414 

Robert  48 
Cate,  A.  P.  600 

Edward  99 

John  132 

William  100 
Cathedral  645 

Catholic    no  139  219  635  636  640 
642  643  645 
Cattor,  widow  99 
Cavis,  C.  H.  V.  671 
Cawkwell,  Eng.  71 
Cavalry  N.  H.  629,  630 
Cedar  Swamp  580 
Celebrating  Christmas  a  crime  63 
Celtic  356  632 
Celts  634 
Centennial  663 
Center,  Jacob  461 
Centre  Harbor  2S1  458  459  460 
Cerberus  (ship)  323. 
Chadburne,  Humphrey  35  47 

William  47 
Chads,  Captain  323 
Chamberlain,  Benjamin  142 

Ebenezer  460 

John  156  159 

Levi  600  651 

Richard  loi  104 
Champernoon,  Francis  104 
Champlain  21 
Chandler,  Abial  339 

Benjamin  671 

Geo.  H.  625 

John  195  214  235 
Chandler,  Zachariah  520  439 

William  E.  660  685  686  687 

Peak  671 

School  521 
Chancellorsville  621  627 
Chantilly  623 
Chapman,  Calvin  195 
Charges  against  Puritans  62  63  64 
Charles  I.  21  64  189 

II.  51  65  69  93  105  139  223  453 

River  33  38  194  321  322  469 
Charleston,  S.  C.  619  624  652 

Harbor  612 
Charlestown  177  206208  209  210 
221  264  278  293  335  509  586588 
605  654 

Convention  435 

Mass  319  320  321  322  323  327  333 

335  336  340  407  408  42S  436  45 1 

468  469  635 

Neck  338  343 
Charming  Fare  148  267 
Chase  521 

Benjamin  144  267 

Carlton  5S9 

Home  674 

James  98 

John  414 

Moses  406  439 

Philander  590 

Rachel  98 

Salmon  P.  406  611  630  647 

Stephen  125 

Thomas  48  98 
Chatham  287 
Chatterton,  Thomas  47 

Michael  47 
Chaudiere  536 
Chaucey,  Dr.  201 
Chelmsford  46S  509  550 
Cheney,  Benjamin  P.  600 

Person  C.  627  662  663  664 

Thomas  P.  622 


Cherokees  249 
Cherry  Mount  304  306 
Cheshire  144  145 

County  254  332  436  454  585 

R.  R.  573 
Cheshire  Republican  262  601  655 
Chesley,  Captain  117 

George  153 

Phillips  99 

Thomas  09 

Chester  141  143  144  145  146  147 

148  149  153  206211  267  26S  333 

389  40S  4n  450  464   526  555 

654  672 

Centre  145  267 

Eng.  70 

Captain  330 
Chesterfield  219  334  409  436  449 
458  607  634 
Chestnut  country  143  267 
Chevalier,  Jno.  100 
Chicago  59S  685 

Convention  684^ 
Chichester  173  211  337  389  455 
544 
China  520 
Chiniquy  635 
Chippewa  505 
Chiswick  302  414 
Chittendon  436 
Choate  143 
Christian  220  260  277 

Brothers  645 
Christie  or  Cristi  169 

Daniel  M.  554  594  667 

Jesse  142 
Christo  et  Ecclesese  201 
Church  Iddo  3S8 

John  99  114 

Tohn  H.  212 

History  68 

and  State  68 

of  England  133  590 

of  Refuge 

of  Rome  68 
Churchill,  Henry  627 
Churchman  46  49  74  589 
C'illey  634 

Bradbury  504 

Cutting  345 

D.  P.  290 

Joseph  334  346  347  368  372  386 
.  387  388  389  390  413  439 
Cincinnati  679 
Circuit  Court  480 
City  of  Brotherly  Love  557 
Claggett,  Clifton  486 

Wyseman  300  301 
Clapp,  E.  W.  540 
Claremont  279  281  388  462  590 
592  605  654  693 

Junction  281 
Clark  or  Clarke  276  633 

Abraham  99 

Arthur  48 

Daniel  605  606  613  680 

(Tieenleaf  654 

James  142 

John  70  98 

John  B.  654  655 

Joseph  B.  657 

Julia  654 

"Major  98  387 

Matthew  142 

Rev.  148 

Samuel  100  137 

Thomas  66  76  gS 

Ward  n8 
Clay,  Henry  541  609  646 

John  270 


INDEX. 


Clear  Stream  536 
Clements  loi  103 

Job  94  99 

Robert  54 

Sarah  217 
Clendenin,  Andrew  142 

Arch.  142 
Cleveland  247 

Pres.  629 
•Clifford  655 

Israel  134-9S 

Jacob  134 

John  9S 

John  Jr.  98 

Zachariah  134 
Clinch,  Jno. 
Clinton  491 

General  319  322  329  333  354 

Iowa  604 
Clogstone,  Paul  335 
Cloiigh  302 

Jeremiah  408 

John  526 

Jos.  M.  629 
Cloves,  Elijah  334 
Clyde,  Daniel  196 
Cobbett  or  Corbett  632 

Abraham  62  64 
'Thomas  107  loS  ' 
Cobbett's  Pond  187  195 
Cobleigh  276 
Cobiirn,  Andrew  387 
Cocheco  27  67  87  89  no   III    113 
114  119  633 
Cochran,  Admiral  501 

Chauncey  566 

James  413  414 

John  178  196 

Ninin  142 

Peter  142  147 

Robert  142 

Sally  566  56S  569 

Thomas  142  147 

William  142 

William  H.  D.  626 
Cod,  Cape  21 
Coe,  Curtis  174  176 

Joseph  339 
Coffin,  Enoch  164 

C.  C.  649 

John  T.  55 

Peter  76  95  98  in  iiS 

Samuel  539 
Cogan  633 
Cogswell  654  685 

Col.  337 

Jos.  G.  666 

L.  W.  626 

Thomas  439  628  681  684  689 

William  431  536  569 
Cohos  303 

Coit,  Henry  A.  606  654 
Colburn  212  213 

Andrew  342 

Thomas  340 
Colby  276 

Academy  654 

Anthony  594 

Benaiah  146 

Enoch  146  26S 

Fred  Myron  189  347  361  379  382 
393  444  450  551  569  570  57' 

John  70  2S4 

Joseph  594  595 

Rev.  148 

Simeon  P.  576 
Colchester  279 
Colcord,  Edward  48  52  76  97 

Peter  153 

Samuel  97  12S 


Cold  Friday  4S5 

Harbor  bi6  621  623  626 

Water  Army  535 
Cule  276 

Abraham  98 

Eunice  60 

Isaac  98 

John  334 

Matthew  47 

Samuel  280 
CoLEBROOK  58S  592  654 
Coleman,  Anna  61 

Jabez  iiS  154 

William  452 
Collins  Ephraim  554 

(ohn  2S6 

Moses  A.  626 

Thomas  337 
Colmer,  Abraham  25 
Colonial  Confederation  231 

Laws  308  309  310  311  312  313 
Colonies  252  370 
Colorado  631 
Colt,  Captain  330 
Colton,  Chester  197 
Columbus  20 
Comach,  Thomas  47 
Combination  42 

of  N.  E.  Colonies  77 
Commercial  Bulletin  649 
Commissioners  185 
Committee  on  Claims  586 

oil  Finance  659 

of  Safety  280  293  294  295  297  298 
320  323  332  343  345  347  349350 
361  366  370  372  373  377  378  381 

4074214284-45447 

Commonwealth  403  470  513  514  558 
^  Eng.  SI  _  695 

Company  of  Laconia  24  26 

Comstock,  Azariah  388 
Cyrus  261 

Conaghie,  John  142 

Conant,  Wm.  263 

Concord  21  140  164  165  167  171 
179  206-208  215  217228249258 
275  276  2S5  286337  338339383 
3S9  396  402  406  411  414  417  428 
432  44'  446  447  450  453  455  45^ 
461  462  469  475  476  478  480  484 
490  494  508-512  522  523  530  539 

543  544  554  559  56°  563  564  566 
568  572  574  576  583  591  593  596 
600-606612  615-628630633644 
651  654655657661  667674679 

6S1  685  686  693 
Mass.  156  318  320  363  373  674 
Bridge  447 

&  Claremont  R.  R.  574 
Depot  6go 
Gazette  480 

R.  R.  564  600  689  691  692 
Vermont  689 
Conemaugh  (ship)  614 
Confederate  612  652 
Congregational  Church  68  70  145 
147  164  257  258  259  260  261  263 
264  268277  280  281  290421  460 
490  505  510  584  585  677  684 
Congress  253  255  292  295  29S  314 
342  346  347  349  352  354  355  363 
36537037'  373  376377378381 
382  383  393  399  402  403  406  407 
412  414  417  418  419420  421422 
425  429432  436  439  447  449  459 
470471  472474479480481  485 
48S  500  S15  520  533  538  542  543 

544  564  571  577  585  591  606  608 
609613  614  617  668  676  678  6S0 

684 


Connecticut  17  1863  81  92  177  181 
195  2ot)  208  209  226  2«7  228  234 
251  252  254  263  264  276277  279 
302  306  307  322  323  324  349  363 
386  387  398  4 n  41242S434  435 
4.36450  459  46947047'  49'  499 
505  5'4  5'7  5'S  S'9  544  562  587 
598  651  682 

R.  R.  574 

Connelly,  Capt.  644 
Connolly  633 
Connor  632  O34 

Benjamin  433 

J.  B.  214  452 

Samuel  388 
Constable,  Andrew  98 
Constitution,  Fort  504 

U.  S.  286287355 
Continental  Army  240  291  343  345 
365  409  412 

Congress  684 
Contoocook  116  139  155  176206207 
542  600  654 

R.  R.574 
Convention  377 
Converse,  Nelson  622 
Cornwall,  Ont.  679 
Conway  281  433  573  669 
Cook  or  Cooke,  Col.  386  387 

Elisha  207 

Howard  M.  522 

John  99 

Richard  76 

W.  N.  625 

W.  W.  620 
Coolbaugh,  F.  C.  674 
Coole,  William  48 
Cooley  276 
Coohdge,  Joseph  562 
Cooper,  William  47 
Coos  County  171  216  227  229  448 
476  534  671  678 

County  Bar  588 

Republican  629 
Coosauk  304 
Coosaukes  307 
Copley  294 
Copp,  E.  J.  619 
Copp's  Hill  195  323  329 
Cork  635  642 
Coilis,  Jon.  337 
Cornelius  633 
Cornish  279  335  406  624 

Convention  435 
Cornwallis,  Lord  346  347  395  396 
449 
Cossit,  Ranna  281  590 
Cotton 

John  69  100 

Seaborn  69  104 

Theodore  133 

Ward  69 

William    100 
Couch,  Robert  59 
Coughlan,  John  626  634 
Council  iSo  181  268  347349363402 
423  424  453  467  490505  .506512 
553  568  613  653  680 

Room  192  193 

of  New  England  25  45 

of  Nice  219 

of  Safety  107 

of  Trade  78 
Count  de  Frontenac  112  114 

Rumford  165  396  445  603  604 
Countess  Rumford  165  604 
Courier,  Boston  563 
Court  of  Appeals  291 

of  Associates  50  95 


VI 


INDEX. 


Court  of  Common   Pleas  174  280 

287345  350371  406407  408  411 

421  429  455  498  521  533  566  56S 

570  576604  617  661  684  085 

of  St.  James  iSi 

of  Sessions  469  533 
Covenanters,  Scotch  140  186 
Cox,  Jno.  99 

Moses  48  97 
Cradock,  Matthew  39 
Crafts,  WiUiam  100 

W.  A.  616622 
Craige,  John  142 

Alexander  147 

Hugh  142 
Cram,  Asa  335 

Benjamin  98  134 

Daniel  H.  599 

Jonathan  2S6 

John  134  408 

N.  P.  592 

Thomas  98  134 
Crame,  John  48 

Cranfield,  Edward    71    97  100  loi 
103  104  105  III  125  347 
Crawford  541  671 

Abel  670-671 

Ethan  A. 670 

John  389 

Thomas  J.  670 

William  147 
Crawlev,  Thomas  48 
Crichitt,  Elias  98 
Cromay,  John  142 
Crombie,  James  388 
Cromwell,  John  212 

Oliver  41  51  64  69  139  196  631 

Phillips  99 

Thomas  48 
Cromwell's  Falls  476 
Cross,  E.  E.  620621  622 

John  48  52  74 

Mr.  212  263 

Nathan  154 

Richard  E.  621 

William  285 
Crosby,  Alpheus  B.  612 

Jaazamial;  177 

Josiah  333 
Crossfield,  John  389 
Crow-bill  484 

Crown  Point  162  229  230  231  233 
234  236  237  241  242  245  246  247 

365  424 
Crowther,  John  47 
Croydon  409 
Crystal  Hills  36 
Culpeper  Court  House  622 
Cumberland  County  300 
Cummings  212  213 

Abrani  289 

Henry  554 

WiUiam  155 
Cunningham  14^  633 
Currier,  Hannah  283 

Joseph  270 

Moody  613  664  679  680 

Sargeant  414 
Curtice,  G.  A.  624 
Curtiss,  John  P.  380 
Curwen's  Journal  201 
Cushing,  Joseph  480 
Cushman  276 
Cutt  or  Cutts 

<  'harles  484 

Klenor  100 
Hauaah  94 

John  73  76  93  94  95   97  423   428 

444 
Jno.  99  100 


Cutt  or  Cutts,  Mary  100 

Otsella  100 

Richard  66  73  76  94 

Robert  94 

Ursula  94  114 
Cutter,  Robert  195 

Seth  337 
Cuyahoga  247 
Cypher,  John  337 

Dadman,  J.  A.  619 
Dale,  John  272 
Dalton  228  302  304  414 

Caleb  338 

Philemon  48  53 

Samuel  74  94  97  98 

Timothy  42  69 

Tristram  302 
Dam,  John  99 

Wildram  99 
Dame,  Charles  197 

Harriet  P.  617 

L.  L.  468 
Dana,  Sylvester  263 

William  264 
Dane  34 
Danforth,  Nath.  177 

Samuel  36 
Daniell  or  Daniells  143  281 

Samuel  408 

Thomas  76  94  100  loi  103 
Danvers,  Mass.  272 
Danville  264  458 
Darby  633 
Darley  276 
Darn,  John  48 
Dartmouth  279  305 

College  70  176  254  264  280  351 
352  406  435  448  482  499  508  510 
512  514-516518-521  526540554 
555  558  564  571  584  585  590599 
601  605  606  617  653  654  655  659 
660  667  668  675  680  689 

Medical  College  521 
Davis,  Abel  285 

Aquila  494 

Benjamin  264 

Daniel  132 

Eleazer  156  159  160  161 

Francis  408  464 

James  48  52  74  108 

John  334 

Josiah  156  1 58 

Jefferson  612 

Mary  285 

Moses  153  587 

Robert  57  539  560 

Samuel  132  365  62S 

Timothy  100  117 
Day,  P.  B.  212 
Deane,  Charles  25 
Dearborn  Academy  654 

Ebenezer  145  146 

(ieorge  W.  372 

Godfrey  48 

Henry  97  195  337  344  345  346  368 

385  387  3S9  390 
John  97 

Samuel  128  338  339 
S.  G.  624 
Debeline,  Capt.  209  210 
De  Champlain  21 
Declaration  Independence  195  303 
305  377  378  381  401  407  420  424 
429 
Deep  Run  619  621  624 
Deerfielu  177  209  268  281  336338 
344  38S  389  408  538  592 
Deering  462  654 
Deer-keepers  312 


Deer  Neck  454 
Deer-reeves  312 
Delaware  470  471  472  671 
Demerit,  Joseph  290 
Democrat  402  412  416  419  421  422 
474  4S5  490500  508  538  539  558 
565  570  572  573  575  577  578  579 
586  591  592  593  595  600601  605 
607  609  646  651  659  667 
Denham,  Alexander  97 
Denison,  General  67 
Denmark  262  483 
Dennet  Alexander  100 

John  99 
Dennis  633 

John  177 
Derby  376 
Dermont  632 
Derrv  141  144  187  336  620  654 

James  99 

John  99 
Derryfield  218  337  398  405  530 
D'Estaing  354 
Detroit  230  248  249  491  501 
Devens,  Richard  323 
Devon  22 
Devonshire  302 
Dewey  276 
Dexter  276 
Dickerson,  Castro  249 

Sylvia  249 
Dickey,  Matthew  336 
Dinsmoor,  Robert  564  565 

Samuel  4S9  538  542  564  570  599 
601 

William  564. 
Dinsmore,  John  142  196  564 
District  Columbia  614 

Court  U.  S.  630 
Dix,  John  A.  630  666 
Docom,  John  132 
Dodge  307 

Col.  323 

L.  SV.  301  307 
Doe,  Charles  4S2 
Dolhoff,  Christian  98 
Donaldson,  JNIajor  565 
Donally  634 
Donavan  634 
Donnell  633 
Donohoe  634 

M.  T.  619  626  644 

Patrick  642 
Doolittle,  Col.  335 
Door,  Jonathan  207 

Richard  100 
Dorchester  281  633 

Mass.  195  319  320 
^  Eng.  24 

Heights  364 
Dort,  b.  G.  622 
Douglas,  Patrick  142 

S.  A.  611 
Dow,  Daniel  gS 

Henry  74  98  130 

Jonathan  417 

John  592 

Joseph  98  &51 

Moses  403  407 

Reuben  340  341 
Downer,  William  264 
Downing,  Emanuel  54 

Louis  693 
Downs,  Ebenezer  153 

Gershom  207 

Thomas  99 

Dover  24  25  26  33  38  40  41  42  43 

47  48  50  53  54  55  56  61  62  65 

66  69  70  71   72   73  76  84  85  87 

93  94  95  96  97  loi    103    107  108 


INDEX. 


Vll 


Dover  Continued 

III  113  115  118  119  138  153  162 

171  176  178  211  229387406420 

466  482  503  592  593  594601  624 

644  645  654  655  667  681  693 

Dover  named  53 

Dover  Gazette  592  59S  601 

Neck  30  34  40  44 

Point  21  24  2728 

&  Winnipiseogee  R.  R.  573  574 
Doyne,  Francis  169 
Drake,  Abraham  97 
Draper  281 
Dresden  598 
Dresham  274 
Drew,  Irving  W.  678 

lolin  iiS 

}.  D.  619 
Drisco,  Tege  98 
Driscoll  632  633 
Drown,  John  134 

Leo  100 

Leonard  615 
Drunimond,  Fr.  645 
Drury's  Bhiff  619  627 
Dry  Tortugas  624 
Dublin  633  67S 
Dudley,  Ann  119 

John  380 

Joseph  105  121  130  136 

Mary  119 

Samuel  53  54  70  98  119 

Stephen  144 

Theof  gS 

Thomas  70  74    105   117  iiS  132 
134  135  136 
Duggan  or  Duggin  632  633 

Daniel  100 
Duke  of  York  90 
Duke's  Province  79 
Dumas,  S.  H.  613 
Dummer,  Wm.  152 
Dunbar,  David  174  176  198 

DUNEARTON    149   214    215    21?  229 

234  2SI 39S  399400654 

Duncan,  John  40S  439 

S.  A.  62S 
Dunkirk  200 
Dunlap,  Alex.  196 

James  196 
Dunstable  66  118  131   155  156  160 
167  208  210  211  212  213  272  304 
334  335  2S7634 
Durell,  Edward  H.  294  630 
Durham  108  113  176  178  299  357 
358  359  361  386  387  420455  469 
628  633 
Dustin,  Hannah  115  116  120 

Paul  261 
Dutch  41  51  79  93  130 
Duxbury  453  633 
D wight.  Rev.  Dr.  351 
Dwyer  634- 
Dwyer,  Michael  633 
Dyer  634 

Mary  521 

Joseph  522 

Eagle  Coffee  House  600 

Hotel  565 
Eames,  Capt.  304 

Daniel  283 

David  435 

James  H.  591 

Jonathan  283 
Earl  of  Belmont  129  130 

Halifax  426 
Earle,  William  io» 
East  Boston  585 

Concord  22  140  166  339 


Fast  Derry  1S7 

Gilmanton  257' 

(jreenwich  391 

India  292 

India  Company  178 
Fast  Kingston  186  281 

Lebanon  435 
Eastern  R.  R.  573  5S0  581 
Eastern  Diocese  5S9 
Eastman  276 

Abigail  284 

Amos  213  226  227  398 

Cyrus  613 

Eben  163 

Fbenezer  229  338  554 

Edward  2  86 

Ira  A.  257 

Jeremiah  408 

Joel  600 

Jonathan  494  587  600 

J.  C.  613 

S.  C.  6S9 

Timothy  526  542 
Eaton  2S1 

Collins  389 

F.  B.  267  647  649 

John  134 

Samuel  301 
Eayers,  Edward  99 
P^ayrs,  Wm.  142 
Edgerley,  M.  J.  B.  678 

Thos.  107  259 
Edmunds,  T.  M.  613 
Eighteenth  Regt.  622  630  644 
Eighth  Regt.  616  625  630  644 
Fla  276 
Ela,J.  H.  591 

Richard  619 
Eldridge,  Erasmus  70 
Eleventh  Regt.  623  626  630  652 
668 
Elizabeth,  Queen  23 
Elkins,  Eleazer  98 

Gershom  97  12S 

Henry  48 

Moses  117 
Eli,  Waher  100 
Ellins,  Anthony  47 
Elliot  83 

Church  83  650 

Deborah  524 

Jacob  339 

Robert  95  100  104  107 
Ellis,  Caleb  498 

Francis  D.  262 

Jno.  98 

Joshua  334 

River  37 
Elmendorf  471 
Elmira,  N.  Y.  355 
Elms,  Anthony  99 

Farm  285 
Emanuel  College  71 
Embury,  Philip  458 
Emerald  Isle  63 1 
Emerson,  Amos  333 

Benjamin  257 

Daniel  212  213  408 

Jonathan  146  387 

John  125  146 

Matthew  146 

Nath.  270  408 

Samuel  146  269 
Emery  276 

Anthony  693 

Edward  177 

George  H.  693-694. 

Ichabod  693 

Jacob  255 

James  693 


Emery,  Job  693 
John  367 
Joseph  O93 
Noah  375 
Emmons,  Joseph  134 
Enabling  Act  610 
Endicott,  John  38  54  55  74  163 

Roch  55 
Enhkld  263  473 

ICngland  20  23  27-30   33  383940- 

42  46  49  51  63  64  67-69  71  81 

82   9697  103-107   115  117  121 

125    128-130  138  152   165   175 

178  179  iSi  194  198  201  211  219 

220223  225  230235239250253 

262  265  272  281  2S2  2S9  29S  347 

35'  352  35<'4«J424  44'  457  4^9 

480483  487  488490507  5'9  532 

535544572575604631668 

English  20  3 1  67  79  So-84  88  89  1 1 5 

117  118  129  132  133  152  153  158 

1 59  161  197  198  203  205  223  226 

229231  235  241-244  247  24S  251 

252  289  298  326  358  376  378  380 

392  452  454  488  517  521  530594 

William  48  74 

Turnpike  Ace  462  463 

Englishman  79  82  88  363  426  639 

671 

Ennis  633 

Episcopacy  71  280607 
Episcopal  589 
Fiiiscopalian  139  281  457 
Efi'ing  195  394  4S5  490  522  52s 
539  541  592  654  667668 
Epsom  140  164  173  206  211  336337 
338  406  455  494  601  633 
Erie,  Fort  501  505 
ErkOl  536 
Essex  106  573 
Co.  66  176  324 
Institute  202 
Established  Church  32  43  49  139 
140  178  186  261 
Esterbrook  207 
Estow,  Wm.  48  74 
Eastwich  128 
Phesant  423 
Europe  20  21    31  68  173   191    198 
383  456507  531  608 
European  82 

Executive  Council  419-422 
Exeter  38  41   42  43  45  49  ."^o  53 
54  55  65  66  69  70  76  84  85  93 
94  95  100  102  107  108   113-115 
117  119  129  144  171  172  174  178 
195  197  211  255256268286312 
314  316  337  342  343  347349350 
358  361  366  367  368  369  371  372 
373  375  37f'  377  381  387  388  394 
412  413  416  41S  421  422  428431 
433  438444  445446447448450 
456  466  481  482  501  512  540541 
592  617  633  645  664  666  674  676 
693 
Academy  624  653  664  665  667 
Englanci  22  24 
News  Letter  65s 
River  72 
Evans,  Benjamin  162 
Edward  263 
Goodwife  57 
Ira  C.  627 
Israel  167 
Jonathan 
John  99  162  535 
Judge  486 
Robert  99 
Simeon  535 
William  161 


Vlll 


INDEX. 


Everett,  Edward  666 
G.  W.  625 

Fabius,  George  99 

Jno.  99 
Fabyaii  669  670 
Factory  Village  257 
Fairchild,  Jov  H.  70 
Fairfield,  Walter  263 
Fair  Oaks  615  620 
Falcom  (ship)  324 
Farley  213  262  518  632 
Farmer,  John  21  33  95  114  142  263 
264  26S  650 
Farmer's  Magazine  258 
Farmington  279  302  619  620  622 
654  693 

&  Rochester  R.  R.  574 
Farnsworth  177  281 

J.  D.  263 

Stephen  207 
Farr,  E.  W.  615  626  678 

George  627 
Farrar,  Jacob  156  159 

Joseph  156 

Stephen  275 

Timothy  514 
Farwell  213  280 

Isaac  335 

Joseph  156  158  159  161  335 

Josiah  154 
Fast  498  505 

Mail  217 
Fay,  Joseph  387 

Solomon  Payson  70 
Fayes,  John  135 
Fearing,  Hawkes  624 
Febiger  330 

Federal  Constitution  165 

Federalist  407  412  416  421  422  429 

447  452  456  465  466  470  474  479 

481  484  485  488  490-492  498-500 

505  507  508  510  511  521  524  538 

586 

Fellows,  E.  Q.  618  625 

Isaac  435 

Stark  628 
Fenton,  John  350 
Fernald,  John  204 

Renald  47  53  58  76 

Thomas  47 
Fessenden,  Col.  580 

William  P.  630 
Field  226 

of  Mars.  543 

Darby  36  37  48  632  669 

Zacharie  99 
Field-drivers  309 
Fields,  James  T.  204 
Fifield  464 

Benj.  97  134 

Jona  133  286 

Stephen  388 

William  48  97 
Fifth  Regt.  617  620  621  622  630 
Fifteenth  Regt.  628  630 
Fighting  Fifth  621 
Filbrook,  Jno.  133 
Fining  Indians  80 
First  Bap.  Ch.  Concord  259  526 

Battery  619  630 

N.  E.  Cav.  629  630 

Regt.  629  630  644 
Fish,  Elijah  277 
Fisher,  Jabez  212 

John  143  206 
Fisher's  Island  194 
Fishkill  393 
Fisk,  Francis  N.  539 

Frank  S.  613  615 


Fisk,  Wilbnr  458 
Fisk's  Hotel  546 
Fitch  297 
John  71 
Fitchburg,  Mass.  366  678 
Fitts,  Abraham  270 
Fitzgerald,  632  633 

FiTZWILLIAM  290  291  332    334 

Five  Nations  348 
Flagg,  Eben  147 

James  389 

Lieut.  113 
Flanders,  David  341 

Jacob  388 

Joseph  526 
Fletcher,  Ebenezer  58S 

General  436 

Hiram  Adams  588 

Jno.  100 

Kimball  B.  588 

William  571 
Flint,  Ebenezer  197 
Flood  632 

Florida  230262  611  619  624 
Floyd,  Capt.   113 
Flynn,  Jacob  633 

M.  O.  644 
Fogg,  Geo.  G.  592 

Jeremiah  181 

Samuel  97 
Follett,  Nicholas  107 
Folsom  or  FoUsham,  Deborah 

Ephraim  98 

John  98  208 

Nat  98 

Nathaniel   316  333  342  352 

367  368  370  371  372  377  381 

419 

Peter  98 

Peter  L.  258 

Samuel  98  372  375 
Fort  Ann  289 

Dummer  206  207  220 

Duquesne  230  231  236  245 

Edward  233-234  243  424 

Fisher  619  620  624 

George  346 

Gilman  620 

Harrison  626 

Hill  83 

Magruder  615 

Marion  619 

McClary  491  504 

Point  293 

Sullivan  316 

Sumter  692 

Wagner  6ig 

Washington  316 

Wentworth  234 

William  and  Mary  297  298 
341  353  359  367 

William  Henry  237  239  241 

Foster  307  308  389 

Abiel  403  421  439 

John  108 

John  G.  307  692 

Moses  235 

Obediah  214 

Perley  307 

Robert  303 

Stephen  S.  582  583  584  5S5 
Founds,  Phil  100 
Fourteenth  Regt.  616  627  630 
Fourth  Regt.  616  618  619  620 
636 

Turnpike  576 
Fowler,  Asa  659  660  674 

Library  660 


Fowler,  Ludwig  100 
Fox  293 

Daniel  433 

G.  B.  541  584 

G.  V.  681 

John  259  301 

Point.  1 13 
Foy,  John  632 

France   20  64  80  no  198  200  205 
211  220230248281402497498 
301 
Francestown  540  633  654 
Franconia  iS  279  669 
Franklin  228  234  284  285  358  553 

5.55  595  620  654  679  693 
Franklin  (ship)  614 

Benjamin  425 

&  Bristol  R.  R.  574 

Dr.  425 

Mountain  670 
Frayser,  William  135 
Frazer,  General  387 
Frederick  of  Prussia  353 
Fredericksburg  621  623  625  627664 
Free  Baptist  290  393  527  528  536 
Freedland  487 
Freedom  654 
Freeman,  Edmund  264 

Edward  494 

Frederick  389 

Russell  456  462 
Fremont  197  279 

J   C.  607 

Free  Soilers  593  3^  605  607  646 

659 

Freetown  144  14S  149 

French  17  20  22  79  89  109  115  117 

118  136  139  152  153  162  171  173 

199  200  202  205  208  210  212  215 

223  225  228  239  241  245247248 

251  252  254  280  284  288  289  338 

348  354  396  408  413  455  487  488 

507  531  554  567633 

Canadian  637 

Revolution  456  634 

D.  L.  212  213 

John  133  154 

Joseph  413 

Nathan  210 

Nicholas  269 
Frenchman,  Jno.  100 
Frisbie,  Levi  518 
Frontenac  230  245 
Frost  685 

Capt.  88 

George  420 

Jno.  99  128  210 

Frothingham  322  32S  339 
Foye,  Caleb  167 

James  159  322  331  340341 

Jonathan  156 
Fryebuig  157  535 

Fryer,  Nathaniel  76  104  107  108  122 
128  129 
FuUam,  Jacob  156  158 

Major  158 
Fuller,  Giles  48 

Henry  W.  612  628 

Jonathan  388 

John  97 

William  48  74  97 
Fullerton,  J.  E.  255  457 
Furber,  Anthony  100 

John  290 

William  48  76  99  108 
Furness  633 
Furrall,  Thos.  47 
Fursen,  Thomas  135 
Gaffney,  C.  B.  627 
Gage,  Abner  337 


INDEX. 


IX 


Gage,  Charles  P.  613 

General  293  319  320 
Gains,  George  407 
Gale,  Amos  251 

Eliphalet  285 

John  C.  2S6 
Gallinger,  Jacob  H.  679  681 
Gardiner  330  332 

Alexander  628 

Bay  501 
Garfield,  James  A.  674 
Garland,  Jacob  128 

Jon.  97 

True  613 
Garrison  House  85  n2 

W,  L.  572  585 
Garvin's  Falls  169  596 
Gass,  John  600 
Gatanois  248 
Gates,  James  M.  592 

General  345  385  386  390  391   392 
Gandy  436 
Gaul  230 
Gault,  Jesse  600 

Patrick  632 
Gavazzi  Fr.  635 
Gay  House  473 
Gayles,  Mark  99 
Gazette,  N.  H.  395 
General  Court,  Mass.  50  51  52  53 
54  56  59  60  62  64  65  66  71  73 
74  76  81   163  168  i8o  222  225 
271  372  562 

of  N.  H.  95  180  197  211  234  250 

308  311  312  313  394  404  405  413 

414  415  441  453  456  459  511  526 

578 

George  II.  202 

George  III.  279  2S1  2S2   293    297 
35?  516  519  534  578 

David  462 

John  539 

John  H.  613  687 
Georgia  429  611 
Germantown  354 
Germany  68  487 
Gerrish,  Capt.  302-304  330  332 

Jno.  99  107  loS  122  130 

Stephen  177 

William  74 

Place  454 
Gerry  426 
Gettysburg  6i6  621 
jhent  Treaty  505 
Gibbons  632 

^  Ambrose  35  47  52  53  76 
'^ibralter  199 
Gibson  143 

Elizabeth  289 

John  600 

J..B.  524 

Richard  5S9 

Samuel  2S7  289 
Giddings,  Eliphalet  375 
Gifford,  William  99 
Gilbert,  J.  464 

Samuel  276 
Gilchrist,  Justice  585 
Gilford  256  258 

Court  House  340 
Gill,  Thom.  100 
Gillis,  Jotham  533 
Gillmor,  James  142 
Gilman  484  685 

Robert  142 

Daniel  445  446  449  450 

Delia  677 

Edward  98  444 

Emerson  677 

Fort  620 


Gilman,  General  345  421   444   445 
446 
Harriet  L.  678 

John  66  94  98   loi   256  337  652 
John  Taylor  375  377  403  417  422 
433  444  446  447  448  460  470  4S9 
490  496  498  499  504  505  506  508 

552  5''9  57" 
Joseph  371  373  375  400 
Joshua  74  256 
Moses  98  677 
Nathaniel  433  446  447  449 
Nicholas  176  361  369  370377  381 
422  433  440  446  44;  474 
Peter  445 
Thomas  367  369 
Tristram  270 
Virgil  C.  677 

GiLMANTON     141     173    211     250    257 

25S  266   407   445   454  459  592 
634  654  681 
Academy  257-259 
Corner  257  4S0  569 
Gazette  258 
Gilmore,  James  196 

Joseph  A.  629  672  674  687 
Gilson,  John  208  209 
Joseph  156  159 

GiLSUM  276  277  279  388  391 

Glasgow,  Scotland  393 

(Siiip)  323 
Glastonbury,  Conn.  276  544 
Gledon,  Charles  98 
Glocester,  Mass.  144 
Glover,  Henry  337 
Goddard,  John  47  135  455  456  465 
471  499 
Godfrey,  Edward  35 

Moses  290 

William  128 
Godfree,  Isaac  97  128 

Jon.  97 

Thomas  97 
Goe,  Henry  47 

Ralph  47 
G6ffe,  Anthony  98  99 

John  63  142  229  305 
Goff's  Falls  476  504 
GOFFSTOWN  216  263  264  338    386 
541  634  647 
Golden  Gate  639 
Goodell,  David  414  520 
Goodhue  212 

Goodwin,  Ichabod  600  608  609  612 
613  647 
Gookin  83 

Daniel  504 

Nathaniel  69 
Gordon  279  328 

Alexander  98 

Matthew  D.  212 
Gore  Hall  201 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinand  23  24  26  29 
33  34  37  3951  6367  123 

Thomas  37 
GoRHAM  534 

Nathaniel  399 
Gosport  211 
Goss,  Richard  388 

Robert  132 
Gotham  306 
Gould  276 

James  387 
Gove,  Ebenezer  133  283  388 

Edward  95  97  loi  102  103  108 

John  133 

(onatlian  411 

N.  W.  620 
Governor's  Horse  (Juard  613 

Island  i.;3 


Grace  632 
( Irady  633 

Gnim)rb,  Thomas  122 
C!raft(in,  300 

Co.  171  254  407  473  475  576  577 
5S6 

Vt.  407  558 
Graham,  Hugh  lyf) 

John  336 

Robt.   147 

William  147 
Granite  Monthly  55  318  576O55698 
_  Stale  423  578 
Grant,  Col.  247  249 

Daniel  388 
^  U.  S.  345  614  621  623  653  657 
Gray,  Harrison  449 

Jo"'  3.^5 
Mary  1';.  449 
Nuns  63S 
William  99 
Grantham  263  458 

Circuit  261 
Graves,  Samuel  142 
Great  Bay  17  31  32  45  72  115  136 
Bridge  391 

Britain  178  197  201  252  281  295 

299  318  349  351  352   358   368 

373  376  377  401  402  487  488  497 

4985^4  57'  586 

I  alls  206  219  573  601  654  O75  881 

<>93 

House  34 

House  Patent  73 

Island  35  66  68  93  94  104  105  108 
■25.  "34  3«7 

Meadow  206  207  214  221 

Seal  93 

Spirit  83 
Greeley  211 

Dr.  335 

Horace  520  629  630 

Joseph  335 

Samuel  272 

S.  S.  N.  259 
Greely  Expedition  687 
Green,  Abraham  97 

Henry  97  122 

House  524 

Isaac  133 

Judge  461 

Nathan  133 

Mountains  399  436 

Peter  405 

Thomas  336 
Greenfield,  Samuel  48  53 
Greenland  45  89  125  131  132  163 
404  458  504  5*0 
Greenleaf,  Capt.  113 
Gregg,  Andrew  196 

David  195 

Hugh  265 

James  142 

John  142  195 
Gregorian  Calendar  219  220 

Rule  219  220 
Greing  632 

Gridley,  Richard  322  323  331 
Griffin  634 

Mrs.  261 

S.  G.  661  622  623 
Griffin's  Falls  476 
Griffith,  David  100 
Griswold  472 

Bishop  589  5^)0 
Grosse  Island  636 
Groton  387 

Mass.  156  177 
Grout,  Elijah  408 
Cjrover,  Benjamin  613 


INDEX. 


Gubbtail,  Thos.  loo 
Guinlon  633 
Gulf  of  Mexico  230 
Gunnison,  John  197 
Gunstock,  Brook  258 
Gunthwait  275 
Gurnsey  276 
Gustine,  John  259 
Samuel  259  260 

Hackett,  James  373 
W.  H.  Y.  542  651 

Hadley  177 

Amos  653  667 
Haddock,  C.  B.  653 
Hadduck,  William  284  285 
Hagkins  no 
Haile,  William  600  607 
Haines  276 

Matthew  132 

William  132 
Hale  455 

Enoch  407  436 

John  48  76  338  386  455 

John  P.  5  )i  595  605  606  613  687 

Moses  14b  147 

Ralph  48  95  98 

Richard  275 

Salma  366  651 

Samuel  W.  678 

William  455  524 
Hale's  Bridge  454 
Haley  634 

Thomas  632 
Hall,  Councillor  490  536 

Daniel  629  664 

Henry  146 

John  99  146 

Joseph  99  loi 

J.  S.  671 

Kinsley  98  129 

Nathan  99 

Nathaniel  146 

Ralph  98 

Rev.  270 

Samuel  98 
Hall's  Stream  18 

Tavern  391 
Hallet,  George  562 
Halifax  238  292  293  335  352  501 
Hallowell,  Me. 

Robt.  424 
Ham,  Jno.  99 

John  257 

Joseph  153 

William  100 
Hamilton,  Alexander  452 

George  452 
Hammond,  G.  W.  600 

Isaac  W.  395  459  622  651 
Hampshire,  Eng.  23  79  100 

Grants  220 

h.\mp.stead  213  269  333  413  654 

Hampton  38  42  48  49  50  52-54  56 

59  60  61  66  69  70  74  84  89  93  94 

95-97  101-104  107  108  117   iiS 

128  129  133  143  146  147  163  178 

180  181  211  268284345348  3S8 

457466617 

Falls  133  144  146  178  180  298  347 
348  379  382  422  446  580  592 

Marsh  53 

River  60  61 
Hancock  654 

John  377  426  429  469 

W.  S.  621 
Hanovek  250  254  263  264  454  458 

464  517  519 
Hanson,  Isaac  98 
John  153 


Hanson,  Thomas  99 

Timothy  99 

Tobias  99  113 

Widow  98 
Hapgood,  Charles  E.  621  622 
Hardy  213 

Jno.  100 

Thomas  337 
Harford  WUl  99 
Harkness,  John  334 
Harriman  464 

John  263 

Walter  433  626  651  652  653 
Harper,  John  A.  489 

William  142 
Harper's  Ferry  585 
Harris  276 

George  263 

Joshua  263 

Judge  464  558 

Nicholas  99 

Sarah  291 

Silas  435 
Harrison,  W.  H.  540  57S 
Harrison's  Landing  621 
Harry  town  149 
Hart  633 

Oliver  524 

Hartford,  Conn.  447  506  507 

Harvard  College  54  55  67  70  87  127 

133  147  159  164  172  297  300  322 

348  351  352  359  360420470481 

515  604685 

Law  School  661  686 
Harvey,  Hannah  S.  55S 

James  142 

John  142 

Matthew  558  559  657 

Peter  100 

Thomas  100 
Harwood,  John  156  158 
Hassell  212 
Hastings  177 

James  389 
Hatcher's  Run  623  626 
Hatfield  177 
Hathorne,  Wm.  54  57 
Hatteras  20 

Haverhill  277  278  279  396  407 

428  450  461  491  523  577  5S7  588 

654 

Mass.  50  5366  115  133  144  145- 
147  156 181 197  216  227  263  275 
340  461 
Haven,  N.  A.  650 
Hawke  264  285  389  458 
Hawkins,  James  99 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel  640 
Hawaiian  520 
Hayes  John  L.  592 

R.  B.  657  678  685  687 
Haynes,  John  5S7 

M.  A.  617 
Hayward,  Sylvanus  276  391 

William  48  52  53  74 
Hazen  Bill  691 

Richard  188 
Hazelton,  Ephraim  146 

John  146 

Peter  526 

Richard  146 

Thomas  146 
Hazzard  22 
Head,  James  672 

Nathaniel  439 

Natt  613  672  673 

O.  N.  616 
Healey  632 

Captain  644 

Samuel  134 


Healey,  William  146 
Healy,  Bishop  645 
Heard,  John  48  99  iii 

Joseph  207 
Tristram  153 
Heath  473 

General  364 

Nehemiah  134 

William  76 
Heavy  Artillery  629  630 
Hebron  576  617 

Conn.  276  279  280  519 
Hedding,  Elijah  45S 
Heights  of  Abraham  404 
Helm,  Christopher  48 
Hemphill,  Nathaniel  196 
Henderson,  S  H.  624 

William  99 
Hendrick,  Daniel  48 
Henniker  285  287  337338  408604 
654 
Henry  VIII.  2068 
Herald  of  Freedom  572  582  585 
Herd,  Benjamin  99 

Thomas  47 
Herrick,  M.  A.  591 
Herron,  John  301 
Hessian  553  554 
Hibbard,  David  689 

HaiTy  686 

Jedidjah  264 
Hieringen  553 
Hiland,  T.  383 
Hildreth  276 
Hill  526 

212 

Benjamin  146  147  290 

Charles  264 

George  473 

Isaac  480  511  539552  566574  577 
687 

James  R.  693 

John  287  458 

John  M.  689 

Parker  333 

Valentine  54  56  76 

Hillsborough  167  176254287289 

332338  387  388  408  41 1  420  462 

494  499  505  519  527  550  552  553 

600  654  662 

Bridge  288  668 

County  2S5  287 

&  Peterborough  R.  R.  574 
Hilton,  Edward  24-29  31  34  35  44- 
48  52  76  98  1 19 

Grant  45  71  73 

Head  Island  618  619 

House  113 

Joseph  388 

Martha  192 

Patent  40  43  45  46  71-74 

Samuel  98 

William  24-29  31  48  52  76  98 

Winthrop  117-119  174  445 
Hilton's  Mill  98 

Point  26  29  44  46  73  74 
Hilyard,  Benjamin  134 

Timothy  97 
Hinckes  or  Hincks,  John  104  105 
106  122  128  130 
Hinds,  Jacob  334 
Hinesburg,  Vt.  678 
Hinsdale  206  208  210  211  220  334 
607  608  65< 
Historical  Society  650 
Hitchcock,  C.  H.  20  235 

Roswell  D.  70 
Hobbs,  Capt.  210 

HaiTey  99 

James  212 


JXDEX. 


XI 


Hobbs,  Jonathan  97 

Morris  97 

Nehemiah  97 
Hobart  333 

Isaac  340 
Hodge,  VVilliam  132 
Hodgedon,  John  210 
Hogan  634  635 
Hog-constables  311 
Hog-reeves  311  312 
Hogg,  John  216  217 

VV'iUiam  142 
Hoit  290 

C.  N.  678 

Kphraim  134 

Stephen  338 
Hoi.DERNESS  263  299-301  393  394 
460  622  633  634  654  663  673  674 
Holland  20 

Edward  100 

Stephen  372 

Max  235 
HoLLis  57  56  112  167  212  340  345 
38S  40S 
Hollme,  Jonathan  142 
Holmes  140 

Abraham  142 
Holt  213 

Nathan  336 

Peter  195 

Samuel  132 
Holt's  Rock  144 
Holy  Cross  College  626  645 
Hook,  Jacob  264 

HooKSKTT  145  216  477  510  539  596 
671  688 

Falls  139 
Hooper,  Jolin  334 

William  471 
Hopkins,  John  142  ig6  197 

Solomon  142 
HoPKiNTON  206  207  215  216  280 
338464465  486558559568617 
624  634  654  660  685 
Horn,  William  99 
Horner,  Thos.  142 
Horse  Hill  141 

Horse  Shoe  Pond  154  396  464 
Hough,  George  444. 
House  of  Correction  312 

of  Representatives  347-349  363 

376  37S  395  401  403  407  413 

417   419-421    432  437-439  441 

449  462  465  466  470  471  526  528 

534546  559  565  577  5S5  651 

Houston,  John  239  241 

Samuel  142 
How,  Daniel  207 

Nehemiah  207 
Howe,  B.  387 

General  250  31S  320  325  329  335 

H.  G.  277 
Howland  276 
Howlet,  Davis  391 
Hoyt,  John  524 
Hubbard  24  26  27  28  30 

Henry  585  586 

Isaac  G.  599 

John  585 
Hlibbarton,  N.  Y.  386  389 
Huckins,  Jno,  100. 
Hudson  66  141  211  212  334  335 

River  41  64  233  314  387  473 

John  99 
Hugen,  Nathaniel  132 
Huger  472 
Huggins,  John  48 
Hughes,  John  424 
Hull,  Reuben  100 
Humphrey,  William  142 


Hunckins,  Francis  loo 

Mark  100  112 
Hunking,  Mark  96 

Hunt,  George  gg 

Roland  100 

Thomas  23 
Hunter,  David  142 
Huntington,  J.  H.  229 
Huntley,  Calista  M.  261 

Elisha  262 

Nathan  259  260 

Russell  M.  262 
Huntoon  276 

Joseph  3S8 
Hurd,  Isaac  70 

Samuel  264 
Hussey,  Christopher  48  69  74  94 

John  97 
Huske,  Ellis  424 
Hutchins,  Abel  595 

Ephraim  595 

Gordon  337 

Hezekiah  333 

Timothy  134 

William  337 
Hutchinson,  James  334 

(jov.  157 

Mill  272 

Thomas  1S2 
Hyde,  Levi  264 

Illinois  611  6S5 
Imbursement  507 
luce  Jonathan  50  55 
Independence  Mount  365 
Independent  D  667 
India  393  520 

Indian  17  21  23  24  27  28  32  35  36 

37  41  42  56  57  64-67  69  71   77- 

94  109  110-121  125  131  132  136 

138  139  141  146  151-158  160  161 

163  164  169  171   173  17S  179  199 

205  207-215  217  219221  223  225 

227-229231-235241243-249251 

254256  272  27S  280283  2S9  304- 

306  354  355  357  3S3  396  398  399 

435  445  491  5'7  5^9  520  53'  535 

554  570  575  587  622  632 

Christians  83 

praying  Si 

Stream  570  575  5S6  588  61S 
War  no  122  125  212  221 
Inferior  Court  350  498 
Ingalls,  Benjamin  535 
Daniel  ^35 
Mehitable  145 
Moses  536 
Robert  F.  535 
Samuel  144-146  148 
Insane  Asylum  568 
Ipswich,  Mass.  49  52  195  215 
Ireland  96  138  140  147  178  187  195 
196  215  229262  281  287  295  356 
358  408  419  457  481  631-633 
655  640 
Irish  138  139  140  229  356  358  626 
633  634  638  640  641  643  645 
Catholic  635  640  642 
Celts  1 38 
in  N.  H.  631-645 
Irishman  358 
Iron  Works  257  259 
Ironsides  139 
Iroquois  34 
Isle  of  M.  247 

Isles  of  Shoals  21  34  60  94  351 
Israel's  River  22S  305 
Italians  20 
Italy  262  487 


Jackman,  Michael  390 
ACKSON  669 
Jackson  128 

Andrew  330  335  501  508  541   551 
553  564  56'J  570  574  575  5*6 

Col.  330  335  501  50S  541 

-Hall  431 

lohn  30  100 

J.  H.  6.8 

Richard  100 

Sarah  132 

Tlioinas  100 

Mississippi  623 
Jacksonville  619 
Jacob,  Benj.  97 

Browne  v7 

John  t)7 

Peter  201 

Thomas  97 
Jakfrev  334  408  462  654 
128 

George  211  361 
James  1.  22  23  29  33 

II.  105  no  467  631 

Francis  144 

Hugh  47 

Island  618 

James  W.  592 

River  615  621 
Jameson  276 

William  ig6 
Jamaica  105  354 
Japan  514  520 
Jarvis'  Hill  281 
Jefferds,  Forest  195 
Jefferson  279  305  346 

Mt.  670 

Thomas  419  470  474  479  542 
Jefts,  John  156  158 
Jenness,  B.  W.  600 

Francis  97 

Jon. 290 

John  S.  26  30  43  71  163 
Jerry's  Point  317 
Jesseman,  276 
Jesuit  152 
Jesuitical  So 
Jesus  College  71 
Jewell,  Joseph  100 
Jewett  113  276 

Samuel  257  270  273 
Jilley,  Paul  433 
Jocelyn  35 

Henry  37  39  47 

John  37 
Johnson  290 

Andrew  606 

Ebenezer  132 

Edmund  48 

Edward  54  56 

Ichabod  156  158 

James  47  97  132  135 

Jesse  263 

John  132 

Josiah  156 

Mrs.  557 

Noah  156  150  198 

Reuben  G.  576  577 

Samuel  290 

Thomas  48 

William  187  231  233  234 
John's  River  228  305  307 
Jonathan  (Ship)  25  27 
Jones,  Alexander  47 

Frank  676  677  687 

Francis  100  128 

George  98 

Ja.  100 

John  47  100 

Josiah  156  159  161 


JXDEX. 


Jones,  Makin  99 

Mai"y  Priest  676 

Paul  412 

Pelatiah  676 

Samuel  263 

Sarah  P.  6S5 

Stephen  loS 

Thomas  4S  207  280  676 

William  47  135 
Jordan  128 

Chester  B.  67S 
Jose,  Jean  100 

Richard  100  126  130 
Josselyn,  John  669 
Jourdain  63 
Journaman,  Ditto  100 
Joy,  J.  F.  692 
Judd  276 
Judkins,  Joel  gS 

Leonard  286 
Julian  Calendar  219  220 

Kane  632 
Kansas  661 
Kay  276 

Kearsarge  536  614 

Keenborough  197 

Keene  206  220  221  262  334  388  389 

391  392  40S  409  41 1  428  462  538 

564  565  570  578  579580595  599 

608  615  622  623  654678679693 

Annals  366  392 

Raid  391 

Sentinel  655 
Keep,  John  212 
Keilly  632 
Kelly  or  Kelley  632  633  634 

B.  257 

Daniel  632 

Darby  633 

Ephraim  337 

Jesse  264 

Roger  633 
Kelsey,  Alexander  142 
Kemp,  Reuben  338  339 
Kendrick  213 
Kendall,  F.  A.  620 

L.  K.  674 
Kene,  Nathaniel  99 
Kenilworth  191 
Keniston,  John  8g 
Kennebec  River  87  89  114  117  345 
Kennebunk,  Me.  671 
Kennedy,  Lieut.  241 

Nathaniel  181 

Robert  142 
Kenney  633 

Joseph  435 
Kensington  181  388  408 
Kent,  Chancellor  483 

Emily  M.  628 

George  650 

Henry  O.  613  628 

Moody  568 

Richard  P.  628 

William  461  54S 
Kentucky  623  625  626  643 
Kerch,  Henry  100 
Kerry  County  645 
Keyes,  Solomon  156  160 
Kid,  James  98 
Kidder,  Benjamin  142  155 

Joseph  213 

Reuben  274 

S.  P.  563 
Kilburn  276 
Kilkenny  R.  R.  574 
Killey  633 
Kim,  William  99 
Kimball  276 


Kimball,  Abraham  338 

Daniel  264 

E.  A.  599 

Joseph  303 

Obediah  389 

Thomas  86 

Union  Academy  264  654  660 
Kimball's  Corner  144 
King  of  England  175  180  183  185 
1S8  189  198  222  233  238241  253 
265  516 

Philip  5S7 

Philip's  War  107  109  117 

William  103  104  129  130  139  143 

in  Council 
King  Roger  48 

Samuel  271  409 
Kingman,  J.  W.  628 
King's  Commissioners  61  65 

Council  221  223  467 

Bench  265 

Bridge  393 

Surveyors  218 

trees  217  352  531 

woods  177 
Kingsland  Creek  627 
Kingston  117  119  128  144  154  171 
178  211  264  281  388  428  430458 
640  654 
Kinhead,  Samuel  196 
Kinneston  276 
Kinsman  33S 
Kirk  139 

Kittery,   Me.   42    66  76  88  94  135 
199  202  203  420  445 

Navy  Yard  491  504 

Point  420 
Kittridge  Apphia  685 

Jonat.-.an  156  158  172  685 

Perry  619 
Knapp  276 
Knight,  John  99 

L.  M.  620 

Roger  47 
Knollys,  Hansard  41  46  48  71 
Knowles,  John  97 

Sir  Charles  192  201  210 
Knowlton  290 

Thomas  322  324 
Know  Nothing  605  661 
Knox  143 

Anna  672 

Harry  399  426 

Timothy  672 
Knoxville,  Ky.  626 
Kyle,  John  196 

Laconia  34  35  38  256  616  654  693 
694 

Company,  29  44 

Grant  26 

Patent  26  45 
Ladbrooke,  Thomas  100 
Ladd,  Ann  445 

Capt.  229 

Nad  98 

Nathaniel  444 

William  445 

W.  S.  656  678 
Lafayette  353  426  544-548  564 

George  W.  574 
Lake  Champlain  230  233  234  237 
242  436  505 

Company  55 

George  233  234  236-238  241  242 
244  245  445 

Sunapee  469 

Village  55  258  654  655  693 
Lakin,  Isaac  156  159 
Lamper-eel  River  55 


Lamphier  262 
Lamprey,  Daniel  97 

Uri  600 

River  87  113  117  153 
Lampson,  Samuel  176 
Lancashire,  Eng.  667 
Lancastf.k    228  277-279  419  444 
574  588  598  620622  628  654  656 
670  678 

Mass.  324 

Daniel  258  259  270 
Landaff  458 
Lander,  John  47 
Landers,  J.  H.  625 
Lane,  John  146 

Sampson  47 
Lang,  Robert  100 
Langdon  House  677 

James  71  135 

John  262  297  298  353  368  372 

379381  395  403  407  412  417- 

419  421  447  448  465  466471  474 

484  488  490  502  677 

Mills  596 

Samuel  71  133  297  298  322  349 

Tobias  108 

William  358 

Woodbury  303  406  419  432  456 
Langley,  S.  G.  616  620 
Langmaid  128 
Larcy,  Cornelius  98  633 
Larkham,  Thomas  41  46  48 
Larkin,  James  E.  621 
Larnard,  Col.  386  387  390 

Samuel  414 
Latimer,  Col.  387 
Latitude  of  State  18 
Lavosiur  544 
Lawrence.  David  98 
Laws  g6 
Lawson,  Chris.  48 

Samuel  213 
Layton,  Thos.  48 
Leach  128 

Leadder,  Richard  50 
Lear  128 
Leary  632 

John  632 
Leavitt,  Dudley  480 

J. A.  100 

Moses  gS  407  459 

Nathaniel  333 

Samuel  98  107  loS 

Thomas  4S  455 
LeBanon  263  264  435  436  464  493 
495  517  654 
Lecross,  Edward  323 
Lee  113  281  346  347  433 

Abraham  1 1 1 

Jason  45S 

Jesse  444 

R.  E.  625  652 
Leer,  Hugli  100 
Legatt,  John  53  76 
Legislature  93 
Leighton  685 
Lempster  263  462 
Lennard,  John  489 
Leslie,  James  142 
Leverett,  John  74 
Leveridge,  William  40  48 
Lewis  95  135  195  262 
Lewiston,  Me.  536 
Lexington,  Mass.  314315  318  340- 
342  363  S5» 
Libby,  Jeremiah  425 
Lieman,  En.sign  388 
Light,  Jno.  100 
Limerick,  Ire.  356 
Lincoln  279 


LXDEX. 


Xlll 


Lincoln,  Abraham  541  606  609  611 
630  652  684 
Lincolnshire,  Eng.  41 
Lindsey,  James  142 
Lineham,  J.  C.  619  631 
Lingfield,  Edward  156  159 
Linkfield,  Edward  142 
Linn,  Ephraim  100 
Linzee,  Capt.  323 
Lisbon  275  276  287  527  5S7  617 
693 
Listen,  Nicholas  gS 
Litchfield  141  208  213  289 

Conn.  540  563  598 
Little,  E.  G.  212  302  324  331   333 
460 

Harbor  21    24  26-27  29  30  35 

43  45  57  125  191  193  446  496  49S 
504  695 
Littlefield,  Edmund  48 

Gulf  Brook  167 
Littleton  302  414  654  693 
Lively  (ship)  323 
LiVERMORE  467 
Livermore  143 

Arthur  455  486  498  564  674 

Daniel  337  349  388 

Ed.  St.  Loe  439  456 

House  674 

Jonathan  273  274  349  421 

John  299 
Livermore,  Mrs.  S.  301 

Samuel  299  301  355  357  393  394 
403  417  41S  421  439446451  674 

Thomas  L.  622  629 
Livingstone,  Chancellor  557 
Livius,  Peter  345 
Locke  163 

Sherburne  526 
Lock  Street  154 
Logan  632 
Lohrer,  Theresa  598 
London,  Eng.  22-24  27  38  94  133 
175  201  202289351  353  453  517 
647 

Bishop  of  281 
Londonderry  66  13S-143  145  149 
175  178  187  195  196206211218 
226  229  239  265  300  301  336  386 
398  405  407  408  419482  525530 
553  564  600  625  632  634  657 
Lonergan  634 
Long,  C.  H.  622 

Ed.  J.  502  504 

Pierce  371  375  403  422  425 

Island  70  194  353  354  501 

Island  Sound  195  557 

Meadows  145  148  149  267 
Longfellow  192  552 
Longitude  of  State  18 
Longstaff,  Henry  4799  135 
Lord  21  176  260  55S 

Chatham  360 

Halifax  202 

Loudon  192  194  236  238  239  241 
245 
Lossing  328 

Loudon  256  389  40S  45S  544  654 
Lougee's  Pond  257 
Louis  XIV.  no  117 
Louisburg  199-204  211  230  238  245 
Louisiana  297424  519  611  630632 
667 
Louisville,  Ky.  643 
Love,  John  122 
Lovejoy  334  619 
Lovers,  George  100 
Lovewell,   John    149    151    152  154 
156-158  161   167-169   234   306 
398 


Lovewell,  N^hcmiali  208-210212 

Zacheus  22S  [213 

Lovevvell's  Township  16S  170 
Lovitt  97 
Low  539  565  593 

James  R.  iSi 
Lowell,  Mass.  83  467  469  560-563 
626  677  682 
Lower  Ashuelot  206  207  220  221 

Canada  588 
Loyalist  201  280 
Lubberland  115 
Lucey,  Fr.  645 
Lufkms,  Peter  207 
Lund  213  283  324 
Lundy's  Lane  505  588 
Lunenburg,  Mass.  177  265 
Lull,  O.  N.  624  625  661 
Luther,  Martin  68 
Lyford,  Stephen  55 
Lyman  263  506 
Lyme  263 

Eng.  41 
Lynch  633 
Lynde,  David  279 
Lvndeborough  271-273   279   334 
462 
Lyndon,  Vt.  689 
Lynn,  Mass.  69  163  261  6S5 
Lyon,  James  287 

Macaulay,  T    B.  454 

Mack  262  391  392 

Macoy,  Alexander  196 

Maddon  633 

Madison,  James  488  491 
Mount  670 

Magallowny  536 

Magna  Charfa  363 

Magoon  98  388  634 

Magregor,  David  239 

Magruder,  Fort  615 

Maguire  640 

Mahurin,  Ephraim  489  495 

Mahoska  (ship)  614 

Main  Street,  Concord  249 

Maine  18  24  26  34  51  61   62  66  77 

79  85  8g  go  105  no  113  118  123 

153  162  199  202  203  251  300  307 

315  346356  393  466491  519563 

575617643 

Majesty's  Council  265  266 

Mallune,  Luke  gg 

Malone  632  634 

Maloon,  Nathaniel  553 

Makby,  William  323 

Mamaronec  250 

Manahan  633 

Manchester  141  149  398  477  553 

557  595-597  598  600  619  620 

624   625   643-645  648  652   654 

655   659  662   668  674  678-680 

693  694 

Mann  70  143  263  335  340  341  408 
620 

Mansfield,  Mass.  453 

Mansfield  70  225  265 

Manual,  John  338 

Maquot  Indians  79 

Marblehead,  Mass  70 

March  132  213 

Marcy  335  667  687 

Marian,  Jon.  98 
Fort  619 

Mariana  23  33  38 

Market-day  56 

Marks,  David  290 

Marlborough   335   342 


Mass.  681 


7    389 
462  622  654 


MaRLOW  259  26o-2()3  654 

Marquis  do  Chastellux  457 
Mars,  Field  of  543 
Marsh  210  333  3X9  627  64.)  671 
Marsliall  261-328  386  495  501  516 
Marston  4S  74  gS  348 

Gilman  348  600  613  615  616  617 

621  676 

Martin  or  Martyn  73  76  93  94  100 

loi   103  loS  143  276 

Noah  601 
Marj'land  96  470  471 
Marye's  Heights  621  652 
Mascoma  Lake  434  437 
Mason  287  335  408 

17  24  29  30  38  42  45  50  54  10;.  134 

T  u  '•'"  '3*' 

Jeremiah   450-452    455-457   4W 
500511  514  516  521  533  5.!4  54i 
542  553  585  667 
John  23  24  26  29  33  34  37  39  42 
45  47  51  63  67  71  458632 
John  Tulton  216  222 
Robert  Tufton  51  67  68  g2  96  97 
107  122  17s  211  466594 
Masonry  59S 
Massabcsic  14S 

Massachusetts  17  iS  25  28  33  34  38 
39  40  46  49  54-56  60-62  64-68 
70-74  77-81  82  85  89  92  96  104 
105  107  108  113  117  122  123  130 
131  137  138  140  141  143  144  155- 
157  ib2  163  172  173  175-177  180 
181-1S3    184-186    18S    19S   igg 
204  205  208209213  216  219-22! 
223-225  250252255262265266 
26S  274  2S7  2S9  29R  299  302  316 
320  332  333  335  338  340  341-344 
35S  360  372  376  386  390  393  39f» 
411  419420422423  42S454  455 
458460  469  475  479  491  502  50(1 
515    518  519  530   533    540   544 
573  580-5^2  601  643  551 
Masson  98  gg 
Matthews,  Francis  47  48 
Matton,  Hnrbeitus  100 
Maud,  Daniel  71 
Maverick.  Samuel  61 
Mavne,  Sir  Wm.  287 
Mavnesborough  287 
Maxfield,  David  283 
Maxwell,  Capt.  323 

Thompson  333 
McAdams,  William  196 
McAllister  143  336 
McCarrill  633 
McCarty,  John  389 
McCarthy  632  633 
McClairathan  633 
McClary  336  337  345  388  403  A,of> 
439  489  632  633 
Fort  491  504 
McClure  267  287  517 
McClintock  132  143  404  655 
McClennen  633 
McCollev287  288289 
McCollo'm  Inst.  654 
McConnihic  633  634 
McCormack  632  634 
McCrillis,  William  337 
McDonald  643  644 
McDonnell  633 
McDiiffee  142  144  632 
McFarland  142  167  198  439  480  50& 
544  569  61J 
McGaffey,  Andrew  337 
McGaw  Institute  654 
McGee  213  633 
McGinnis  632 
McGowan  632  633 


XIV 


INDEX. 


McGrath,  Daniel  339 
McGiegore  141  142  239 
Mclntire  276 
McKeen  138  142  671 
McKenney  or  McKinney  207  680 
McKeon  633 
McLaughlan  337  632  634 
McLeneehan,  James  632 
McLeod,  George  336 
McMahon  632  633 
McMaster,  John  303 
McMillan  338  339  632  633 
McMurphy  142  14S 
McNeal  or  McNeil  142  218  338  494 
505  552  632 
McNee  633 

McSweeney,  Bryan  633 
Meacham,  Samuel  263 
Mead,  Joseph  98 
Meader,  John  99 
Means  70  408  499  633 
Medford,  Mass.   134  250  333   339 
341-344  468  469 
Medical  College  601 
Mediterranean  268 
Metcha  100  134 
Meloon  128 
Melvip  156  159  335 
Menzies,  James  133 
Mercer,  t'rancis  100 
Meredith  407 
Bridge  155 
Neck  459 

Village  257  287  407  569  592  600 
Meriden  264  654 
Meroney  633 

Merrill  163  177  212  389  693 
Merrill's  Falls  476 
Merrimack,     Town,     River,     and 
County  17  18  21-24  26  33  34  36 
39  50  54  57  64-66  119  139  143 
144  152  154  1S3  184  185  206  20S 
2og  211  212  223  228  229  234  235 
254  265  266  335  455  468  469  476 
47S  479  50S  510  542  553  560  563 
568  575  576  580  581  584  596  603 
623  634  647  690 
Merritt,  Ebenezer  264 
Merry  Mount  28  32 
Messer,  Moses  535 
Mesandowit  iii 

Meservy  or  Meserve  211  252   297 
424 
Metcalf,  Henry  H.  414427  577  655 
657  664  676  68g 
Ralph  605  647  661 
Methodist  165  260261  277  302  457 
458  490505  527  528  559  572  573 
638-659  681 
Methuen,  Mass.  544 
Mexico  599  622 

Mexican  War  5S1  599  615  618  620 
Miamie  248 
Michisan  501 
Micliilimackinac  248 
Middlebury  College  578 
Middleham  igi 
Middleton,  Conn.  459  659  681 
Middlesex  66  106  299  324  468  469 
476477  S'o  560  562 
Milan  ig  287  488 
Mill  brook  301 
Mill  Slip  453 
Milesian  631 

MiLroRD  66  176  209  272  334  360 
452  453  565  624  625  654  661 
Miliken,  Samuel  337 
Militia  4S8 
Miller  259  491  505 
Mills  2  16 


Millville  207  543 
Milton  445  654 
Minden  Plains  404 
Miner,  Thomas  263 
Mingay,  Jeoffrey  48  74 
Minot,  Maine  70 
Minot  303  524  594  600  687 
Missisquoi  Bay  246 
Mississippi  River  185  230  584  611 
625  628 
Missouri  Compromise  513  661 
Mitchell  99  142  181  183  185  188267 

„^  ,  .,  339471 

Mobile  Bay  630 

Moderator  308 

Moffat  207  211 
'Mogg  88 

Mohawks  22  79  S3  8g  115  118  154 

MoUoy  633 

Molony  632  633 

Monadnoc  290  291 
R.  R.  534 

Moncton,  Col.  231 

Monhegan  21 

Monmouth  345  346  359  390 

Monroe,  James  507  522 
Mount  670 

MoNSON  57  452  453 
Richard  100 

Montcalm,  Gen.  236  239  241  245 

Montelony  229 

Monterey  599 

Mont  Vernon  176  334  446  462  654 

Montgomery,  Alabama  612 

Montgomery  142  336  491  504  535 

Montpelier  '&  W.  R.  R.  R.  600 

Montreal  162  210  230  241  243  247 
249  254  348  501  638  639 

Moody  59  70  73  95  100  104  106  125 
212  257 

Mooney  588  633 

Moore  47  98  107  108  142  145  171 
173  204   211   268-269  271   324 
332  336  337  345  476  539  632 
650  655 
Moore,  Joseph  C.  655 
Moose  Meadows  228 
Moran  633 
Morev,  Israel  263 
Morgan  98  385  386 
Morginn,  John  134 
Mormon  277 
Morril,  David  L.  541  544 
Morrill  177  214  333  554 

Amos  337 
Morris  Island  619 
Morris  48  370  446  619 
Morrisanla  393 
Morrison  142  196  265  481  627 
Morristown  349  354  365  392 
Morrow,  John  196 
Morton,  Thomas  27  28  32  33 
Morton's  Hill  321 
Mosaic  Code  467 
Moses,  W.  P.  625 
Morse  or  Moss  100  146  148  212  276 
633 
Mott  471 

Moulton  48  98  100  128  459  6ig 
Moulton's  Point  321 

MOULTONBOROUGH  459  592 

Mount  Hope  80 

Merry  28  32 

Wollaston  32 

Washington  20  37 
Mountalona  215 
Moylan  633 
Miichmore,  Jno.  100 
Mudgett  257 
Mugridge,".!.  T.  660 


Murphy  632  633  643  644 
Murrey  223  265  633 
Musters  54  543 
Muzzy,  John  527 
Mystic  Beach  341 
River  321  322  324  325  342  343  509 

Namaska  Mills  597 
Narraganset  106  176 
Narrows  316 
Nash  264  303  305  669 
Nashua  65  66  131  154  167  173  208 
340  478  563  573  609644654655 
662  671  677  678  6g2  69J 
Nashville,  Tenn.  565 
Nassau  Hall  299 
Nasson,  Richard  98 
Natick,  Mass.  80  89 
Native  Cattle  34 
Naumkeag  23 
Neaglee,  Gen.  615 
Neal  132  489  632  634 

Walter  29  35-38  43  46  108 
Nebraska  661 
Needham,  Nicholas  48 
Nelson  623 

Matthew  100 
Napoleon  487  488  493  503 
Nesmith,   G.  W.  284  332  341  385 
470  472  475  4S6  534  554  555  595 
613  630656 
James  142 
Netherlands  40 
Nevada  631 
Nevers,  Phinehas  340 
Nevin,  Jas.  424 

New  Boston  279  33S  339  411  601 
634 
New  Brunswick  114-557  ^4° 
Newbury  271  302  405 
Mass.  70  132  144  146  147  175  177 
678 
Newburyport,  Mass.  271   303  420 
485  580  5S1 
Newcastle  3S  45  102  108  125-127 
'.12  133  174  177  297  381  387  393 
404  420  423  677 
Duke  of  201 
New  Chester  526  527 
New  Durham  3S9  393 
England  18-633 
Canaan  27 

England  Conference  261 
England  Indians  109 
New  Hampshire  i6-688 
Club  65s 
Gazetteer  268 
Hist.  Soc.  55 

Med.  Soc.  429  431  432  444 
Named  34 

Patriot  480  484  503  538  574  601 
Hampton  460  536  569  587  620 
685 
Holderness  459 
Ipswich  278  334  408  532  654 
Jersey  180  181  238  334  392   408 
481  532 
London  194  195  338  594  595  666 
Orleans  230  293  505  627  628  630 
643 
Plymouth  81 
Windsor  393 

York  51  79  go  106  129  130  141  173 

iSo  192  195  230  231  239  241  24S 

250251  253  342  344  346  355  364 

378  386  387  390  393  395  396  399 

412  417  457  473  513  556  557  585 

592  593  600  635 

York  Evening  Post  452 

York  Med.  Coll.  655 


/A'D/iX. 


XV 


New,  Zealand  R.  R.  574 
Newcomb,  Daniel  439 

Gideon  678 

Sarali  L.  678 
Newfoundland  20  23 
Newhall,  D.  B.  612 
Newickawannock  34  35  44  50  55  84 
Newington  45  113  135279407470 

575 
Newman,  Agent  162 
Newmarket  173  388  676  693 
Newport  263  264  557  577  601  605 
654  65  s  693 

R.  I.  354  392 
Newton  213  522 

Sir  John  355 
Newtown,  Pa.  365 
Niagara  230  231  236  245  346  504 
Nichol,  Col.  407 
Nicholson  471  472 
Nickels,  Alex.  142 
Nickson,  Col.  324  332  391 
Niles,  Daniel  L.  590 

Delia  W.  590 

William  W.  590 
Ninth    Regiment  616  61S  623-625 
630 
Nipsic  (ship)  614 
Nisitissit  312 
Nixon,  General  387 
Noble,  Oliver  125  263 
Nock,  James  153 
Nonconformists  104 
Nooks  Hill  364 
Norfolk  County  43  50  53  54  66 

Eng.  42 

Va.  626  627 
Normal  School  653 
Norman,  Capt.  293 
Normands  20 
Norris  98  576 
Norridgewock  117  153  154 
North,  Lord  317 

Thomas  99 

America  230  235  236  245  247  250 
352  501  520 

American  Colonies  289 

Anna  River  623 

Berwick,  Me.  6o3 

Carolina  591  6ii  622  624 

Conway  654 

End  512 

of  Ireland  229 

Pembroke  i6g 

Stream  272 

Virginia  22 
North  AM  26  41  43  52 

Mass.  41 
Northampton,  Mass.   177    197  289 
409 
Northern  Frontier  233 

R-  R-  573  S?''  600 
States  522 
Northers  276 

NORTHFIELD  222  356   395    458    553 

572 
Northumberland  228  229 
northwood  2s9  290  344  455  654 
Norton  42  47  134  620 
Norwalk,  Conn.  651 
Norway  262 
Norwich  University  620  628 

Conn.  519 
Nott,  Handel  213 
Nottingham  143  149  20S  211  272 
290  337   344-346  386  407  455 
491  502  634 

West  212 
Notch  of  ^A^hite  Mts.  669  670 
Nova  Scotia  180  199  205  352 


Noyes    in    259   276    504   57S  600 
O50 
Nubble  114 
Nud,  Thomas  98 
Number  1' our  206-211  221  27S 

Two  221 
Numphon  S3 
Nute  47  48  622 
Nutfield  153  156  530 
Nutt  99 

Nutter  48  76  95  97  99  104 
Nutting,  Capt.  323 

Oakes  276 

Odd  Fellows  598 

Odlin  70  449  619 

Odiorne  27  12S  184  211  316 

O'Donnell,  Fr.  644 

Ogden  590 

Ogdensburg  R,  R  574 

Ohio  230  371  501 

Olcott,  Bulkley  177 

General  436 

Samuel  474 

Simeon  407 
Old  Colony  Club  360 

Bay  Colony  267 

Belknap  55  256 

Gilmanton  569 

Hampton  Village  5S0 

Hundred  145 

North  Ch.  Concord  165  404  461 
462  523  559  566  568  592 
Old  South  Church  5S2  583 
Olicott  General  436 
Olive  Street  Ct.  213 
Olmutz  547 
Olustee  624 

Olzendam,  Abram  P.  597  598 
O'Neal  632 
Oneida  (ship)  614 
O'Neil  633  634 
Orange  435 

Orders  in  Council  4SS  507 
Ordway,  Dr.  430 

James  48 
Orford  263  2S1  388  475  617  654 
Orphan's  Home  607 
Orr,  John  526 
Orthodox  71  172 
Osgood,  John  48 
Osgood's  Mills  485 
O.ssiPEE  85  86  88  155  160  592 

(ship)  614 
O'Sullivan,  Phihp  356 
Oswego  236 
Ottawas  248 
Ottis  99  III 
Overseers  of  Poor,  309 
Oxford,  Eng.  49  351 
Oyster  River  66  71  84  85  108  112- 
114  117-119  153  176  358 

Packer,  Thomas  132  211 

Pacific  230  599 

Paddleford,  Jonathan  263 

Page  48  97  98  228  241  264  276  278 
339399431  441  489577685 

Paige  216  282283  284 

Palo  Alto  599 

Palmer  47  48  97  98  268  270  276 

Palfrey  23  24  666 

Panaway  43 

Panic  of  1857  608 

Parker  76  12S  143  177  207  264  276 

334  335  376  41743'  439  474  475 

482  4S4  524  539  544  566  613  617 

651  689 

Parent's  Magazine  258 

Paris  402 


Parliament  51  125  219  265  291  293 
Parrott  524  525  542 
Parry,  Edward  292  293 
Parsons  163280303  515  59.4 
Partridge  99  100  12S-130 
Park,  Alexander  196 
Passaconaway  53  83  84 
Patten  267  335 
Patterson  330  332  337  3S6  387  559 

James  W.  653 

Joab  N.  616  617 
Paugus  155  161 
Paui.sbokough  287 
Paupers  309 

Pawtucket  Falls  34  83  84  184  186 
1 88  265 

(Ship)  614 
Payne  or  Paine  53  99  403  434  437 
439  462  464 
Peabody  4S  333  407  412  433  565 

Nathaniel373  406413  417418421 
422  431  439  44' 
Peach  Orchard  616 
Pearl  Street  Ch.  213 
Pease  276 

Pearson  623  624  689 
Peaslee,  Charles  H.  566  56S 
Peirce  or  Pierce  70  132  143  175  211 
221  2S7  499  502  599615 

Benjamin  439  526  550  552 

Franklin  70  552  577  591-593  597 
599-601-620  6O0  687 
Peavey,  Edward  389 
Pei.ham  141  211  212  337  389 
Pemaquid  21  23  37  89  90  114   117 

'74  '77 

Pembroke  156  161  169  172  17S  179 

206  235  255  267  336  3S7  388 

408  413  450  453  458  484  522 

543  544  546  566  568  575  654 

659  672  675 

Pemigewasset  228  436  553 

Penacook  23  81  86  88  no  in   115 

117  139  140  162-164  169  206  222 

229  266  330  654 

Pendergast  632  633 

Pendexter,  John  433 

Penhallow  J.  108  132  137  153  423 

Pendleton,  Brian  54  58  73  77 

Penn,  William  632 

Pennichuck  57  65  167 

Peninsular  Campaign  615 

Pennsylvania  355  360  383  393  632 

Penobscot  21  8891  no  113  117 

Pennit,  Peter  144 

Pension  Act  5S6 

People  655 

Pepperrell,   William    139   194   196 

199  200  203  204  355  360  383 

392  41942045947'  49' 

Pepperill,  Mass.  322 

Pequod  war  40  77 

I'ercy,  General  319 

Perkins  48  97  98  132  134  464  5'J7 
630  666 

George  H.  630 

Perry  212  274  501 

Persia  487  520 

Persians  82 

Pest  House  435 

Peterborough  264  265  334-336  3S7 

408  481  578  591   622   633   654 

663  667  693 

Petersburg  619  621-625  627 

Peter  86  89 
the  Great  353 

Peters  47  207  369 

Pets  639 

Pet-Webster  Place  473 

Petlingill  285  286  335  475 


XVI 


INDEX. 


Pettit,  Thomas  4S 
Peverly  47  592 
Phenix  Hotel  595 
Philadelphia  292  29S  314  383  393 
418  419  421  422  425  449  452  556 
557  <>35 
Philbrick   or   Philbrook   48  97  98 
117  12S  132  433  473 
Philip,  Sachem  79  80  81  82  84  86 
Philip's  war  76  77  83  95 
Phillippe,  Louis  426 
Phillips  Academy  44S  482  578  665 
675 
Phillips  56  207  372  664-666 
Phipps,  Sir  William  203  206 
Piccioli,  Geronomo  262 
Pickering  47  95  100  107  108  129  133 

417  439  470  472 
Pidgin,  William  70 
PlERMONT  228  279 
Pigot,  General  325  329 
Pigwachet  85  86  no  117  155  168306 
Pike  69  71  264  340  628  664  679 
Pilgrims  44  68  74  139  360 
Pillsbur)',  Kdmand283  290484571 
573  582  625 
Pinkerton  143  654 
Pinkham  48  99 
Piper,  William  301 
Pipping,  Bartholomew  98 
Piscataqua  17  1 8  20  21  24-30  32-34 
37  42-47  50-54  57-61-63  65-67 
71-74  84  85  87  94  129  17S  423 
424  426  44S  453  456  502  504  563 
580 
Indians  40 
Patent  73  42C) 
Piscataquog  47S 
Pitman,  William  100 
Pittsburg  586  589  671 

PiTTSFIELD  576  654  692  693 

Mass.  519 
Pitt,  William  239  246  426 
Plainfield  263  264 

Conn.  70 
Plains  504 
Plaisted  129  130 
Plaistow  213  340  341 
Plansawa  i6g 
Pleasant,  Mount  670 
Plimpton,  J.  I.  619 
Plowden  452 

Plumer,  William  195  394  401  402 
411-413  416-418  422-423  432 
433  437  439  442  447  448  455  465 
466  470-472  474  4S2  4S4-486 
4S9-491  498  499  504-507  510 
512  520-522  524  525  527  52S  538 
542  600  650  651 
Plutarch  358 

Plymouth  156  228  279  300  301  350 
428  571  653  654  693 
Plymouth,  Mass.  27  29  32  33  74  188 
Eng.  22-25 

Colony  40  63  81  83  106 
Council  23  24  29  33  34  39 
Pocotaligo  618  619 
Point  Lookout  616  621  627 

St.  Charles,  P.  Q.,  639 
Pollard  212 

Polk,  James  K.  540  577 
Poll  Tax  300 

Pomfret,  William  48  56  76 
Pomp  249 

Pomroy,  Leonard  25 
Pontiac  248 

Poor  316 332  337  340  346  359  368 
370  385  3S6  388  389  520  535  634 
Pope  68 

Gregory  XIIL  219 


Pope,  General  622 

Pope's  Army  615 

Popery  loi  139 

Poplar  Springs  623 

Poplin  279 

Pormot,  Philemon  48 

Port  Hudson  625  62S 

Royal  118  H9618  619  624 

Porter  163  264  301  535 

Portland,  Me.  21  70  300  540  645 

Portsmouth  25  45  56  59  62  65  66 
68  71  72  76  85  89  93  97  loi  102 
104  107  108  113  114  119  125  12S 
129  131  137  141  143  146  162  163 
175  178  179  183  184  193  197  202 
204  211  214  289-291  293  29S  299 
300302  305314  316317  345  350 
357  364  366  367  373  376  37.6  3S0 
389  394  395  403  405  407  412  419 
420  422-426  428  433  438  444  44S 
450  453  456-45S  464-466  470  47  T 
489491  496499501-50451°  515 
522  538  540  541  553  566  580  585 
591  592  608  613  615  618  654  655 
667  674  676  677-693 
Eng.  23 

Portugal  20  178  346 

Portuguese  20 

Potter  36  73  228  264  389  464  570 
599  613  627  651 

Potomac  614  616  625  663 

Poughkeepsie  458 

Pounds  310 

Powell,  Robert  98 

Poweis  212  228  229  304  340409  633 
640 

Pratt,  Thomas  340 

Presbyterian  70  138  140  147  170  172 
186  239  264  265  267  287  510  527 

Prescott    128-134  195  284  322-324 

326330-332  340341  456  568  6j6 

667  671 

Prentice  143  213  290  300  466 

Presson,  John  100 

Pretender  117 

Priest  276 

Primer  171 

Prince  Albert  345 
of  Wales  202 
24  25 

Princeton,  N.  J.  239  299  354  371 
451  557 

Pring,  Martin  20 

Pritchard  532  693 

Probate  Court  376  585  59S 

Proctor  143  213  634 

Prospect  Hill  331 

Protestant  219  402  640 

Provincial  Laws  308-313 
Papers  38  51  268  651 

Providence,  R.  L  157  391  392  523 

557 
(ship)  25  27 
Puddington,  Robert  47  58  100 
Pulpit  Rock  94  114 
Punch  Brook  285 

Puritans  32  41  46  49  68  69  71  72 
140  170  488 
Puritan  45  47  70  73  74  163 
Puritanism  287 
Puritan  Historians  44  74 
Putnev  J.  215  216  600  656 

Vt.  607 
Putnam  71  207  214  272  322-324327 
330331  353  354624 

Quakers  49  59  60  63   67  80  82   103 

117  153  195  527 
Qualification  of  Voters  313 
Quampegan  Falls  44  45 


Quebec  iS  230  246  247  330  345  535 
636-639 
Queen  Anne  117  130-134  174  445 

College  481 

Street  626 
Quigley  196  633  634 
Quunby  276  554 

ROBV  337  453 

Radclitf,  Anne  191 

Railroads  574 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter  23  38 
(Frigate)  378 

Ralle,  Fr.  152  153 

Rambler  95 

Ramsay  32S 

Ramsey,  Hugh  142  216 

Rand  47  128  163  334 

Randall  128  393 

Randell,  Alexander  142 

Randlett,  J.  F.  619 

Randolph  of  Virginia  471 

Edward  67  79  95  96   loi    103 
104  423 

Range  196 

Rangers,  Rogers  231-234  236-239 

241-248  250278280302  304363 

399  412 

Rankm,  James  414  633 

Rano,  Elias  339 

Rapidan  621  623 

Rawlins  99  153 

Rawson  53  207 

Rawbone,  George  48 

Ray,  Ossian  678 

Raymond  144-146  148  149268  279 
2S1  333  3S0  654 
William  47 

Rayner,  John  71 

Ream's  Station  621 

Rebellion   18  277  491  583  604  606 

609  611  630  643  647652668680 

692 

Record  Office  iSr 

Redman,  John  97 

Red  River  625 

Reed  133  290  387 

James  290  291  316  323  325  330 

332    333    335-337   341-343  359 

365-367  370  389 

Reform  School  647 

Regular  Army  494 

Reid  48  142  336  386-389  395 

Renkin  142 

Repository,  N.  H.  258 

Representatives  572 

Republican  412  416447  465  470474 
479  4S4  490  498  499  505-508 
510  511  524  538  558  597  605- 
608  611  614  674  676 

Republic  364  672 

Republican  Convention  646  647 

Revere,  Paul  298 

Revolution  38  68  181  199  201  202 
204  254  255  271  272  274-278 
280  286  288  291  299  301  302  306 
308  313  314  400  401  406-409 
413  414  416  418-422  433  446 
447449451  457467481489496 
505  511  519  545  551  569  5S6  604 
605  618  630 

Rhine  Confederation  487 

Rhode  Island  61  63  180  345  354 
373  375  391  407  40S  470  506 

Rice  261  264  339 

Rich,  Rich.  99 

Richards,  Francis  100  177  207  33S 
638 

Richardson,  Caleb  146  156  159  210 
212  262  269  276 


INDEX. 


\VU 


Richardson,  Chief -Justice,   Wm. 

M.  212  467  511  512  515  566  56S 
Richmond  219  334  339  3SS 

Va.  626  627 
Richmond  Island  37 
Ricker  99 
Ridge  Hill  167 
Riedsell,  Baroness  3S3 
RiNDGE  2S7  334  3S8  407 
Rindge  175  535  536 
Ripley,  T.  A.  62S 
Rishvorth,  Edward  48 
Ritchie,  Alexander  ig6 
Rivers  of  N.  H.  iS 
Robbe,  Wm.  265 
Robbins  156  15S  159  207 
Roberts  27  41  48  94  99  ico  107  207 
662 
Robeval  20 
Robie  1 17-132  270 
Robins  276 

Robinson   84  98   125   146  336  338 
339  371  387  460  524  654 
Roby  48  97  335  539 
Roche  633 

Rochester  143    148  203  207  210 

211   251   3S8  591  592  633  654 

676  693 

Rockingham  Co.  144  254  2S9  333 

363  395  4ot>  412  42 1  429  456  4S0 

4S1  483  4S5  499  514  522  541  549 

.   .  553  675  677 

Rockhef,  William  100 
Rockwell,  Charles  212 
Rockwood,  Ebenezer43i 
Rodgers  142  167 
Roe,  Richard  99 

Rogers  70  71  142  214-216  229  249 
431  439614 

Nathaniel  P.  571-573 

Robert  215  229  231-234  235  237 
238  241-243  245  248  250  280 
302  304  396 
Roiley,  Philip  633 
Rolfe  198  214  222  225  265  604 
Rollins  199  283  388  3S9  430592  613 
Rollinsford  654 
Rood,  Henman  25S  259 
Roper,  Walter  48 
Rope-walk,  South  504 
Rmnan  82  219  359  645 
Rome  219 
Romer,  Col.  130 
Rosebrook  670  671 
Roswell,  Sir  Henry  33 
Roundheads  74 
Rousley,  Robert  99 
Rowan  633  634 
Row  47  97 
Rowe  269  475  599 
Rowland,  William  F.  70 
Rowley,  Mass.  26S 
Rowlens  99 

Roxbury,  Mass.  346  650  678 
Royal  Commissioners  73 

Fusilliers  340  341 

George  328 

Navy  282  594  597 

Province  67  73  92  93   163 
Royalists  46  49  74 
Royalton  464 
Royce  259  260  262  433 
Ruggs,  David  207 
Rumford  161   164  177  179  207  214 
315  221-225235  249250  265  266 

Academy  603 
RuMXEY  226  281  287  398  459  568 
Rump  Tax  260 
Runners 
Runnels,  Daniel  407 


Rural  Museum  258 
Russell,  Kleazer  425  42S 

John  264 
Russ,  John  176 
Russia  220  487 
Rut,  John  20 
Rutgers  College  4S1 
Rutland,  Vt.   177 
Rutledge  426 
Ryan  633 

RvE  27  45  113  115  120  146  163  388 
Ryegate  464  502 

Ryswick  117 

Sabbath  65  67  255  310  311  460  465 

School  Advocate  250 
Sachem,  Philip  79-81 
Saco  18  82  157  15S  161  202  306  433 
Sacremento,  Ship  614 
Safford,  C.  G.  259 
Sagadock  24  26 
Sagamore's  Creek  114 
Salem  337  3SS  619 

Canada  271  272 

INIass.  23  52  141  202  214  216  519 

Salisbury  284  285  339  464  473  475 

524  553  554  576  654 

Salisbury  Mass.  50  54  60  61  69 
105  141  iSo  213  2S1-283 

Fort  234  430 

N.  C.  59 

Village  580  595 
Salmon  Brook  131  154 

Falls  18  113  35S 
Salter,  Titus  364 
Samuel  83 

Saltonstall,  Leverett  666 
Sanborn  or  Sanbourne  97  gS  117 
128  133  134  264  285  388  408  494 
554  600  613  651 
Sanbornton  141  287  388-408  553 
Sanders  48  99 

Point  35 
Sandovvn  239  287  333  337  459 
Sandwich  654  685 
Sandy  Beach  113  114  125  163 
Saratoga  345  346  388  399 
Sargent  48  128  145  146  332 

J.  Everett  220  651  660  661 
Sartwell,  Obediah  211 
SartwiU  177 
Sarsacuss  614 
Saunders,  William  48 
Saunderson,  Robert  48 
Savage  100  276  283  627 
Savannah,  Ga.  628 
Savings  Bank  598 
Sautelle  213 

Sawyer  263  264  305  340  341  600  612 
627  681  682 

Charles  H.  681-684 

Jonathan  6S1  682 
Saxon  138 

race  92 
Saxony  598 

Scammel,  Alexander  345  346  359 
360  368  3S6-389  395 
Scammon,  Col.  331 
.Scamon,  Richard  98 
Scarborough  89  350 

(ship)  317 
Scheme  of  History  17 
Schoharie,  N.  Y.  630 
School  67  309 
Scoffield,  John  263 
Scotch  27  13S  139  186  lys  196  631 
671 

-Iiish  17  138-142  147  163  170239 

398  439  467  481  525  530  555  564 

591  594  601  60 1  (/17 


Scotland  loi   1S6  187  igd  197  215 
219293351424632 
Scots  139 
Scott  265  334-336  387  599  601  609 

622  633  666  992 
Sea  Feiicibles  496 
Seabkook  103  281  287  347  348388 

654 

Seamon,  Richard  gg 

Seaile,  Jonathan  270  439 

Seavey,  William  47  12S 

Seavie,  John  100  163 

Seavy  or  Seavey  12S  163  ' 

Sebago  (ship)  614 

.Sebatis  i6g 

.Sccessionville  61S 
I  .Second  church  of  Exeter  70 
j       Regiment  615-617  621  623  629 

S  •ciiiiiiet  brook  64 

Segar's  Narrative  535 
I  Selectman  3og 
I  .Senter,  Joseph  460 
]  .Seven  days  tight  615  620 
I  .Seven  years  war  232 
i  .Seventeenth  Regiment  616628  630 

.Seventh  Regiment  6ig  624  630 

.Severence,  Lieut.  2.86 

Severet,  Philip  100 

Sewall,  Judge  163 

Seward  100  577  5S0  611 

Sliackford  gg  146  389  489  501 

Shakers  207  263 

Sliannon,  George  337  634 

Sharpleigh,  Major  98 

Sharpshooters  630 

Shattuck  208 

Shaw  56  74  98  134  181  348  435 

.Shawmut  (ship)  614 

.Shay's  Rebellion  411 

Sheafe,  James  394  423  465  485  510 
5" 
Sampson  227  229  230  423 

Shelburne  534-536 

Sheller,  William  100 

.Shenandoah  628 

Shepard,  Samuel  195  197 

Sheppard,  John  301 
Mills  272 

Sherboni,  Samuel  97 

Slierburne  47  53  54  58  76  108  113 
184  432  437  465 

Sheridan,  General  628 

Sherman  50  54  276 

Slierlock,  James  104 

Sherwill,  Nicholas  25 

Shields,  John  142 

Shillaber,  B.  P.  31 

.Shipperd,  William  134 

.Shipway,  John  100 

Shirley,  147  14S  188    192    199  204 
205  aog  233  236  238 

Shirley,  John  M.  453  462  466  472 
474  5o8  5'0  5'4-5'6552  557  57'' 

Shortridge,  Richard  100 

Shrewsbury,  Mass.  24  73  622 

Sliurtleff,  William  125 

Shute  134  137  '38  '4'   '43   '52   '74 
633 

Sibley,  Stephen  576 

Sides,  William  O.  616 

Sienr  de  Villieu  114 

Silver,  Dr.  257 

Simon  86  89 

.Simonds  14 

Simpson  195  208  345  337  3^8 

Sincklcr,  John  98 

Sinclair  301  651 

.Sisyphus  474 

.Six  Nations  355 

Sixleentli  Ke;  iinenl  62S  630 


INDEX. 


Sixth  Regiment  622  623  630 
Skillan,  Benjamin  132 
Skullard,  Samuel  4S 
Slavery  discontinued  53 
Sleeper  gS  117  526  527 
Sloane  263 
Smart  qS  339 
Smibert  (artist)  202 
Smilie,  Francis  196 
Smiley,  William  408 
Smith  21  23  38  48  53  54  70  76  97 
98  129  146  153  212  213  258  264 
268  276  284  2S6  301  388  407  439 
460  472  481  523  526  624 

Isaac  W.  605  657 

Jeremiah   394  432   447  466  468 

480-484   490  498  499  514  524 

527  667 

William 
Smith's  Lake  352 
Smollett  201 

Smyth,  Frederick  646-650 
Snell,  George  100 
Snow,  Daniel  388 
Society   for    Propagating    Gospel 
,^.     .         .  17S302 

of  Cmcmnatl  555 
Sokokies  306 
Solomon  102 
Somerset  (ship)  323 
Somersetshire,  Eng.  95  540 
Somersworth  408  421 
Sonoma  (ship)  614 
Sons  of  Liberty  252  253 
Soper,  Joseph  337 
Soul  365 

Sorrell,  Edward  98 
Soucook  179 
Souhegan,  East  206  452  453 

River  209 

West  167  176  206  212453 
Soule,  Gideon  L.  666 
South  Carolina  248  611  618 

Church,  Concord  166 

Hampton  197  2S1  654 

Mountain  625 

Newmarket  459 

Road,  Salisbury  553 

Virginia  22 

AVoods,  Chester  144 
Southern  States  544 
Southerners  582 
Soward,  Robert  4S 
Soweli,  Edward  gS 
Spafford  or  Spofford  181   183   185 
186  197  207  25S  279  280 
Spain  20  64  19S  267  594 
Spanish  153  197  198  487 
Spalding  or  Spaulding  143  334  337 
600  681  693 

Edward  693 
Sparhawk  446  539 
Sparks  Jared  666 
Spencer,  Thomas  47 
Sperry,  Ebenezer2i3 
Spikeman,  Captain  241  243-245 
Spooner  276 

Spottsylvania623  625  626 
Springfield  392  473 
Spruce  Creek  66 
Squamscott  29  41  665 

Falls  72  73 

Patent  72-74 
Squando  82-84  9° 

Augustine,  Fla.  619  624 
St.  Clair  Flats  575 

General  392 

Croix  117 

Francis  84  jiS   169  227  229  245 
277  398  587 


St.  George  248  44S 

Helena  17S 

James  202  540 

Johns  20  114  194  249  365 

Johns,  N.  B.  640 

Joseph  Seminary  645 

Lawrence   18  20  22   84   118    199 
230  246  247  469  636  639  640 

Mary's  School  674 

Patrick  634 

Paul  School  601  606  607  654 
StagpoU,  James  99 
Stamp  Act  252  253  332  424 
Standish,  Miles  38 
Staniels,  Rufus  P.  627 
Stanstead,  P.  Q.  284 
Stanton,  Secretary  606 
Stanyan  53  74  95  97  133  182   1S3 
Starbuck,  Edward  54  76 
Stark  281 

Stark  142  2 16  398  400  433  439  484 
530  545  563  596 

George  243  341  364  382  398  476 
556  560  613 

John  217  226-228  231   237  241- 
245  289   302  304  316  322-325 
329-332    335    336   338-343  345 
346  349  352  353  364365368370 
372  382  383  385   390-393   396- 
400  412  419  447  484   533    545 
556  563  654 
Starks  River  228 
Starkstown  398 
State  Constitution  165  486 

Council  372 

House  512  539  551  566612  614 

Line,  Mass.  141 

Paper  Office  103 

Prison  489  494  565  582  656  673 

Senate  415-41S402  420-422  438 
462  465  466  472  484  485  501  520 
528  546  574  597  598  608  651  668 

Treasurer  651 
Staten  Island  354  392  393  563 
Statesman,  Concord  539  655 
Stavers,  Barthol  426 

John  426 
Steadman  328 
Stearns,  Onslow  656  657 
Steele,  John  H.  552  591 

Thomas  142 
Sterret,  David  526 
Sterrett  142 

Stevens   or    Stephens   99    100  153 
163  177  181  195  207-211  275284 
532  575  591  612  615  627 
Stevenstown  228  2  84  2  85  489  495 
Stewart  98  142  196  [553 

Stewartstown  489495 
Stickney  207  214  3S3 
Stillman  76  94  100  loi  104  loS  128 
Stillwater  345 
Stinson  216  117  265  39S 
Stockbridge,  Mass.  519 
Stockwell,  Emmons  278 
Stoddard  209 

Colonel  177 
Stokes,  Isaac  99 
Stone  262  334  388  417  689 
Stone's  Pond  262 
Stoney  Brook  272 

Point  330  346 
Stoors,  Constant  462 
Storer  485  627 
Storre,  Augustus  48 
Story  129  130  133  514  540 
Stoughton  52  66  67 
Strafford  654 

County  254  257  358  420  421  499 
55J 


Strafon  632 
Stratford  279  422 

Conn.  194 
Strathaii  146  606 
Straw,  E.  A.  658  659  681 
Strawberry  Bank  34  35  42   43  46 

47  50  53-56  71-74  76  94 

Streeter  276 

Strickland,  Fred  671 

Strong,  Governor  506 

Strongman,  Henry  633 

Stuart,  John 

Sturtevant  612  620  622  628 

Sudbury  338 

Suffolk  io6 

Suffolk  County  67 

Sullivan  276  356  361  562  574  632 
633  634 
County  585  605 
Fort  496  504 

George  504  514  569  633  667 

James  356  469  510  561  562 

John   262   297-299  334   344  346 

352-359   364   365  367  36S  378 

381  391  394  403  409  410  412  413 

416  418  419  426428432  566  568 

Sulloway  A.  W.  687  627 

Sumner  276  280  464 

Sumter,  Fort  579  612  692 

Suncook  139  140  168  169   170  172 

176  178  179  198206208265266 

267  484  545  574 

Sunderland,  Mass.  177 

Superior   Courts   348  393  407  409 

420  423  455  482  498  533  538  568 

604 

Supreme  Court  406  422  419  436  450 

451  456  469  471  486  498  499  512 

513  516  521  526  540550656659 

677 

Surplus  Revenue  575 

SuRRV  276  287  339  462 

Sutherland,  David  263  264 

Sutton  558 

Swain  348  523  524  614 

Swaine,  William  98 

Swan,  Josiah  213 

Swanzev  206  220  221  334  336 

Swayn  133 

Swayne,  Richard  4s 

Sweden  262  481 

Sweeney,  Bryant  301  633 

Sweet,  Joseph  133  134 

Swete,  George  98 

Swett  89  97 

Swift  Creek  627 

Swine  311 

Switzerland  20 

Syll,  Joseph  S- 

Symmes,  Thomas  155 

Symmetry  (ship)  323 

Symonds  47  52 

Syria  520 

Tabor,  Jeremiah  583 
Taggart  142  335  38S 
Talbot,  William  K.  212 
Taler,  Henry  47 
Tales  of  Wayside  Inn  192 
Talford,  John  147 
Tallant,  James  484 

John 
Tamworth  15s 
Tappan  118  164  612  613 
Tarlton  128 
Tasket,  William  99 
Taxes  313 

Taylor  or  Tayler  48  97  98  99  143 

276  2S0  285  442  445  520  524  599 

609 


/xn/-:x. 


xi.\ 


Tea  292 
Teachers  309 
Tebbets,  N.  C.  257 
Temple  272  287  334  335  38S  406 
491  505  52s 

John  424 
Tenipleton,  196  525 
Tennessee  625 
Tenney  213  375  433  471 
Tenny,  Allen  613 
Tenth  Regiment  625  630  644 
Terrett  on  Dover  Church  65 
Texas  591  593  595 
Thanksgiving  49S  505 
Tliayer  69-1 18  628 

School  521 
Theological  Seminary  257  259 
Thing,  Jon.  98  loS 
Third  Regiment  617  619  629  644 
Thirteenth  Regiment  627  630 
Thom  143-196337  431 
Thomas  98  334  365  387 
Thomlinson  175    179   iSo    186  187 
198  211 
Thompson  24-'30  43  99  118  142  164 
194  J96  301  334  361  365  377  396 

403  439  445  572  599  6o4  616  65° 
Thornton,  Matthew  143  212  285 
301  347  367  377  407  419  527 
Thurston,  James  173 
Thurlten,  Thomas  97 
Tibbetts,  Jeremiah  99 

widow  99 
Ticonderoga  230  236  237  241  242 
244-246  291  348  365  382  422  445 
5S8 
Tidman,  Thomas  98 
Tilden,  Rev.  583 
Tilsit  Peace  of  487 

TiLTON  591  654 

Tilton  97  134  439 
Tingsborough  510 
Tippecanoe  578 
Tippen,  Bartholomew  95 
Titus,  H.  B.  616  625 
Tobin  633 
Toby  155 
Todd  142 
Toleration  69 
Tolford,  John  527 
Tolopotomy  623 
Tom,  CaiJtflin  81 
Tombs,  Rev.  S.  173 
TomUins,  Mary  61 
Toppan  403  408  439 
Topsfield  216 

Tories  276  280  344  345  355  372  391 
392  394  5" 
Toronto,  Ont.  640 
Tower  of  London  103 
Towle  97  128  146  489 
Town  Marks  54 
Towns,  Ezra  334  33^ 
Townsend,  Charles  297 
Tracy,  Uriah  474 
Trafalgar  487 
Trail,  Robert  424 
Transcript,  Boston  562 
Trask,  Nathaniel  197 
Treasury  Dept.  575  614 
Trecothick,  Barlow  251 
Trefethen  128 
Trenton  354  365  371  557 
Trewogii  Ja.  100 
Trimmings  57  58  135 
Trickit  99  135 
Trinity  College  J90 
Trowbridge,  Edward  299 
True  Jacob  286 
True!,  David  526 


Truesdell,  Moses  338 
Trumbull,  Jonathan  349 
Tubbs,  Josepii  259  260 
Tuck  97  147  3S8  592  67s 
Tucke,  Robert  48 
Tucker  55  100  J28 
Tuckerman,  E.  37 
Tueton  230 
Tufton,  Robert  50  51 
Tuftonborough  45S 
Tufts,  Charles  A.  613 
TuUock  614 

Thomas  L,  423  614  613 
Turkey  520 

River  607 
Turner  iiS  267  268 
Turnpike  Acts  454 
Tuscan  103 

Tuttle,  John  48  99  107  108 
Twelfth  Regiment  616  620  621  626 
627  630 
Twitchell,  G.  B.  627 
Twomley,  Ralph  99 
Tyler  578 
Tyng  161  213 
Tyng's  Island  4/6 
Tynge,  William  52 
Tyngsborough  510 

Underbill  40  41  46  146  408  677 
Union  165  412  414  479  557  612  613 
6.4 

Manchester  665 

Army  612  616 

Bank  466 

Democrat  652 

Locks  510 

Seminary  585 

United  Colonies  376 

United  States  165  394  396  399  402 

407  412  416  417  419  422  423  425 

432  449  450  451  466  472  474  4^0 

481  489  493  494  501  505  506  510 

513-516  520  524-526  533  54 1  5'i4 

56^  577  586  597  599  600  61 1  622 

647  674 

Bank  438 

Cabinet  530 

Court  293  481 

Navy  613  630 

Senate  196  429  465  466  474  484 

485  499  574  585  586  594  605  ''«''' 
6ii  613  676 
Treasury  575 
Unitarians  462  559  566  59S 
Unity  279  462  677 
Universalist  260  261   264  429  527 
528  580 
University  of  Aberdeen  298 

of  New  Hampshire  511 
Upham  489-491  5°'  5o5  5"  55^  5'''8 
600  651 
Upner  Ashuelot  206  207  220  221 
Coos  172  227  228  234  278  574 
Bartlett  4^(3 
Ammonoosuc  234 
Urania  636 

Usher,  John  107  119  121   122   12S- 
132  '34  136  138 
Robert  156  158  159 
Utah  277 
Utopian  401 
Utrecht  119 

Valentine,  John  133 

Valley  Academy  650 

Vallev  Forge  346  349 

Van  Buren,  Martin  565  577  578 

Vance  iq6 

Vanderbilt,  Commodore  563 


Varnum,  John  333 
Vaudrcuil,  Mons.  de  247 
Vauphan,  (juorge  35  47  134  136204 
William  94  100   101    103   104   107 
108  122  12S-130  137204  205632 
Vcazey,  Henry  524 
Veiinard  12S 
Vera  Cruz  620 
Verazzano  20 
Vermont  18  143  181  220249251261 

283  355  383  .390393  4'2  43S  43'> 
464469  491  499  506  514  519  588 
607 
Vernon  220 

Vicksbuig,  Miss.  623  625  626 
Victoria  647 

15ridge  638  639 
Villebon  117 
Villien,  Sieur  de  114 
Vines  37 

Virgin,  Ebjnezer2i4 
Virginia  22  39  64  252  380  390  395 
417  471  472  533 

Waddell,  John  195 
Wadleigh  24  613  676 
Wadley,  Robert  98  107  108 
Wagner,  Fort  619  624 
Waite  2S0  302  629 
Waitt,  Jason  387 
Wakan  100 

Wakefield,  William  48  74 
Walden,  Nico  100 
Walbacli,  Col.  504 
Waldo  213  334 

Waldrou  47  48  52-54  56  61  66  67 

76    87-89   94-98    100-103    lo/ 

J08  no   III    115    122   128-131 

175  439  455 

Waldron's  Mill 

Wales  94 

Walford  47  57  59  122  12S 
Walker  48  100  113  142  276  335  396 
539  599  te« 

Joseph  B.  229  239  250 

Timothy  164  166  222-224  250  265 
266  406  417439.^46447  523  6o2 

School  602 
Wall  47  48 

Street  217 
Wallace  143  239  2S5  337  408  533 

()00 

Wallaston,  Mount  32 
W.nllingford,  Thomas  211 
Wnilis  or  Walles  12S  142  163 
Wallinc's  Map  235 
Walnut  Hill  143  146 
Walpole  206  219  335  387  407  450 
451  454  462  499  654 
Wallpoh  R.  R.  627 
Waltham,  Mass.  333 
Walton  47  48  108  119  128  153   176 
354 
Wamcsit  83  84 
War  Department  671 
War  Democrat  652 
Warden  48  53 

Ward  48  97  197  201   322  323  325 
330  332  343 
Warning,  Ont.  309 
Warnrr  33R  494  65'  *53 
Warnerton,  Thomas  35  47  52  76 
Warren  281  279  283  408  654 
Warren  200  201  326  330  388 
W.\SIIINGTON  566  654 
Washington,  D.  C.  413  500  504  605 

610  612  614  619  622  643648 66«> 
Fort  404  496 
George  193  194  233  250  286  287 

304   343  34<)  349   353-35S  SS^ 


INDEX. 


Washington,  George  Coniinned. 
359   363-366  372   373   3S0  383 
390-392  396  399  412  420  422- 
425   426  436  447-449  461  462 
470  481  500  522  550  597  619  650 
669  670671 
Mount  303  305 
Watanic  131 

Waterliouse,  Richard  100 
Waterloo  634 
Waterman,  Silas  264 
Watertown,  Mass.  54  299  459  682 
Watson  99  132  432 
Watts,  Richard  100 
Waiigh,  Joseph  ig6 
Waumbech,  Methna  269 
Waunalaiicet  83  88  Sg  no 
Weare  279  337  338  654 
Weare  loi  129  134  142  34S  379  381 
3*^9 
Meshech   301   347-349   368    370 
372  377379388-390403408412 
425  445  446  509 
Nathaniel  97  98  loi  104  105  122 
134  162  347  348  420 
Wearing  long  liair  80 
Weathersfield,  Vt.  6/4 
Wtbber,  Richard  100 
Webster  70  97  117  118  128  146  270 
284288  310388430467546553 
554 
Daniel  117  2S4  285  4S1  483  4S5 
496  499  500  510  511  514515521 
554  586  595  646  666  667 
Ebenezer  117  128  284-287  552  553 
Ezekiel  239  287  449  464  543  55' 
578 
Place  553  554 
Wecanacohuiit  44 
Wedgew  ood  48  98  107 
Weeks  132  259  272  279  368  458  494 
600  660  670 
Weirs  55  256 
Wtir,  Robert  138  142' 
Weld  213 

Weldon  R.  R.  623 
Wellman,  Jesse  334 
Wells  261  262  276  358 

Maine  42  69  70  117 
Welman  437 
Welsh  94  171  672 
Welch  98  197  6^2  633 
Wenbourn,  William  48  53 
Wentvvorth  660  679  2S1-283  620 
Wentworth  48  99  in   131  1S9  191 
192    194  207  228  287  293-295 
334  352   380  408  420  421    534 
684  6S5 
Benning  174  175  176  183  184  iSS 
iSq  194  197  198  204  205  211  228 
234   249  253   259  268  281  282 
352  448  602  684 
John  137  147  152  194  207  211  253 
291    293   297   300  302  305   317 
350-352    366  369  380  406  420 
421  424  428  433  445  446519  531 
569  684  685 
Joseph  613  681  684 
Wesley,  John  457  458  522 
Weslevan  University  459  682 
West  451 

Andover  473  475  576 
Concord  166 
Liunstable  57  167 


West    India  178  200  202   252  295 
473  478  631  666 
Peterborough  591 

Point  345  392  393  407   520  521 
550  618  624  627 

Riding  453 

River  211 

Virginia  628 

Woodstock  598 
Westbrook  153  165 
Westcot,  Daniel  100 
Western  Brigade  491 

States  544 
Westmoreland  206  221  334  462  499 
Westminster,  Vt.  577 
Wetmore,  Natli.  D.  592 
Weston  156-15S 

James  A.  657  658  662  687 
Weymouth,  Mass.  657 
Weymouth,  Capt  23. 
Whalley,  Col.  63 
Wheat,  Thomas  340 
Wheaton,  George  2S1 
Wheeler  118  4S3  555  667 
Wheelock,    Eleazer   264    280    516 
5'S5i9 

General  50S  510  516 
Wheelwright,  John  40-42  48  53  69 
70  141 

Pond  113 
Whidden  100 

Whig  2S0  505  508  564  572  577  579 

5S6  595  596  601  605  607  609 

646 

Whipping  Indians  So 

Whipple  276  305  388  389  420  424 

566  599  612  613  619  620 

Joseph  133  279  305-307  328  345 

368  389  420 

Whitcher  318-600 

Whitconib  276  324  332  334  385 

White  100  128  147  195  274  2S3  302 

42 1  439  472  600  663  685  692 

Hills  35-37 

House  552 

Jeremiah  W.  692  693 

Mountains  18  19  36  414  632  669 

Mountain  Notch  304  306  534 

River  Vt.  576 
Whitefield  301-305 

George  70  192  204  302  303   522 
523 
Whitehall  182  201 
Whitehouse  99  676 
Whittier,  John  G.  00  572 
Whiting  156  157  159  275  276 
Whitelaw-James  464 
Whitney  277  524 
Whittlemore,  Aaron  172  267  566 
Whitton  i";o  55  ^ 
Wibird,  Richard  211  423 
Wicasie  Falls  476  510 
Wiccarsee  Locks  510 
Wiggin  29  35  38  40  43  45  46  48  52- 
54  59  73  76  85  97  98  105 
Wilbraham  6S2 
Wilcox  264  276 
Wilder  279  286 

Wilderness,  Battle  of  623  626  652 
Wilkins  134  176  333  527  620 
Wilkinson  3S5  388 
Willard  5+  5')  57  65  207  279 
Willpy  99  433  524  670 
William  &  Mary  no 


William  of  Orange  107  139  ^31 
Williams  39  41  43  46  4/  52  53  70  76 
100  387  414  598 
Williamsburg  360  614  620 
Williss,  Mrs.  54 
Wilson  48  9S  142  147 
Wilmington,  N.  C.  619  620 
WiLMOT  473  475 
Wilson  142  146  147  148  52S62S630 

James  565  578  579  55'o  595  657 
Wilton  20;  2/1  2-2  274  661  662 
Wiltshire  272 
Winchester  207  219  388  392  654 

Vb.  628 
Wincot,  Captain  loi 
Wine-ate  103  133  394  408  418  522 
Windham  141  187  195  196  262  337 
408  564 
Windicott,  Jno.  99 
Windsor,  Vt.  465 
Willfield  145 
Winford,  Ezekiel  99 
Winn  212  339 

Winnipiseogee  20  22  51  55  in   143 
155185205256300509553600 
Winnichannet  24 
Winnicumeh  42 
Winslow,  Governor  53  64  81 
Winter  Hill  343  345  353  407 
Winthrop  25  38  40  45-47  74-76  iig 
Wiscasset,  Me.  419 
Witch  Brook  Valley  57  167 
Witchcraft  57 
Withers,  Thomas  47 
Woburn,  Mass.  56  147  156  164  289 
468  603 
Wood  177  259  340  558 
Woods  156  158  172  174  175 
Woodbridge,  Col.  331 
Woodbury  337  540  592  605 

Charles  Levi  20  24 

Levi  511  515  538-542  552  565  585 
600650  651 
Woodman  108  130  172  667  685 
Woodstock  279 
Woodwell  207 
Wooster,  Lydia  3  58 

Wol.FEEOROUGH  253  30O  352  654 

Women's  Dress  80 

Worcester  213  30S  310  348  419  626 

Mass.  645 

County  324 
Worthen,  Ezekiel  351 
Wright  48  98  17;;  628 
Wriswall,  Captain  113 
Wrisley,  Mary  283 
Wyman  156-159  375 

Yale  College  280  435  499  651 

Yankee  381 

Yarmouth,  Eng.  40  70 

Yeaton  12S 

Yerrington,  William  99 

Yokohama,  Japan  614 

York  21  113-115346383419667 

County,  Me.  300 
Yorkshire,  Eng.  453 

Me.  66 
Yorktown  346  347  359  360  449  615 
620  634 

Scammel  360 
Young  98  99  209  275  414  520  624 
Youngmen,  Ebenezer  340 


APPENDIX.— TABLES. 


COLONIAL  GOVERNMENT. 


1623 
1625 
1641 
1642 
1644 

164s 
1646 
1649 
1650 
165 1 
1654 
1655 
1660 
1665 

1673 
1679 


Kings  of  England 
James  I.    . 
Charles  I. 


The  Comnionwealtl 


Charles  II. 


Governors  of  New  Hampshire 
and  Massachusetts,  while  united. 


liichard  Bellingham. 
John  Wlnthrop. 
John  Endicott. 
Thomas  Dudley. 
John  Winthrop. 
John  Endicott. 
Thomas  Dudley. 
John  Endicott. 
Richard  Bellingham. 
John  Endicott. 
John  Endicott. 
Richard  Bellingham. 
John  Leverett. 
Simon  Bradstreet. 


A.  D. 

Kings  of  England 

1680 

Charles  II. 

1681 

" 

1682 

" 

16S5 

James  II. 

1686 

" 

1687 

" 

16S9 

William  III. 

1692 

" 

1697 

" 

1698 

(( 

1699 

(( 

1702 

Anne. 

1714 

George  I. 

1715 

" 

1716 

(( 

1717 

" 

1727 

George  II. 

1728 

" 

PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT. 

Chief  Magistrates  of  New  Hampshire. 

John  Cutt,  Pres. 

Richard  Waldron,  Pres. 

Edward  Craniield,  Lieut. -Gov. 

Walter  Barefoote,  Deputy-Gov. 

Joseph  Dudley,  Pres. 

Edmund  Andros,  Gov. 

Simon  Bradstreet. 

John  Usher,  Lieut. -Gov. 

William  Partridge,  Lieut. -Gov. 

Samuel  Allen,  Gov, 

Earl  of  Bellomont. 

William  Partridge,  Lieut.-Gov. 

Joseph  Dudley,  Gov. 

John  Usher,  Lieut.-Gov. 

Joseph  Dudley,  Gov. 

George  Vaughan,  Lieut.-Gov. 

Samuel  Shute,  Gov. 

John  Wentworth,  Lieut.-Gov. 


Chief  Magistrates  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. 
Simon  Bradstreet. 


Joseph  Dudley. 
Edmund  Andros. 
Simon  Bradstreet. 
William  Phips,  Gov. 


William  Burnet,  Gov. 


Earl  of  Bellomont. 
Joseph  Dudley. 

Samuel  Shute. 
William  Burnet. 


702 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


A.  D. 
1730 

1741 

1757 
1760 
1767 
1770 
1774 
1775 


Kings  of  England. 

George  II. 


Georsre  III. 


Chief  Magistrates  of  New  Hampshire. 
Jonathan  Belcher,  Gov. 
David  Dunbar,  Lieut. -Gov. 
Benning  Wentworth,  Gov. 


John  Wentworth,  Gov. 


The  British  government  terminated. 


Chief  Magistrates  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. 
Jonathan  Belcher. 

William  Shirley. 
Thomas  Pownal. 
Francis  Bernard. 

Thomas  Hutchinson. 
Thomas  Gage. 


REPUBLICAN  GOVERNMENT. 


United  States. 


1S44 

184s 
1846 
1847 
1849 
1852 
1853 


Continental  Congress. 


Presidents  of  United  States. 
George  Washington. 


John  Adams. 
Thos.  Jefferson. 


A.  D. 

1776- 

1780 

178.S 
1786 

1787 
17SS. 

1789 
1790 

1794 

1797 

1800 

1801 

1805 

1807 

1809    James  Madison. 

1810 

1812         "  " 

1813 

1S16 

1817 

1819 

1823 

1824 

T825 

1827 

1828 

1829 

1830 

1831 

1834 
1836 

1837 
1839 


James  Munroe. 


John  Q.  Adams. 


A. Jackson. 


M.  Van  Buren. 

W.  H.   Harrison. 
John  Tyler. 

Z.  Taylor. 
Millard  Filmore. 

James  K.  Polk. 

Franklin  Pierce. 


Presidents  of  New  Hampshire. 
'  Meshech  Weare. 


John  Langdon. 
John  Sullivan. 

John  Langdon. 

John  Sullivan. 
Josiah  Bartlett,  first 

Gov.  of  N.   H. 
John  T.  Gilman. 


John  Langdon. 

Jeremiah  Smith. 
John  Langdon. 
William  Plumer. 
John  T.  Gilman. 
William  Plumer. 

Samuel  Bell. 
Levi  Woodbury. 
David  L.  Morril. 

Benjamin  Pierce. 
John  Bell. 
Benjamin  Pierce. 
Matthew  Harvey. 
Samuel  Dinsmoor. 
William  Badger. 
Isaac  Hill. 

John  Page. 

Henry  Hubbard. 
John  H.  Steele. 

Anthony  Colby. 
Jared  W.  Williams. 
Samuel  Dinsmoor. 
Noah  Martin. 


APPENDIX. 


703 


A.  D. 

Presidents  of  United  States. 

1854 

Franklin  Pierce.        ...... 

1S55 

a                    U 

1857 

James  Buchanan. 

1S59 

" 

1S61 

A.  Lincoln. 

1863 

" 

1865 

A.  Johnson. 

1867 

" 

1869 

U.   S.  Grant.     . 

187 1 

" 

1873 

" 

1874 

" 

1875 

" 

1877 

R.  B.  Hayes.     . 

1S79 

" 

1881 

J.  A.  Garfield. 

1882 

C.  A.  Arthur. 

1883 

" 

1885 

Grover  Cleveland. 

1S87 

'•                  " 

Governors  of  New  Hanipsliire. 
Nathaniel  B.  Baker. 
Ralph  Mctcalf. 
William  W.  llaile. 
Ichahod  Goodwin. 
Nathaniel  S.  Ik'rry. 
Joseph  A.  Gilniore. 
Frederick  8in  vth. 
Walter  Harrinian. 
Onslow  Stearns. 
James  A.  Weston. 
Ezekiel  A.  Straw. 
James  A.  Weston. 
Person  C  Cheney. 
Benjamin  F.  Prescott. 
Natt  Head. 
Charles  H.  Bell. 
<<  <( 

Samuel  W.  Hale. 
Moody  Currier. 
Charles  H.  Sawyer. 


VOTE  FOR  GOVERNOR. 


R.,  Republican  or  Anti-Federal.  F.,  Federal.  D.-R.,  Democrat-Republican.  A.,  Adams. 
J.,  Jackson.  D.,  Democrat.  W.,  Whig.  F.  S.,  Free  Soil.  I.  D.,  Independent  Democrat.  A., 
American  or  Know-Nothing.     R.,  Republican. 


17S5.                            Whole  vote,  7,079 

Scattering                .         .         .  330 

Josiah  Bartlett                 .         .  720 

John  Sullivan          .         .         .  777 

John  Langdon,'  R.         .         .  2,497 

George  Atkinson,  F.      .         .  2,755 

1786.  Whole  vote,  8,567 
Necessary  for  choice,  4,284 

Scattering                .         .         .  65S 

John  Langdon,  R.          .         .  3,600 

John  Sullivan,  F.            .         .  4,309 

1787.  Whole  vote,  9'9o7 
Necessary  for  choice,  4,954 

S.  Livermore          .         .         •  603 

J.  Bartlett                ...  62S 

J.  Langdon,  R.      .          .         .  4,034 

J.  Sullivan, 1  F.      .         .         .  4,642 

17S8.           Whole  vote,  8,840 

Necessary  for  choice,  4,421 

Scattering      ....  i)053 

J.  Sullivan,   F.       .         .         .  3,366 

J.  Langdon,  D.-R.           .         .  4,421 

1789.          Whole  vote,  8,534 

Necessary  for  choice,  4,268 

Scattering      .         .         .         .  332 


1790.  Whole  vote,  7,762 

Necessary  for  choice,  3,881 
Scattering       ....  528 

J.  Bartlett,'  D.-R.  .         .       1,676 

Joshua  AVentworth,  R.  .       2.369 

John  Pickering,  F.  .         .       3,189 


Joshua  Wentworth 
J.  Bartlett 
John  Pickering,  R. 
J.  Sullivan,'  F.       . 


89 

968 

3.488 

3.657 


1791. 

Scattering 
J.  Bartlett,  R. 

1792. 

Scattering 
J.  Bartlett,  R. 

1793- 

Scattering 
Timothv  Walker 
J.  T.  Gi'lman 
J.  Langdon,  R. 
J.  Bartlett,  R. 

1794- 

Scattering 

J.  T.  Oilman,  F. 

1795- 

Scattering 

J.  T.  Oilman,  F. 

1796. 

Scattering 

J.  T.  Oilman,  F. 


Whole  vote,  8,679 

2SS 

.         .         .       8,391 

Whole  vote,  8,389 

297 

.      8,092 

Whole  vote,  9,854 

70 

.         .  382 

708 

1,306 

.         .         .       7.3SS 

Whole  vote,  10.470 

.         .         .       2.841 

.       7.629 

Whole  vote,   9,440 

100 

•       9.340 


Whole  vote. 


io,77.^ 

2.<//) 

7.809 


•  Elected  by  Senate. 


704 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


1797.  Whole  vote,   10,823 

Scattering      ....       1,198 
J.  T.  Gilman,  F.  .         .       9,625 


179S. 

Scattering 
J.  Langdon    . 
Timothy  Walker,  . 
Oliver  Peabodj,  R 
J.  T.  Gilman,  F.    . 


Whole  vote,  12,  153 
469 
364 

734 
1,189 

9-397 


1799. 

Scattering 
J.  T.  Gilman 


Whole  vote,   11,738 

1,600 

.     10,138 


iSoo. 

Scattering 

Timothv  Walker,  D.-R 

J.  T.  Gilman,  F. 


Whole  vote, 


16,762 

361 

6,039 

10,362 


iSoi.                         WHiole  vote,  16,639 

Scattering       ....  492 

T.  Walker,  D.-R.            .         .  5,249 

J.  T.  Gilman,  F.             .         .  10,898 

1802.  Whole  vote,  19,166 
Scattering  ....  36 
J.  Langdon  ....  8,753 
J.  T.  Gilman,  F.              .         .  10,377 

1803.  Whole  vote,  21,317 
Scattering  ....  43 
J.  Langdon  .  .  .  9,011 
J.  T.  Gilman,  F.             .         .  12,263 

1804.  _  Whole  vote,  24,282 
Scattering  ....  27 
J.  Langdon  .  .  .  12,009 
J.  T.  Gilman,  F.             .         .  12,246 

1805.  Whole  vote,  28,443 
Scattering  ...  59 
J.  T.  Gilman  .  .  .  12,287 
J.  Langdon,  R.      .         .         .  16,097 


1806. 

Scattering 
Oliver  Peabody 
Jeremiah  Smith 
J.  T.  Gilman,  F. 
T.  Farrar,  F. 
J.  Langdon,  R. 

1807. 

Scattering 

J.  Langdon,  R 


WHiole  vote,  20,573 

255 
866 
902 

1,720 

15.277 

Whole  vote,   16,861 

•  2,949 

•  13-912 


1808. 

Scattering 

J.  T.  Gilman,  F. 

J.  Langdon,  R. 


Whole  vote,  15,899 

1,997 

1,261 

12,641 


1809. 

Scattering 
J.   Langdon,  R. 
J.  Smith,  F. 

1810. 

Scattering 
J.  Smith,  F. 
J.  Langdon,  R. 

1811. 

Scattering 
J.  Smith,  F. 
J.  Langdon,  R. 


Whole  vote,  30,983 
132 

■  15-241 
.     15,610 

Whole  vote,  31,575 

.         .         .  84 

.     15,166 

■  16,325 

Whole  vote,  32,096 
.         .         .  65 

•  14-477 

•  17-554 


1812. 


Whole  vote,  31.982 

Necessary  for  choice,  15,992 


Scattering 

W.  Plumer,'  R. 

J.  T.  Gilman,  F. 

1S13. 

Scattering 
W.  Plumer,  R. 
J.  T.  Gilman 

1814. 

Scattering 
W.  Plumer 
J.  T.  Gilman 

1815. 

Scattering 
W.  Plumer     . 
J.  T.  Gilman 

1816.  Whole  vote,  38,407 

Scattering      ....  75 

James  Sheafe,  F.  .         .     17,994 

W.  Plumer     ....     20,338 


877 

•  15-492 

•  15.613 

Whole  vote,  35,729 

212 

.      17,410 

.     18,107 

Whole  vote,  38,562 

73 
.     18,794 

•  19-695 

Whole  vote,  36,194 

.         .         •  38 

•  17-799 

•        •  iS,357 


1817. 

Whole 

vote,  35,375 

Scattering 

112 

J.  Bartlett       . 

539 

J.  Mason 

•       3.607 

J.  Sheafe,  F. 

.     12,029 

W.  Plumer     . 

.     19,088 

1S18.                       Whole  vote,  31,465 

Scattering       ....  922 

William  Hale,  F.             .          .  ^,019 

J.  Mason,  F.            ...  6,850 

W.  Plumer,  R.       .         .         .  18,674 


'  Elected  by  legislature. 


APPENDIX. 


705 


1819. 
Scattering 
William  Hale,  F. 
Samuel  Bell.  R. 

1S20. 

Scattering 
Samuel  Bell,  R. 

1S21. 

Scattering 
S.  Bell 

1S22. 

Scattering 
S.  Bell 

1S23. 

Scattering 

S.  Dinsmoor,  R. 

L.  Woodbury,  R. 


Whole  \ote, 


Whole  vote,  24,771 
-'559 


Whole  vote,  24,448 
1,866 
22,582 


Whole  vote, 


Whole  vote. 


1S24.  Whole  vote,  30.348 

Necessary  for  choice,  15.175 
Scattering 
L.  Wood  bur  V. 
D.  L.  Morriil,!  A. 


1825. 

Scattering 

D.  L.  Morrill,  A. 

1826. 

Scattering 
B.  Pierce,  J.   . 
D.  L.  Morrill,    A. 

1827. 

Scattering 

D.  L.  Morrill.  A. 

B.  Pierce,  J. 


Whole  vote, 


24.265 
1,844 
8,660 

13.S61 


5,980 
1,046 

:-934 

)'94.3 
240 

:,7iS 
..9S5 


708 

741 

.899 

7^9 
563 
166 


Whole  vote,  30.251 

2S5 

.  .  .      12.287 

.      17.679 


Whole  vote. 


.411 
,187 
■5-9 


1828. 

Scattering 
B.  Pierce,  J- 
John  Bell,  A. 


Whole  \ote. 


1S29. 
Scattering 
John  Bell,  A. 
Benjamin  Pierce,  J. 


\\  ho  .'  vote,  3: 


1,830. 

Scattering 
Timothy  Upham.   A 
Alatthew  Harvey,'-  J. 


Whole  \ote. 


183 1.  Wiiole  vote,  42,294 

Scattering  .  .  .  no 

Ichabod  Bartlett,  A.       .         .     1S.6S1 
S.  Dinsmoor,  J.      .         .         .     23,503 


1832. 

Scattering 
I.  Bartlett,  A. 
S.  Dinsmoor,  J. 

1833- 

Scattering 

A.  Livermore,  A. 

S.  Dinsmoor,  J. 

1834- 

Scattering 
W.  Badger,  D. 


Whole  vote, 


Whole  vote, 


Whole  vote. 


1,835. 

Scattering 
Joseph  Healev,  \\ 
"Wm.  Badger,' D. 

1836. 

Scattering 
George  Sullivan, 
Joseph  Healev 
Isaac  Hill,  D. 

1837- 
Scattering 
George  Sullivan 
Joseph  Healey 
Isaac  Hill,  D"' 

1838. 
Scattering     , 
James  Wilson,  W 
Isaac  Hill,  D. 

1S39. 

Scattering 
James  Wilson,  ^\ 
John  Page,  D. 


Whole  vote. 


Whole  vote. 


Whole  vote. 


Whole  vote. 


Whole  vote, 


1840. 

Scattering 
Enos  Ste\ens, 
John  Page.  D. 


Whole  \ote, 


^\'. 


'  Elected  by  legislature. 


897 

76 

,672 

149 

246 

48 

■5S3 
.615 

441 
1S7 
040 
^14 
-  Resigned.     J.  .M.  Harper  acted  as  governor. 


39.233 

146 

14.920 

.33-476 
1.240 

3 -9.^9 
28.277 

30-173 
1. 63 1 

^8,542 

40,900 

30S 

14,825 

-:5.767 

30,925 
I, III 

2-344 

2,566 

24.904 

24-532 
1,1  >6 

45S 

557 
22,361 

54-570 
19S 

25 -<i75 
28,697 

54.601 

15s 

23-928 

30.5 1 S 

50.799 

562 

20,716 

29.521 


1841. 

Scattering 
Daniel  Holt,  F.  S. 
Enos  Stevens.  W. 
John  Page,  D. 


Whole  vole,  51,689 


21,230 
29,116 


7o6 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


1842.                         Whole 

vote, 

48,104 

Scattering 

358 

D.  Hoit,  F.  S. 

2,812 

John  H.  White,  I.  D.     . 

5,869 

E.  Stevens,  W. 

12,234 

Henry  Hubbai'd,  D. 

26,831 

1843.                         Whole 

vote, 

44-583 

Scattering 

S3 

Daniel  Hoit,  F.  S. 

3.402 

J.  H.  White,  I.  D. 

5,497 

Anthony  Colby,  W. 

12,551 

Henry  Hubbard,  D. 

23,050 

1844.                         Whole 

vote, 

48,692 

Scattering 

201 

J.  H.  White,  I.  D. 

1,988 

D.  Hoit,  F.  S. 

5.767 

Anthony  Colby,  W. 

14.750 

J.  H.  Steele,  D.      . 

25,986 

1845.  •  Whole  vote,  45,765 
Scattering  ....  994 
D.  Hoit,  F.  S.  .  .  .  S.786 
A.  Colby,  W.  ...  15.579 
J.  H.  Steele,  D.       .         .         .  23,406 

1846.  Whole  vote,  55,194 
Scattering  ....  56S 
N.  S.  Berry,  F.  S.  .  •  10,379 
A.  Colby,' W.  .  .  .  17,707 
Jared  W.  Williams,  D.            .  26,740 

1847.  Whole  vote,  60,500 
Scattering  ....  54 
N.  S.  Berrv,  F.  S.  .  .  8,531 
A.  Colbv,  W.  .  .  .  21,109 
J.  W.  Wniiams,  D.         .         .  30,806. 

1S48.  Whole  vote,  61,542 

Scattering      ....  468 

N.  S.  Berry,  F.  S.           .          .  28,829 

J.  W.  Williams,  D.         .         .  32,245 

1849.  Whole  vote,  56,033 

Scattering       .         .         .         .  117 

N.  S.  Berry,  F.  S.           .         .  7,045 

Levi  Chamberlain,  W.  .         .  18,764 

S.  Dinsmoor,  Jr.,  D.      .         .  30,107 

1S50.  Whole  vote,  55,789 

Scattering       ....  54 

N.  S.  Berry,  F.  S.           .         .  6,472 

L.  Chamberlain,  W.       .         .  18,512 

S.  Dinsmoor,  D.    .         .         .  30,751 


1851.         Whole  vote,  58,111 

Necessary  for  choice,  29,056 
Scattering       ....  179 

John  Atwood,  F.  S.  .  .  12,049 
Thomas  E.  Sawyer,  W.  .     18,458 

S.  Dinsmoor,'  D.  .         .     27,425 

1S52.                          Whole  vote,  60,405 

Scattering       ....  269 

John  Atwood,  F.  S.        .         .  9,497 

Thomas  E.  Sawyer,  W.          .  19,857 

Noah  Martin,  D.    .         .         .  30,800 

1853.  Whole  vote,  56,566 
Scattering  ....  47 
J.  H.  White,  F.  S.  .  .  7,993 
James  Bell,  W.  .  .  .  17,590 
N,  Martin,  D.          .         .         .  30,934 

1854.  Whole  vote,  57,931 
Scattering  .  •  •  .  122 
Jared  Perkins,  F.  S.  .  .  11,080 
James  Bell,  W.  .  .  .  16,941 
N.  B.  Baker,  D.     .          .         .  29,788 


1855- 

Scattering 
Asa  Fowler,  F. 
James  Bell,  W. 
N.  B.  Baker,  D. 
R.  Metcalf,  A. 


1856. 


Whole  vote,  64,690 
193 

•  1,237 

•  3,436 

•  27,055 
.  32,766 


Whole  vote,  66,703 

Necessary  for  choice,  33,352 
Scattering       ....  193 

I.  Goodwin,  W.      .         .         .       2,360 
John  S.  Wells,  D.  .         .     32,031 

Ralph  Metcalf,'  A.  .         .     32,119 


1857- 

Whole  \  ote, 

65,882 

Scattering 

452 

J.  S.  Wells,  D. 

31,214 

W.  Haile,  R. 

34.216 

185S. 

Whole  vote, 

67.963 

Scattering 

72 

Asa  P.  Cate,  D. 

31.679 

W.  Haile,  R. 

. 

36,212 

1859- 

Whole  vote. 

69,156 

Scattering 

27 

A.  P.  Cate,  D. 

32,802 

I.  Goodwin,  R. 

. 

36,326 

i860. 

Whole  vote 

71.603 

Scattering 

22 

A.  P.  Cate,     . 

33.554 

I.  Goodwin,   . 

. 

38,037 

I  Elected  by  legislature. 


APPENDIX. 


707 


1861.  Whole  vote, 
Scattering       .... 
George  Stark,  D. 

N.  S.  Berry,  R.      .         .         . 

1862.  Whole  vote, 
Scattering       .... 
Hall  J.  Wheeler,  I.  D.    . 
George  Stark,  D.    . 

N.  S.  Berry,  R.       .         -         . 

1863.  Whole  vote, 
Necessary  for  choice, 

Scattering         .         .         .         . 
W.  Harriman,  I.  D. 
Joseph  A.  Gilmore,^  R.  • 
I.  A.  Eastman,  D. 


1864. 

Scattering 

E.  W.  Harrington,  D 

J.  A.  Gilniore,  R. 


Whole  vole, 


1865. 

Scattering 

E.  W.  Harrington,  D.    . 

Frederick  Smyth,  R.     • 


Whole  vote, 


1866. 

Scattering 

John  G.  Sinclair,  D. 

F.  Smyth,  R. 


Whole  vote. 


1867. 

Scattering 

J.  G.  Sinclair,  D. 

Walter  Harriman,  R. 


Whole  vote. 


67,142 

24 

31-452 

35.467 

62,470 

45 

1,709 

28,566 

32.150 

66,543 
33.272 
303 
4.372 
29.035 
32,833 

68,425 

79 

31.340 

37,006 

62,219 

57 
28,017 

34.145 

65,638 

iS 

30.484 

35.136 

68,608 

136 

32,663 

35.S09 


1868. 

Scattering 
J.  G.  Sinclair 
W.  Harriman 


Whole  vote,  77,068 

30 

.     37.260 

•     39.778 


1869. 

Scattering 
J.  Bedel,  D.    . 
Onslow  Stearns,  R 


Whole  vote,  67,829 
42 

•  32.057 

•  35.772 


Whole  vote 


1870. 

Scattering 

JLorenzo  D.  Barrows,  T. 


68,442 

33 

1. 135 


Samuel  Flint,  D.    . 

7<3^) 

John  Bedel     . 

2^,osS 

Onslow  Stearns,  R. 

34.847 

1S71.                          Whole 

vote, 

69,729 

Scattering 

24 

Horton  1).  Walker 

17 

Albert  G.  Comins,  T.     . 

314 

Lemuel  P.  Cooper,  A.  D 

782 

James  Pike,  R. 

32,892 

J.  A.  Weston,'  D. 

34.700 

1872.                          Whole 

vote 

76,232 

Scattering 

14 

Samuel  K.  Mason,  A.  D. 

6S7 

John  Blackman,  T. 

1,098 

J.  A.  Weston,  D.    . 

32,016 

E.  A.  Straw,  R.      . 

34.023 

1S74.                          Whole  vote,  71,891 

Scattering       ....  40 

f.  T.  Blackman,  T.                   .  2,500 

Luther  McCutchins,  R.          .  34.143 

J.  A.  Weston,'  D.           .         .  35.6c8 

1875.                         Whole  vote,  79,206 

Scattering       ....  19 

Nathaniel  White,  T.       .         .  773 

Hiram  R.  Roberts,  D.   .         .  39>i2i 

P.  C.  Cheney,'  R.           .          .  39-293 

1S76.                          Whole  vote,  80,319 

Scattering       ....  14 

Asa  S.  Kendall,  T.         .         .  411 

Daniel  Marcy,  D.            .         .  38,133 

P.  C.  Cheney,  R.            •         .  4'. 761 

1877.                      -Whole  vote,  77,873 

Scattering       ....  59 

Asa  S.  Kendall,  T.         .         .  338 

D.  Marcy,  D.           .         .         .  36,721 

B,  F.  Prescott,  R.           -         •  40.75S 


1S78. 
Scattering 
Samuel  Flint,  P.    . 
Asa  S.  Kendall,  T. 
Frank  A.  McKean,  1). 
B.  F.  Prescott,  R. 


Whole  vote, 


UxDER   New   Constitution. 


1878.  Whole  vote,  75-759 

Scattering       .         .         •         •  5^ 

Asa  S.  Kendall,  T.         .         •  91 


W.  G.  Brown,  G. 
F.  A.  McKean,  D. 
Natt  Head,  R. 


77,788 

82 

269 

205 

37.S60 

39.372 


6.407 
3' .1.35 
38,07s 


I  Elected  by  legislature. 


7o8 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE, 


1880.  Whole  vote,  86,164 

Scattering      ....  75 

George  D.  Dodge,  T.    .         .  341 

Warren  G.  Brown,  G.  .  503 

Frank  Jones,  D.     .         .  .     40,813 

Charles  H.  Bell,  R.        .         .    44,432 


1884.  Whole  vote,  84,470 

Scattering      ....  26 

George  Carpenter,  L.  R.       .  490 

Larkin  D.  Mason,  T.  .  .  1,803 
John  M.  Hill,  D.  .  .  .  39,637 
Moody  Currier,  R.         .         .     43,514 


1882. 

Scattering 

Josiah  W.  Fletcher,  T. 

John  F.  Woodbury 

M.  V.  B.   Edgerly.  D. 

Samuel  W.  Hale,  R. 


Whole  vote,  76,287 


407 

444 
36,916 
38,402 


1886.  Whole  vote,  77,391 

Scattering      ....  14 

George  Carpenter 
Joseph  Wentworth,  T.   . 
Thomas  Cogswell,  D.    . 
Charles  H.  Sawyer,'  R. 


106 

2,137 
37'33S 
37.79^ 


PRESIDENTIAL   VOTE. 


1788  —  Whole  vote,  20,142  ;  Electors — -Feds.:  Benj.  Bellows,  John  Picker- 
ing, Ebenezer  Thompson,  John  Sullivan,  John  Parker. 

1792 — Whole  vote,  25,564;  Electors  —  Feds.:  Josiah  Butler,  J.  T.  Gilman, 
Jonathan  Freeman,  John  Pickering,  Benj.  Bellows,  Eben.  Thompson. 

1796  —  Whole  vote,  4,374;  Electors  —  Feds.  :  Oliver  Peabody,  J.  T.  Gilman, 
Benj.  Bellows,  Timothy  Farrar,  Ebenezer  Thompson,  Timothy  Walker. 

1800  —  Legislature  chose  Electors  —  Feds.:  O.  Peabody,  John  Prentiss,  E. 
Thompson,  T.  Farrar,  B.  Bellows,  Arthur  Livermore. 

1804  —  Whole  vote,  17,452;  Electors  —  Reps.  :  John  Goddard,  Levi  Bartlett, 
Jonathan  Steele,  Robt.  Alcock,  T.  Walker,  Geo.  Aldrich,  Wm.  Tarlton,  re- 
ceived 8,995  to  9,088. 

1808  — Whole  vote,  26,721;  Electors  —  Feds.  :  Jas.  Smith,  O.  Peabody,  T. 
Farrar,  Samuel  Hale,  Robert  Wallace,  Benj.  West,  Jonathan  Franklin,  re- 
ceived 13,929  to  14,006. 

1812  —  Whole  vote,  34,800  ;  Electors  —  Feds.  :  John  Goddard,  O.  Peabody, 
Samuel  Hale,  Nathan  Taylor,  T.  Farrar,  Benj.  West,  Caleb  Ellis,  Jonathan 
Franklin,  received  18,839  to  20,386. 

1816  —  Whole  vote,  28,480;  Rep.,  15,188;  Fed.,  13,367:  Electors  —  Reps.: 
Thomas  Manning,  Benj.  Butler,  Wm.  Badger,  Amos  Cogswell,  R.  H.  Ayer, 
Jacob  Tullis,  Thos.  C.  Drew,  Dan.  Young. 

1820 — Whole  vote,  9,490;  9,061  to  9,444;  Electors  —  Reps.:  W.  Plumer, 
William  Fisk,  S.  Dinsmoor,  Ezra  Bartlett,  David  Barker,  John  Pendexter, 
James  Smith,  Nath.Shanborn. 

1824  —  Whole  vote,  9,389;  8,869  to  9,389;  Electors  —  Reps.  :  Josiah  Bart- 
lett, Wm.  Badger,  Samuel  Quarles,  Wm.  Fish,  Abel  Parker,  Caleb  Keith, 
Hall  Burgin,  Moses  White. 

1828  —  Whole  vote,  45,040;  Reps.,  24,922  ;  Feds.,  24,124;  Electors  —  Reps.  : 
Geo.  Sullivan,  Samuel  Qoiarles,  Samuel  Sparhawk,  Wm.  Bixby,  Nahum 
Parker,  Thomas  Woolson,  Ezra  Bartlett,  Wm.  Lovejoy. 

1832  —  Whole  vote,  45,978;  Dems.,  26,269;  Whigs,  19,627;  Electors  — 
Dems. :  Benj.  Pierce,  Phinehas  Parkhurst,  Samuel  Collins,  John  Taylor, 
John  Holbrook,  Joseph  Weeks,  Moses  White. 

1836  —  Whole  vote,  24,980;  Dems.,  18,658  to  18,722;  Electors — Dems.: 
Jona.  Harvey,  Isaac  Waldron,  Tristram  Shaw,  Stephen  Gale,  Josiah  Russell, 
G.  Gilmore,  Ebenezer  Carlton. 

1840  —  Whole  vote,  59,022;  Dems.,  32,671;  Whig,  26,434;  Electors  — 
Dems.  :  John  W.  Weeks,  Stephen  Perley,  Samuel  Hatch,  Andrew  Pierce,  Jr., 
John  Scott,  Francis  Holbrook,  Saml.  Burns. 

*  Elected  by  legislature. 


APPENDIX, 


709 


1844  — Whole  vote,  48,976;  Dems.,  27,016;  Whigs,  17,776;  F.  S.,  4.152; 
Electors  —  Dems.:  William  Badger,  John  McNiel,  Elijah  R.  Currier,  Isaac 
Hale,  Elijah  Sawyer,  John  L.  Putnam. 

1848 — Whole  vote,  51,204;  Dems.,  27,762;  Whigs,  14.7S9;  F.  S.,  7.559; 
Electors  —  Dems.:  Samuel  Tilton,  Jesse  Bowers,  James  H.  Smith,  Jonathan 
Eastman,  R.  H.  Ajer,  Simeon  Warren. 

1852— Whole  vote,  51,022;  Dems.,  28,884;  Whigs,  15,540;  F.  S.,  6,568; 
Electors  —  Dems.  :  Henry  Hubbard,  Samuel  Jones,  Jabez  A.  Douglas,  Samuel 
Webster,  Nathaniel  B.  Baker. 

1856 — Whole  vote,  71,556;  Reps.,  38,345;  Dems.,  32,789;  Whigs,  422; 
Electors  — Reps.  :  W.  H.'H.  Bailey,  "Thomas  L.  Whitton,  Daniel  Clark, 
John  H.  White,  Thomas  M.  Edwards. 

i860  —  Whole  vote,  65,953  ;  Reps.,  37,519;  Dems.  Doug.,  25,881;  Dems. 
Breck.,  2,112;  American,  4,441  ;  Electors  —  Reps.  :  John  Sullivan,  Ebenezer 
Stevens,  David  Gillis,  Nathaniel  Tolles,  Daniel  Blai^dell. 

1864  —  Whole  vote,  69,630;  Reps.,  36,593;  Dems.,  33,037:  Electors  — 
Reps.:  W.  H.  Y.  Hackett,  Daniel  M.  Christie,  Archibald  II.  Dunlap,  Allen 
Giffin,  Henry  O.  Kent. 

1868 — Whole  vote,  69,457;  Reps.,  31,191;  Dems.,  31,249;  Electors  — 
Reps.  :  Amos  Paul,  Joel  Eastman,  Mason  W.  Tappan,  Edward  L.  Goddard, 
Albert  M.  Shaw. 

1872  —  Whole  vote,  68,895;  Reps.,  37,167;  Dems.,  31.423;  Temp.,  200; 
Labor  R.,  100;  Scat.,  5  ;  Electors  —  Reps.  :  Lyman  D.  Stevens,  Benj.  J.  Cole, 
Phineas  Adams,  William  Haile,  Benj.  F.  Whidden. 

1876— Whole  vote,  80,132;  Reps.,  41,539;  Dems.,  38,509;  Temp.,  75; 
Scat.,  9;  Electors  —  Reps.:  Zimri  S.  Wallingford;  John  J.  Morrill,  Moody 
Currier,  Levi  W.  Barton.  John  M.  Brackett. 

1880  — Whole  vote,  86,132;  Reps.,  44,852;  Dems.,  40,794;  Greenback, 
528;  Electors— Reps.  :  Aretas  Blood,  Ezra  H.  Winchester:  Albert  L.  East- 
man, John  A.  Spalding,  Henry  L.  Tilton. 

1SS4— Whole  vote,  84,^^1;  Reps.,  43»-49;  Dems.,  39)i83;  Greenback, 
552;  Temp.,  1571;  Electors— Reps.  :  George  W.  Libbey,  James  E.  Larkin, 
John  B.  Smith,  Marshall  C.  Wentworth. 

COUNCILLORS  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

John  Cutt,  1680,  Portsmouth.  James  Sherlock,  16S4. 

Richard  Martvn,  1680,  Portsmouth.  Francis  Champernoon,  1684. 

William  Vaughan,  16S0,         "  Robert  Wadleigh,  16S4,  Exeter. 

Thomas  Daniel,  1680,  "  Henry  Greene,   1685,  Hampton. 

-John  Gilman,   1680,  Exeter.  John  Usher,  1692,  Boston. 

Christopher  Hussev.  1680,  Hampton.  Thomas  Graftort,   1692,  I  ortsmouth. 

Richard  Waldron,  '1680.  Dover.  John  Walford,  1692,  Portsmouth. 

Elias  Stileman,  16S0,  Newcastle.  John  Love,  1692. 

Samuel  Dalton,  16S0,  Hampton.  Peter  Coffin,  1692.  Dover. 

•Tob  Clements,  16S1,  Dover.  John  Gerrish,  1692.  Dover. 

Robert  Mason,  1681,  Newcastle.  Nathaniel  Weare,  i  V,  Hampton. 

Richard   Waldron,    Jr.,    1681,   Ports-  William  Partridge.  1697.  Portsmouth, 

mouth.  Joseph  Smith,  1698,  Hampton. 

Anthony  Nutter,  1681,  Dover.  Kingsley  Hall,   1698,  Ex-eter. 

Walter  Barefoote,  16S2,  Newcastle.  Sampson  Sheafe,  169S,  Newcastle. 

Richard  Chamberlain,  1682.  Peter  Weare,  169S.  1  lampton  1- alls 

Nathaniel  Fryer,   16S3,  Newcastle.  Samuel  Penhallow,  1702,  Portsmouth. 

Robert  Elliot,  1683,  "  John  Piaisted,  1702, 

John  Hinckes,  16S3,  "  "en'-y  ^^°'J^  '^02,  Hampton. 

Edward  Randoloh,  1683,  Portsmouth.  George  Jaffrey,  1702,  .Newcastle. 


7IO 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


Mark  Hunking,  1710,  Portsmouth. 
John  Wentworth,  17 12,         " 
George  Vaughan,  1715,         " 
Richard  Gerrish.  1716,  Dover. 
Theodore  Atkinson,  1716,  Newcastle. 
Shadrach  Walton,  1716,  " 

George  Jaffrev,  Jr.,  1716,  " 

Richard  Wibird,  1716,    Portsmouth. 
Thomas  Westbrook,  1716,       " 
Thomas  Packer,   1719,  " 

Archibald  McPheadris,    1722,   Ports- 
mouth. 
John  Ffrost,  1724,  Newcastle. 
Jotham  Odiorne,  1724,  Newcastle. 
Henrj  Sherburne,  172S,  Portsmouth. 
Richard  Waldron,  1732,  " 

Joshua  Peirce,  1732,  " 

Benning  Wentworth,  1732,     " 
Theodore  Atkinson,  1732,  Newcastle. 
Ephraim  Dennet,  1732,    Portsmouth. 
Benjamin  Gamling,  1732,  " 

Ellis  Huske,  1733,  " 

Joseph  Sherburne,  1733,  " 

Richard  Wibird,  1739,  " 

ohn  Rindge,  1740,  " 

John  Downing,  1740. 
Samuel  Smith,  1740. 


4 


Joseph  Blanchard,  1740,  Dunstable. 

Sampson  Sheafe,  1740,  Newcastle. 

Samuel  SoUej,  1753,  Portsmouth. 

Daniel  Warner_  1753,  " 

Joseph  Newmarch,  1754,     " 

Mark  H.  Wentworth,  1759,  Ports- 
mouth. 

James  Nevin,  1759,  Portsmouth. 

John  Nelson,  1761,  " 

William  Temple,  1762,      " 

Theodore  Atkinson,  Jr. ,  1762. 

Nathaniel  Barrell,  1762,  Portsmouth. 

Peter  Livius,  1765,  " 

Jonathan  Warner,  1766,  " 

Daniel  Rindge,  1766,  " 

Daniel  Peirce,  1766,  " 

George  Jaffrey,  1766,  " 

Henrj  Sherburne,  1766,  " 

Daniel  Rogers,  1766. 

Peter  Gilman,  1772,  Exeter. 

Thomas  W.  Waldron,  1772,  Ports- 
mouth. 

Paul  Wentworth,  1772,  Somersworth. 

John  Sherburne,  1774,  Portsmouth. 

John  Phillips,  1774,  Exeter. 

George  Boyd,  1775,  Portsmouth. 


Revolutionary  Government. 


Meshech  Weare,  1776  to  1783,  Hamp- 
ton Falls. 

Josiah  Bartlett,i776  to  17S3, Kingston. 

William  Whipple,  1776,  Portsmouth. 

Matthew  Thornton,    1776   and    1780, 
Londonderry. 

Nathaniel  Folsom,  1776,  Exeter. 

John  Wentworth,  1776  to  1783,  Dover. 

Ebenezer   Thompson,    1776    to  17S0, 
Durham. 

Wyseman  Claggett,  1776  and  17S1-2, 
Litchfield. 

Jonathan    Blanchard,    1776    to    177S, 
Dunstable. 

Samuel  Ashley,   1776  to   1779,   Win- 
chester. 

Benjamin  Giles,  1776,  Newport. 

John  Hurd,  1776,  Haverhill. 

Nicholas  Gilman,  1777  to   1783,  Exe- 
ter. 

George  Atkinson,  1777  to  1780,  Ports- 
mouth. 

Matthew  Patten,  1777  and  177S,  Bed- 
ford. 

Under  State 


Timothy  Walker,  1777  to  1779,  Con- 
cord. 

Benjamin  Bellows,  1776  to  1779, 1781, 
1783,  Walpole. 

Moses  Nichols,  1779,  Amherst. 

Jacob  Abbot,  1779  and  1780, 1782-1783, 
Wilton. 

Charles  Johnston,  177910  1781,  Hav- 
erhill. 

John  McClary,  17S0  to  1783,   Epsom. 

Timothy  Farrar,  1780  and  1782-1783, 
New  Ipswich. 

Enoch  Hale,  1780  and  1 781,  Walpole. 

Samuel  Hunt,  1780,  Charlestown. 

Francis  Worcester,  1780  and  1782, 
Plymouth. 

George  Ffrost,  1781  to  17S3,  Durham, 
(son  ot  John  Ffrost). 

Woodbury  Langdon,  17S1  to  1783, 
Portsmouth. 

John  Hale,  1781,  Hollis. 

Thomas  Sparhawk,  1782  and  1783, 
Walpole. 

Constitution. 


John  McClary,   1784,  Epsom.  Moses  Chase,  1784,  1787,  Cornish. 

Joseph    Badger,  1784,  1790  and   1791,       Francis  Blood,  17S4,  Temple. 

1795  and  1796,  Gilmanton.  Nathaniel  Peabody,  17S4.  Atkinson. 


APPENDIX. 


711 


John  Sullivan,  1785,  Durham. 

Matthew  Thornton,  17S5,  Merrimack. 

Amos  Shepard,  17S5,  17S6,  Alstead. 

Moses  Dow,  17S5,  17S6. 

Christopher  Toppan,  17S6,  1790,  1794 
to  1796,  Hampton. 

Joshua  Wentworth,  i7S6,Portsmouth. 

Robert  Means,  1786,  Amherst. 

Joseph  Gilman,  17S7,  Exeter. 

EbenezerThompson,  1787,  Durham. 

Daniel  Emerson,  17S7,  Mollis. 

John  Pickering,  1787,  Portsmouth. 

Peter  Green,  178S,  Concord. 

Robert  Wallace,  17SS,  1790  to  1802, 
Henniker. 

Ebenezer  Smith,  1788,  1793-1794. 

Josiah  Richardson,  17S8,  Keene. 

Wil'iam  Simpson,  1788,  Orford. 

John   Pickering,    1789,  Portsmouth. 

Ichabod  Rollins,  1789,  Somerswortii. 

Charles  Barrett,  1789,  New  Ipswich. 

Sanford  Kingsbury,  1789.  Claremont. 

Jonathan  Freeman,  1789  to  1796, 
Hanover. 

Lemuel  Holmes,  1790  to  1793. 

Nathaniel  Rogers,  1791,  Exeter. 

Phillips  White,  1792-93,  South  Hamp- 
ton. 

Thomas  Bellows,  1794,  179S,  Walpole. 

Joseph  Cilley,  1797-179S,  Notting- 
ham. 

Aaron  Wingate,  1797  to  1802,  Farm- 
ington. 

Russell  Freeman,  1797  to  1801,  Plano- 
ver. 

James  Sheafe,  1799,  Portsmouth. 

Samuel  Stevens,  1799  to  1804,  Charles- 
town. 

Joseph  Blanchard,  1801-1S02, Chester. 

Levi  Bartlett,  1802-1803,  Kingston. 

David  Hough,  1S02,  Lebanon. 

William  Hale,  1803-1S04,  Dover. 

Benjamin  Pierce,  1803  to  180S,  1S14 
to  1817,  Hillsborough. 

Daniel  Blaisdell,  1803  to  1807. 

Nahum  Parker,  1805-1806,  Fitz- 
william. 

Amasa  Allen,  1807-1S0S,  Walpole. 

Daniel  Gookin,  1S08, North  Hampton. 

William  Tarleton,  1S08,  Piermont. 

Elijah  Hall,  180910  1816,  Portsmouth. 

Richard  Dame,  1809-1810,  Rochester. 

Samuel  Bell,  1809-1810,  Amherst. 

Caleb  Ellis,  1809,  Judge,  Claremont. 

Benjamin  J.  Gilbert,  1809-18x0,  Hano- 
ver. 

Jedediah  K.  Smith,  1810  to  1S13,  Am- 
herst. 


Nathaniel  Upham,  iSii  and  1S12, 
Rochester. 

Ithamar  Chase,  iSi  i  to  1815,  Cornish. 

Jonathan  Franklin,  18U-1812,  Lyme. 

Nathan  Taylor,  1813,  Sanbornton. 

Enoch  Colby,  1813  to  1817,  Thornton. 

Samuel  QuaVles,  i8i4to  iSi6.0ssipee. 

Levi  Jackson,  iSi6and  1817,  Chester- 
field. 

John  M.  Page,  1817  to  1S19,  Tam- 
worth. 

John  Bell,  jr.,  1817  and  1821,  Chester. 

Richard  H.  Aver,  iSi6to  1S22,  Hook- 
sett. 

Samuel  Grant,  181S,  Walpole. 

Jeduthun  Wilcox,  1818,  Orlbrd. 

Aaron  Matson,  1S19,  Stoddard. 

John  French,  1819-1S21,  Landaft". 

Richard  Odell,  1S20  to  1822,  Conway. 

Sanniel  Dinsmoor.  1S21,  Keene. 

Hunking  Penhallow,  1822-1S23. 

Elijah  Belding,  1S22-1823,  Swanzeys. 

Ezra  Bnrtlett,  1S22  to  1S24,  Haverhill. 

Daniel  C.  Atkinson,  1823-1S24,  San- 
bornton. 

Jonathan  Harvey,  1823-1S24,  Sutton. 

Thomas  C.  Drew,  1824-1825,  Walpole. 

Daniel  Hoit,  1824-1S25,  Sandwich. 

Langley  Boardman,  1S25  and  1826- 
iS28,'Portsmouth. 

John  Wallace,  1S25  to   1S27,  Milford. 

Caleb  Keith,  1S25  to  182S,  Wentworth. 

Jotham  Lord,  1826  to  1S28,  West- 
moreland. 

Francis  N.  Fisk,  1S27,  1S2S,  1829  and 
1S30,  Concord. 

Andrew  Peirce,  1827-1S28. 

Matthew  Harvey,  1S2S-1S29.* 

B.  M.  Bean,  1S29.* 

Joseph  Ilealey,  1S29  to  1831.* 

Stephen  P.  Webster,  1S29-1S30. 

Thomas  E.  Sawyer,  1830-1831. 

Jesse  Bowers,  1830. 

Jacob  Freese,  1831-1832. 

Stephen  Peahody,  1S31-1S33. 

Samuel  C.  Web>ter,  1831. 

Richard  Russell,  1832. 

Stephen  Johnson,  1832  to  1S34. 

Nathaniel  Rix,  1832  and  1833. 

Samuel  Cushman,  1S33-1834. 

Job  Otis,  1S33  to  1S35. 

Jacob  Tuttle,  1834  and  1S35. 

Elijah  Miller,  1834  and  1835. 

Ezikiel  Morrill,  1S35  and  1S36. 

Jonathan  Gove,  i8'5q  and  183C. 

Samuel  Tiiton,  1836-1S37.* 

Benjamin  Evans,  1S36-1837. 

John  Page,  1S36.* 


712 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


Samuel  Burns,  1836-1837. 
Tristram  Shaw,  1S37. 
Leonard  Biscoe,  1S37. 
Moses  Baker,  1S3S-1S39. 
Israel  Hunt,  Jr.,  1838-1S39. 
Enos  Stevens,  1838-1839. 
John  Page,  1839. 
John  L.  Elwjn,  1S39. 
John  White,  1S39  to  1841. 
Isaac  Waldron,  1840. 
Henry  B.  Rust,  1840-1841. 
John  H.  Steele,  1840-1S41. 
Phinehas  Handerson,  1S40-1S41. 
Moses  Norris,  Jr.,  1S41. 
Cyrus  Barton,  1842. 
Samuel  G.  Berry,  1842-1S43. 
James  McK.  Wilkins,   1S42-1S43. 
Samuel  Egerton,  1842. 
James  H.  Johnson,  1842-1843. 
Elijah  R.  Currier,  1843-1844. 
Francis  Holbrook,  18^3-1844. 
Josiah  Bartlett,  1844-1S45. 
William  Parker,  1844- 1845. 
Caleb  Blodgett,  1844-1845. 
Benjamin  Jenness,  1845. 
Amos  Perkins,  1845. 
John  Kelley,  1846-1S47. 
John  C.  Young,  1S46. 
Samuel  Jones,  18-16-1S47. 
Jared  Perkins,  1S46  to  1848. 
Enos  Ferrin,  1846-1S47. 
Zebulon  Pease,  1S47-1S4S. 
Joseph  Clough,  1848-1S49. 
Mace  Moulton,  1848. 
Isaac  Ross,   1848-1849. 
Dana  Woodman,  1849-1850. 
John  L.  Hadley,  1S49-1S50. 
Alvah  Smith,    1849-1S50. 
Greanleaf  Clarke,  1S50-1S51. 
Simeon  Warner,  1850-1S51. 
Joseph  II.  Smith,  1851-1852. 
Samuel  Butterfield,  1S51-1S52. 
George  Huntington,   1851. 
Moses  Eaton,  Jr.,  1S52. 
James  Batcheller,  1852-1853. 
Russell  Cox,  1852-1S53. 
Uri  Lamprey,  1853. 
Abel  Haley,  1853-1854. 
Zebidiah  Shattuck,  1S53. 
Edson  Hill,  1S54. 
Stephen  Smith,  1854-1855. 
Daniel  M.  Smith,  1S54. 
Thomas  Merrill,  1854-1856. 
John  Dame,  18^5-1856. 
N.  V.  Whitehouse,  iSs5- 
Milon  C.  McClure,  1S55-1856. 
William  Tenney,  1855. 
Thomas  Cogswell,  1S56. 


Richard  H.  Messer,  1856-1857. 
W.  H.  H.  Bailey,   1S57-1858. 
Nich.  V.  Whitehouse,  1S57. 
Allen  Giffin,  1857. 
Daniel  Rogers,  1857. 
Thomas  L.  Whitton,  1858-1859. 
John  N.  Worcester,  1S5S-1859. 
Aurin  M.  Chase,  18^8-1859. 
Reed  P.  Clark,  1859-1S60. 
Robert  Elwell,  1850-1860. 
Cyrus  Eastman,  1859. 
Daniel  Sawyer,   1S60-1861. 
Moody  Currier,  1860-1861. 
D.  R."Burnham,  1860-1861. 
Richard  P.  J.  Tenney,  1861-1862. 
Chas.  F.  Brooks,  1S61-1862. 
Oliver  VVyatt,  i8«2. 
Oliver  Piilsburv,  1862-1S63. 
Ethan  Colby,  1S62. 
John  W.  Noyes,  1863-1864. 
John  W.  Sanborn,  1S63. 
Charles  H.  Eastman,  1S63-1S64. 
Levi  Parker,  1S63. 
John  M.  Brackett,  1S64-1865. 
Leonard  Chase,  1S64-1865. 
David  Culver,  1864-1S65. 
Horton  D.  Walker,  i86>-i866. 
John  H.  Elliott,  1S65-1S66. 
Benjamin  J.  Cole,  iS!'6-iS67. 
Isaac  Spalding,  1S66-1867. 
Luther  B.  Hawkins,  1866. 
William' C.  Patten,  1867-1S68. 
William  C.  Tutherly,  1867-186S. 
Hazen  Bedel,  1867-1S68. 
Charles  Jones,  1868. 
Moses  H.  Hodgdon,  1868. 
Moses  Humphrey,  1869-1870. 
Samuel  W.  Hale,  1S69-1S70. 
Nathan  II.  Weeks,  1869-1870. 
Ezra  Gould,  1870. 
Daniel  Barnard,  1870-1S71. 
Alonzo  H.  Rust,  1S71. 
Dexter  Richards,  1871-1872-1873. 
Joseph  Powers,  1871-1872-1S73. 
Samuel  P.  Dow,  1S72-1873. 
John  T-  Morrill,  1S72-1S73. 
Wm.  P.  Newell,  1S72-1873. 
Boliser  Lowell,  1873-1S74. 
Nathan  R.  Perkins,  1873-1S74. 
John  S.  Robinson,   1874. 
John  C.  Moulton,  1S74. 
Albert  McKean,  1874. 
Charles  A.  Foss,  1S75,    1S76. 
Moulton  II.  Marston^  1875-1S76. 
Edward  H.  Burnham,  1S75. 
Albert  S.  Scott,  1875-1876^ 
Jeremiah  Blodgett,  1875-1S77. 
Join  M.  Parker,  1876-1877. 


APPENDIX. 


713 


Evarts  W.  Farr,  1S76. 
Joshua  B.  Smith,  1S77-1S7S. 
Edward  Spalding,  1S77-1S7S. 
Francis  A.  Ciishman,  1S77-1S7S. 
Hiram  A.  Tuttle,  1S7S-1879. 
Joseph  Burrows,  1S7S-1S79. 
Warren  Brown,  1S79. 
Nathan  Parker,  1S79. 
James  Burnap,  1S79. 
Thomas  G.  Jameson,  iSSi. 
I.  D.  Stevens^  iSSi. 
John  W.  Wheeler,   iSSi. 
George  H.  Stoweli,  iSSi. 
Arthur  L.  Meserve,  1S81. 
Amos  C.  Chase,  1SS3. 

STATE 

Elias  Stileman,  16S0. 
Richard  Chamberlain,  16S2. 
Thomas  Davis,  1692. 
Thomas  Newton,  1693. 
Henry  Penny,  1696. 
Charles  Stor^-,  1697. 
Henry  Penny,  169S. 
Sampson  Sheafe,  1698. 
Charles  Storey,  1699. 
Samuel  Penhallow,  1704. 
Charles  Story,  1705. 
Richard  Waldron,  1719. 
Theodore  Atkinson,  1741. 
Theodore  Atkinson,  Jr.,  1762. 
Theodore  Atkinson,  1769. 
Eben.  Thompson,  1775. 
Joseph  Pearson,  17S6. 
Philip  Carrigan,  1S05. 
Nathaniel  Parker,  1809. 
Samuel  Sparhawk,  i8io. 
Albe  Cady,  1S14. 


Grovener  A.  Curtice,  18S3. 
John  A.  Spalding,   1SS3. 
David  H.  Goodeil,  18S3. 
David  M.  Aldrich,   1883. 
Charles  W.  Talpey,  1S85. 
Benjamin  A.  Kimball,  1S85. 
M.  L.  Morrison,  1885. 
Peter  Upton,  i8Sv 
John  W.Jewell,  iSSv 
Nathaniel  II.  Clark,'  18S7. 
John  C.  Linehan,'  18S7. 
Charles  Williams,  1887. 
John  B.  Smith,  1SS7. 
Albert  S.  Batchellor,  18S7. 

SECRETARIES. 

Samuel  Sparhawk,  1816. 
Richard  Bartlett,  1S25. 
Dudley  S.  Palmer,  1829. 
Ralph  Metcalt",  1831. 
Tosiah  Stevens,  Jr.,  183S. 
Thomas  P.  Treadwell,  1S43. 
George  G.  Fogg,  1846. 
Thomas  P.  Treadwell,  1S47. 
John  J^.  Hadley,  1850. 
Lemuel  N.  Patten,  18^5. 
Thomas  L.  Tullock,  185S. 
Allen  Tenny,   1S61. 
Benjamin  Gerrish,  Jr..  1865. 
Walter  Harriman,  1S65. 
John  D.  Lyman,  1867. 
Nathan  W"  Gove,  1S7G. 
John  H.  Goodale,  1871. 
Benjamin  F.  Prescott,  1S72. 
W.  Butterfield,  1S74. 
B.  F.  Prescott,  1S75. 
A.  B.  Thompson,  1S77. 


STATE  TREASURERS. 


Richard  Martin,   1680. 
James  Graham,  1689. 
Richard  Martin,   1692. 
Joseph  Smith,  1699. 
Samuel  Penhallow,  1699. 
George  Jaftrey,  1726. 
Henry  Sherburne,  1732. 
George  Jaffrey,  1742. 
Nicholas  Gilman,  1775. 
John  T.  Gilman,  1783. 
William  Gardner,  1789. 
J.  T.  Gilman,  1791. 
Oliver  Peabod-\',  1794. 
Nathaniel  Gilman,  1804. 
Thomas  W.  Thompson,  1809. 
Nathaniel  Gilman,  1811. 
William  A.  Kent,  1814. 


William  Pickering,  1S16. 
Samuel  Morril,  1828. 
William  Pickering,  1829. 
Abner  B.  Kelley,  1830. 
Zenas  Clement,  1837. 
John  Atwood,  1843. 
James  Peverly,  Jr. ,  1846. 
John  Atwood,  1847. 
Edson  Hill,  1S50. 
Walter  Harriman,  1853. 
William  Berry,  1855. 
Peter  Sanborn,  1S57. 
Leander  W.  Cogswell,  1871. 
S.  A.  Carter,  1872. 
J.  G.  Dearborn,  1S74. 
S.  A.  Carter,  1875. 


*  Elected  by  legislature. 


714 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SENATE. 


Meshech  Weare,  1775. 
Woodbury  Langdon,  17S4. 
John  McClarv,  1781;. 
Joseph  Gihnan,  17S7. 
John  Pickering,  17S8. 
Ebenezer  t-mith,  1790. 
Moses  Dow,  1791. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  1792. 
Abiel  Foster,  1793. 
Oliver  Peabod\',  1794. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  1795. 
Amos  Shepard,  1797. 
Nicholas  Gilman,  1S04. 
Clement  Storer,  1805. 
Samuel  Bell,  1S07. 
Moses  P.  Payson,  1S09. 
William  Plumer,  1816. 
Joshua  Darling,  1812. 
Oliver  Peabody,  1813. 
Moses  P.  Pa^'bon,  1S13. 
William  Badger,  1816. 
Jonathan  Harvey,  1S16. 
Clement  Storer,  1817. 
Jonathan  Harvey,  1S18. 
David  L.  Morril,  1S23. 
Josiah  Bartlett,  1S24. 
Matthew  Harvey,  1S25. 
Nahum  Parker,  182S. 
Abner  Greenleaf,  1S29. 
Samuel  Cartland,  1829. 
J.  M.  Harper,  1830. 
Samuel  Cartland,  1831. 
Benning  M.  Bean,  1832. 
Jared  W.  Williams,  1833. 
Chas.  F.  Gove,  1S35. 
James  Clark,  1836. 
John  Woodbury,  1S37. 
Samuel  Jones,  183S. 
James  McK.  Wilkins,  1S39. 
James  B.  Creighton,  1840. 


Josiah  Quincy,  1S41. 
Titus  Brown,  1S43. 
Timothy  Hoskins,  1S44. 
Asa  P.  Gate,  1845. 
James  U.  Parker,  18-16. 
Harry  Hibbard,  1S47. 
William  P.  Weeks,  1S49. 
Richard  Jenness,  1850. 
John  S.  Wells,  1S51. 
James  M.  Rix,  1S53.    ' 
Jonathan  E.  Sargent,  1S54. 
William  Haile,  1S55. 
Thomas  J.  Melvin,  1856. 
Moody  Currier,  1S57. 
Austin  F.  Pike,  1858. 
James  A.  Gilmore,  1S59. 
G.  S.  Towle,  1S60. 
Herman  Foster,  1861. 
W.  H.  Y.  Hackett.  1862. 
Onslow  Stearns,  1863. 

C.  H.  Bell,  1864. 
E.  A.  Straw,  186c:. 

D.  Barnard,  1866. 
W.  T.  Parker,  1867. 
Ezra  A.  Stevens,  1S68. 
J.  Y.  Mugridge,  1S69. 
Nathaniel  Gordon,  1870. 
Geo.  W.  M.  Pitman,  1871. 
Chas.  H.  Campbell,  1872. 
D.  A.  Warde,  1S73. 
Wm.  H.  Gove,  1874. 

J.  W.  Sanborn,  1S75. 
Chas.  Holman,  1876. 
Natt  Head,  1877. 
David  H.  Buft'um,  1S78. 
John  Kimball,  1879. 
J.  H.  Gallinger,  1881. 
Chas.  H.  Bartlett,  18S3. 
Chester  Pike,  1885. 
Frank  D.  Currier,  1887. 


SENATORS. 


1784-85. 

Woodbury  Langdon,  Portsmouth. 
John  Langdon,  Portsmouth. 
Joseph  Gilman,  Exeter. 
John  McClary,  Epsom. 
Timothy  Walker,  Concord. 
John  Wentworth,  Dover. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
Francis  Blood,  Tetiiple. 
Matthew  Thornton,  Merrimack. 
Simeon  Olcott,   Charlestown. 
Enoch  Hale,  Walpole. 
Moses  Dow,  Haverhill. 

'  By  legislature,  John 


17S5-86. 


Joshua  Wentworth,'  Portsmouth. 
George  Atkinson,  Portsmouth. 
John  McClary,  Epsom. 
Joseph  Gilman,  Exeter. 
Nathaniel  Peabodj',  Atkinson. 
John  Wentworth,  Dover. 
Otis  Baker,  Dover. 
Matthew  Thornton,  Merrimack. 
Ebenezer  Webster,  Salisbury. 
Moses  Chase,  Cornish. 
John  Bellows,  Walpole. 
Francis  Worcester,  Plymouth. 

Langdon  having  resigned. 


APPENDIX. 


715 


17S6-S7. 
John  McClary,  Epsom. 
Joseph  Gihnan,  Exeter. 
Joshua  Wentwoith,  Portsmouth. 
George  Atkinson,  '• 

John  Bell,  Londonderry. 
John  McDuffee,  Rochester. 
Otis  Baker,  Dover 
Matthew  Thornton,  Merrimack. 
Ebenezer  Webster.  Salisbury. 
John  Bellows,  Walpole. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Elisha  Payne,  Haverhill. 

17S7-88. 

George  Atkinson,  Portsmouth. 
Joseph  Gilman,  Exeter. 
John  Bell,  Londonderry. 
Peter  Green,  Concord. 
Joshua  Wentworth.  Portsmouth. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
Ebenezer  Thompson,  Durham. 
Robert  Means,  Amherst. 
Joshua  Bailey,  Hopkinton. 
John  Bellows,  Walpole. 
Amos  Shepard.  Alstead. 
Elisha  Payne,  Haverhill. 

17SS-89. 
John  Pickering,  Portsmouth. 
Pierce  Long,  '• 

Christopher  Toppan,  Hampton. 
John  Bell,  Londonderry. 
Joshua  Wentworlh,  Portsmouth. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
John  Waldron,  Dover. 
Robert  Wallace,  Henniker. 
Ebenezer  Webster,  Salisbury. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Moses  Chase,  Cornish. 
Francis  Worcester,  Plymouth. 

1789-90. 
John  Pickering,  Portsmouth. 
John  Bell,  Londonderry. 
Peter  Green,  Concord. 
Christopher  Toppan,  Hampton. 
Nathaniel  Rogers,  Newmarket. 

Under   New   Constitution 
1793-94- 

Christopher  Toppan,  Hampton. 
Oliver  Peabody,  Exeter. 
James  McGregor,  I^ondonderry. 
Abiel  Foster,  Canterbury. 
Samuel  Hale,  Barrington. 

'  Oliver  Peabody  resigned  and 
^  John  T.  Gilman  resigned  and 


John  McDuffee,  Rochester. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
Robert  Means,  A'^iherst. 
Robert  Wallace,  Henniker. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
John  Hubbard,  Charlestown. 
Jonathan  Freeman,  Hanover. 
1790-91. 

Joseph  Ciller,  Nottingham. 
Nathaniel  Peabody,  Atkinson. 
Peter  Green,  Concord. 
Oliver  Peabody,'  Exeter. 
Nathaniel  Rogers,  Newmarket. 
John  Waldron,  Dover. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
Ebenezer  Webster,  Salisbur}'. 
Robert  Wallace,  Henniker. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Sanford  Kingsbury,  Claremont. 
Jonathan  Freeman,  Hanover. 

1791-92. 
Nathaniel  Rogers,  Newmaiket. 
James  Sheafe,  Portsmouth. 
Christopher  Toppan,  Hampton. 
Nathaniel  Peabody,  Atkinson. 
Abiel  Foster,-  Canterbury. 
John  Waldron,  Dover. 
Samuel  Hale,  Barrington. 
Robert  Wallace,  Henniker. 
Robert  Means,  Amherst. 
Sanford  Kingsbury,  Claremont. 
William  Page,  Charlestown. 
Moses  Dow,  Haverhill. 

179^-93- 
Abiel  Foster,  Canterbury. 
James  Sheafe,  Portsmouth. 
Nathaniel  Peabody,  Atkinson. 
Christopher  Toppan,  Hampton. 
Nathaniel  Gilman,  Exeter. 
John  Waldron,  Dover. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
Robert  Wallace,  Henniker. 
Joshua  Atherton,  Amherst. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
John  Bellows,  Walpole. 
Jonathan  Freeman,  Hanover. 

—  State  Districted  in  December,  17^2. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
Joshua  Atherton,  Amherst. 
Henry  Gerrish,  Boscawen. 
Charles  Barrett,  New  Ipswich. 
Elisha  Whitcomb,  Swanzey. 
John  Bellows,  Walpole. 
Jonathan  Freeman,  Hanover. 

John  Bell  was  elected  to  fill  vacancy. 
Abiel  Foster  was  elected  to  fill  vacancy. 


yi6 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


1794-95- 
Moses  Leavitt,  North  Hampton. 
Oliver  Peabody/  Exeter. 
Joseph  Blanchard,  Chester. 
Abiel  Foster,  Canterbury. 
Samuel  Hale,'  Barrington. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
William  Gordon,  Amherst. 
James  Flanders,  Warner. 
Charles  Barrett,  New  Ipswich. 
Elisha  Whitcomb,  Swanzey. 
John  Bellows,  Walpole. 
Moses  Baker,  Campton. 

1795-96. 
Moses  Leavitt,  North  Hampton. 
Nath'l  Oilman,  Exeter. 
Joseph  Blanchard,  Chester. 
Joseph  Cilley,  Nottingham. 
John  McDuffee,  Rochester. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
William  Gordon,^  Amherst. 
James  Flanders,  Warner. 
Ephraim  Hartwell,  New  Ipswich. 
Elisha  Whitcomb,  Swanzey. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Moses  Baker,  Campton. 

1796-97. 
Moses  Leavitt,  North  Hampton. 
Jeremiah  Fogg,  Kensington. 
Joseph  Blanchard,  Chester. 
Michael  McClary,  Epsom. 
John  McDuffee,  Rochester. 
Ebenezer  Smith,  Meredith. 
Timothy  Taj'lor,  Merrimack. 
James  Flanders,  Warner. 
Ephraim  Hartwell,  New  Ipswich. 
Elisha  Whitcomb,  Swanzey. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Moses  Baker,  Campton. 

1797-98. 
Moses  Leavitt,  North  Hampton. 
Jeremiah  Fogg,  Kensington. 
Joseph  Blanchard,  Chester. 
Michael  McClary,  Epsom. 
William  Hale,  Dover. 
Nathan  Hoit,  Moultonborough. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
James  Flanders,  Warner. 
John  Duncan,  Antrim. 
Elisha  Whitcomb,  Swanzey. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Moses  Baker,  Campton. 


179S-99. 
Moses  Leavitt,  North  Hampton. 
Jeremiah  Fogg,  Kensington. 
Joseph  Blanchard,  Chester. 
Michael  McClary,  Epsom. 
William  Hale,  Dover. 
Nathan  Hoit,  Moultonborough. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
James  Flanders,  Warner. 
Ephraim  Hartwell,  New  Ipswich. 
Elisha  Whitcomb,  Swanzey. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Moses  Baker,  Campton. 
1799-1S00. 
Moses  Leavitt,^  Hampton. 
Jeremiah  Fogg,  Kensington. 
Joseph  Blanchard,  Chester. 
Michael  McClary,  Epsom. 
William  Hale,  Dover. 
Nathan  Hoit,"*  Moultonborough. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
Henry  Gerrish,  Boscawen. 
Ephraim  Hartwell,  New  Ipswich. 
Elisha  Whitcomb,  Swanzey. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Moses  Baker,  Campton. 

1800-01. 
Moses  Leavitt,  North  Hampton. 
Jeremiah  Fogg,  Kensington. 
Silas  Betton,  Salem. 
Michael  McClary,  Epsom. 
William  Hale,  Dover. 
Nathan  Taylor,  Sanbornton. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
James  Flanders,  Warner. 
Ephraim  Hartwell,  New  Ipswich. 
Daniel  Newcomb,*  Keene. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
John  Mooney,  Meredith. 

1801-02. 

John  Goddard,  Portsmouth. 
Jeremiah  Fogg,  Kensington. 
Silas  Betton,  Salem. 
Michael  McClary,  Epsom. 
John  McDuffee,  Rochester. 
Nathan  Taylor,  Sanbornton. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
Jerem.iah  Flanders,  Warner. 
Ephraim  Hartwell,  New  Ipswich. 
Elisha  Whitcomb,  Swanzey. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Moore  Russell,  Plymouth. 


'  Resigned.     Phillips  White  and  John  Waldron  elected  by  Convention. 

"  Resigned.     Daniel  Emerson  elected. 

3  Election  contested.     James  Sheafe,  of  Portsmouth,  seated. 

■*  Election  contested.  Nathaniel  Taylor,  of  Sanbornton,  seated. 

5  Resigned.     Elisha  Whitcomb  elected. 


APPENDIX. 


717 


1S02-03. 
John  Goddard,  Portsmouth. 
Nathaniel  Gihnan,  Exeter. 
Silas  Bettou,  Salem. 
James  II.  McClary,  Epsom. 
John  McDuflee,  Rochester, 
Nathan  Tavlor,  Sanbornton. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
James  Flanders,  Warner. 
Seth  Payson,  Rindge. 
Ezra  Pierce,  Westmoreland. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead, 
Moore  Russell,  Plymouth. 

iSo3-o^. 
Clement  Storer,  Portsmouth. 
Ezekiel  Godfrey,  Poplin. 
John  Bell,  Londonderry. 
Richard  Jenness,  Deerfield. 
John  Waldron,  Dover. 
Nathan  Tavlor,  Sanbornton. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
James  Flanders,  Warner. 
Seth  Payson,  Rindtj^e. 
Ezra  Pierce,  Westmoreland. 
Amos  Shepard,  Alstead. 
Moore  Russell,  Plymouth. 

1804-05. 
Clement  Storer,  Portsmouth. 
Nicholas  Gilman,  Exeter. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
John  Bradley,  Concord. 
John  Waldron,  Do\er. 
Nathan  Taylor,  Sanbornton. 
Jedediah  K.  Smith,  Amherst. 
Robert  Alcock,  Deering. 
Seth  Payson,  Rindge. 
Amasa  Allen,  Walpole. 
Daniel  Kimball,  Plainfield. 
Moses  P.  Payson. 

1S05-06. 
Clement  Storer,  Portsmouth. 
Richard  Jenness,  Deerfield. 
John  Orr,  Bedford. 
John  Bradley,  Concord. 
John  Waldron,  Dover. 
Nath'l  Shannon,  Moultonborough. 
Jedediah  K.  Smith,  Amherst. 
Robert  Alcock,  Deering. 
Daniel  Newcomb,  Keene. 
George  Aldrich,  Westmoreland. 
Daniel  Kimball,  Plainfield. 
Moses  P.  Payson,  Bath. 

1S06-07. 
Clement  Storer,  Portsmouth. 
Bsnj.  Barnard,  South  Hampton. 


William  White,  Chester. 
John  liradley,  Concord. 
Richard  Dame,  Rochester. 
Nath'l  Shannon,  Moultonborough. 
Jedediah  K.  Smith,  Amherst. 
Robert  Alcock,  Deering. 
Lockhart  Willard,  Keene. 
George  Aldrich,  Westmoreland. 
Daniel  Kimball,  Plainfield. 
Peter  Carlton,  Landafi". 

1S07-0S. 

Elijah  Hall,  Portsmouth. 
Richard  Jenness,  Deerfield. 
William  White,  Chester. 
John  Bradley,  Concord. 
Richard  Dame,  Rochester. 
Nath'l  Shannon,  Moultonborough. 
Samuel  l>eil,  Chester. 
Robert  Alcock,  Deering. 
Lockhart  Willard,  Keene. 
Geo.  Aldrich,  Westmoreland. 
John  Fairfield,  Lyme. 
Moses  P.  Payson,  Bath. 

iSoS-09. 
Elijah  Hall,  Portsmouth. 
Richard  Jenness,  Deerfield. 
William  White,  Chester. 
John  Bradley,  Concord. 
Richard  Dame,  Rochester. 
Nath'l  Shannon,  Moultonborough. 
Samuel  Bell,  Chester. 
Joshua  Darling,  Ilenniker. 
Lockhart  \\'illard,  Keene. 
Geo.  Aldrich,  Westmoreland. 
John  Fairfield,  Lyme. 
Moses  P.  Payson,  Bath. 

1S09-10. 
Josiah  Bartlett,  Portsmouth. 
Henry  Butler,  Nottingham. 
Wm.  Adams,  Londonderry. 
Wm.  Austin  Kent,  Concord. 
Beard  Plumer,  Milton. 
Samuel  Shepard,  Gilmanton. 
Jedediah  K.  Smith,  Amherst. 
Joshua  Darling,  Henniker. 
Lockhart  Willard,  Keene. 
Roger  Vose,  Walpole. 
John  Fairfield,  Lyme. 
Moses  P.  Payson,  Plymouth. 

1810-11. 
Josiah  Bartlett,  Portsmouth. 
Wm.  Plumer,  Epping. 
Wm.  Adams,  Londonderry. 
Josiah  Sanborn,  Epsom. 
Beard  Plumer,  Milton. 


7i8 


HISTORV    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


Samuel  Qiiarles,  Ossipee. 
Wm.  Fisk,  Amherst. 
Joshua  Darling,  Henniker. 
Lockhart  VVillard,  Keene. 
Roger  Vose,  Walpole. 
John  Fairfield,  Lyme. 
Moore  Russell,  Plymouth. 

1811-12. 
William  Ham,  Jr.,  Portsmouth. 
Wm.  Plumer,  Epping. 
Wm.  Adams,  Londonderry. 
Josiah  Sanborn,  Epsom. 
Beard  Plumer,  Milton. 
Samuel  Quarles,  Ossipee. 
Wm.  Fisk,  Amherst. 
Joshua  Darling,  Henniker. 
Joshua  Wilder,  Rindge. 
Thomas  C.  Drew,  Walpole. 
Caleb  Ellis,  Claremont. 
Moore  Russell,  Plymouth. 

1812-13. 
Wm.  Ham,  Portsmouth. 
Simeon  Folsom,  Exeter. 
Wm.  Adams,  Londonderry. 
Josiah  Sanborn,  Epsom. 
Beard  Plumer.  Milton. 
Samuel  Qiiarles,  Ossipee. 
Wm.  Fisk,  Amherst. 
Joshua  Darling,  Henniker. 
Levi  Jackson,  Chesterfield. 
Roger  Vose,  Walpole. 
Daniel  Kimball,  Plainfield. 
Moore  Russell,  Plymouth. 

1S13-14. 
William  Ham,  Portsmouth. 
Oliver  Peabody,  Exeter. 
William  Adams,  Londonderry. 
William  A.  Kent,  Concord. 
Jonas  C.  March,  Rochester. 
Samuel  Shepard,  Gilmanton. 
William  Fisk,  Amherst. 
Joshua  Darling,  Henniker. 
Levi  Jackson,  Chesterfield. 
Josiah  Bellows,  Walpole. 
Daniel  Kimball,  Plainfield. 
Moses  P,  Payson,  Bath. 

1814-15. 
William  Ham,  Portsmouth. 
Geo.  Sullivan,  Exeter. 
Amos  Kent,  Chester. 
William  A.  Kent,  Concord. 
Jonas  C.  March,  Rochester. 
William  Badger,  Gilmanton. 
James  Wallace,  Milford. 
Joshua  Darling,  Henniker. 


Levi  Jackson,  Chesterfield. 
Geo.  B.  Upham,  Clareinont, 
Daniel  Blaisdell,  Lebanon. 
Moses  P.  Payson,  Bath. 

1815-16. 
William  Ham,  Portsmouth. 
Geo.  Sullivan,  Exeter. 
Amos  Kent,  Chester. 
Ezekiel  Webster,  Boscawen. 
Jonas  C.  March,  Rochester. 
William  Badger,  Gilmanton. 
James  Wallace,  Milford. 
Joshua  Darling,  Henniker. 
Levi  Jackson,  Chesterfield. 
Samuel  Fiske,  Claremont. 
Daniel  Blaisdell,  Lebanon. 
Moses  P.  Payson,  Bath. 

1S16-17. 
Wm.  Ham,  Portsmouth. 
Joseph  Shepard,  Epping. 
John  Vose,  Atkinson. 
John  Harvey,  Northwood. 
Beard  Plumer,  Milton. 
W'illiam  Badger,  Gilmanton. 
James  Wallace,  Milford. 
Jonathan  Harvey,  Sutton. 
Phineas  llanderson,  Ches     rfield» 
James  H.  Bingham,  Alst..   d. 
John  Durkee,  Hanover. 
Dan.  Young,  Lisbon. 

1817-18. 
Clement  Storer,  Portsmouth. 
John  Bradford,  Newmarket. 
Thos.  Chandler,  Bedford. 
John  Harvey,  Northwood. 
Amos  Cogswell,  Dover. 
Nath'l  Shannon,  Moultonborough. 
Benj.  Pool,  HoUis. 
Jonathan  Harvey,  Sutton. 
Phineas  Handerson,  Keene. 
James  H.  Bingham,  Alstead. 
Abiathar  G.  Britton,  Orford. 
Dan.  Young,  Lisbon. 

1818-19. 
John  Langdon,  Jr.,  Portsmouth. 
John  Broadhead,  Newmarket. 
Thomas  Chandler,  Bedford. 
Caleb  Stark,  Dunbarton. 
Amos  Cogswell,  Dover. 
Nath'l  Shannon,  Moultonborough. 
Benj.  Pool,  Hollis. 
Jonathan  Harvey,  Sutton. 
Phineas  Handerson,  Keene. 
James  H.  Bingham,  Alstead. 
Abiathar  G.  Britton,  Orford. 
Dan.  Young,  Lisbon. 


APPENDIX. 


7>Q 


ISI9-J0. 

George  Long,  Portsmouth. 

John  Broadhead,  Newmarket. 

James  Parker,  Litchfield. 

John  McClary,  Epsom. 

Amos  Cogswell,  Dover. 

Daniel  C.  Atkinson,  Sanhornton. 

Benj.  Pool,  HoUis. 

Jonathan  Harve\-,   Sutton. 

John  Wood,  Keene. 

Uriah  Wilcox,  Newport. 

John  Durkee,  Hanoser. 

Dan  Young,  Lisbon. 

1S20-21. 

George  Long,  Portsmouth. 
John  Broadhead,  Newmarket. 
|ohn  Gould,  Dunbarton. 
Isaac  Hill,  Concord. 
Nehemiah  Eastman,  Farmington. 
Daniel  Hoit,  Sandwich. 
Benj.  Pool,  Ilollis. 
Jonathan  Harvev,  Sutton. 
Elijah  Belding,  fSwanzey. 
Thomas  C    Drew,  Walpole. 
John  Dame,  Plymouth. 
Dan  Young,"  Lisbon. 

1S21-J2. 

Hunking  Penhallow,  Portsmouth. 
Newell  Healey,  Kensington. 
Samuel  M.  Richardson,  Pelham. 
Isaac  Hill,  Concord. 
Nehemiah  Eastman,  Farmington. 
Daniel  Hoit,  Sandwich. 
John  Wallace,  Jr.,  Milford. 
Jonathan  Harvey,  Sutton. 
Jotham  Lord,  Jr.,  Westmoreland. 
Thomas  C.  Drew,  Walpole. 
Ziba  Huntington,  Lebanon. 
Arthur  Livermore,  Holderness. 

1S22-23. 

Langley  Boardman,  Portsmouth. 
John  Kimball,  Exeter. 
Hezekiah  D.  Buzzell,  Weare. 
Isaac  Hill,  Concord. 
Nehemiah  Eastman.  Farmington. 
Daniel  Hoit,  Sandwich. 
John  Wallace,  Jr.,  Milford. 
Jonathan  Harvey,  Sutton. 
Jotham  Lord,  Jr.,  Westmoreland. 
James  H.   Bingham,  Alstead. 
Ziba  Huntington,  Lebanon. 
Arthur  Livermore,  Holderness. 


1S23-24. 

Langley  Boardman,  Portsmouth. 
John  Kimball,  Exeter. 
David  L.  Morril,  tioft'stown. 
Ezekiel  Morrill,  Canterbury. 
Nehemiah  Eastman,  Farmington. 
Pearson  Cogswell,  Gilmanton. 
John  Wallace,  Jr.,  Miltbrd. 
Thomas  W.  Colby,  Hopkinton. 
John  Wood,  Keene. 
Gawen  Gilmore,  Acworth. 
James  Poole,  Hanover. 
Stephen  P.  Webster,  Haverhill. 

1824-25. 

Josiah  Bartlett,  Stratham. 
John  Kimball,  Exeter. 
John  Pattee,  Gotl'stown. 
Ezekiel  Morrill,  Canterbur\-, 
Nehemiah  Eastman,  Farmington. 
Benning  M.  Bean,  Moultonborough. 
John  Wallace,  Jr.,  Miltbrd. 
Joseph  Heale^•,  Washington. 
Salma  Hale,  Keene. 
Gawen  Gilmore,  Acworth. 
Moses  H.  Bradley,  Bristol. 
Stephen  P.  Webster,  Haverhill. 

1S25-26. 

William  Claggett,  Portsmouth. 
John  Broadhead,  Newmarket. 
Thomas  Chandler,  Bedford. 
Hall  Burgin,  Allenstown. 
Andrew  Pierce,  Dover. 
Benning  M.  Bean,  Moultonborough. 
Jesse  Bowers,  Dunstable. 
Matthew  Harvev,  Hopkinton. 
Phineas  Handerson,  Chesterfield. 
Stephen  P.  Webster,  Haverhill. 
Stephen  Johnson,  Walpole. 
Diarca  Allen,  Lebanon. 

1826-27. 

John  W.  Parsons,  Rye. 

John  Broadhead,  Newmarket. 

Thomas  Chandler,  Bedford. 

Hall  Burgin,  Allenstown. 

Andrew  Pierce,  Dover. 

Benning  M.  Jiean,   Moultonborough. 
Jesse  Bowers,  Dunstable. 

Matthew  Harvey,  Hopkinton. 

Asa  Parker,  Jaffrey. 

Stephen  Johnson,  Walpole. 
James  Smith,  Grantham. 
John  W.  Weeks,  Lancaster. 


'  Resigned.     Abel  Merrill  elected. 


720 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


1827-2S. 

John  W.  Parsons,  Rye. 
\Vm.  Plunier,  Jr.,  Epping. 
Thomas  Chandler,  Bedford. 
Isaac  Hill,  Concord. 
James  Bartlett,  Dover. 
William  Prescott,  Gilmanton. 
Jesse  Bowers,  Dunstable. 
Matthew  Harvey,  Hopkinton. 
Asa  Parker,  Jal^'rey. 
Jonathan  Nye,  Claremont. 
(ames  Minot,  Bristol. 
John  W.  Weeks,  Lancaster. 

iS::S-29. 

John  W.  Parsons,  Rye. 
William  Plumer,  Ji.,  Epping. 
David  Steele,  Goftsiown. 
Hall  Biirgin,  Allenstown. 
James  Bartlett,  Dover. 
Daniel  Hoit,  Sandwich. 
John  Wallace,  Jr.,  Milford. 
Bodwell  Emerson,  Hopkinton. 
Nahum  Parker,  Fitzwilliam. 
Thomas  Woolson,  Claremont. 
James  Poole,'  Hanover. 
John  W.  Weeks,  Lancaster. 

1829-30. 

Abner  Greenleaf,  Portsmouth. 
Jacob  Freese,  Deertield. 
Frederick  G.  Stark,   Manchester. 
Joseph  M.  Harper,  Canterbury-. 
Henry  B.  Rust,'^  Wolfeborough. 
Ezekiel  Wentworth,  Ossipee. 
Wm.  Bixby,  Francestown. 
Benjamin  Evans,  Warner. 
Levi  Chamberlain,  Fitzwilliam. 
Eleazer  Jackson,  Jr.,  Cornish. 
Elijah  Miller,  Hanover. 
Samuel  Cartland,  Haverhill. 

1830-31. 

John  E.  Parrott,  Portsmouth. 
Jacob  Freese,  Deerfield. 
Frederick  G.  Stark,  Manchester. 
Joseph  M.  Harper,  Canterbury. 
Henry  B.  Rust,"^  Wolleborough. 
Ezekiel  Wentworth,  Ossipee. 
Wm.  Bixby,  Francestown. 
Benj.  Evans,  Warner. 
Levi  Chamberlain,  Fitzwilliam. 
Eleazer  Jackson,  Jr.,  Cornish. 


Elijah  Miller,  Hanover. 
Samuel  Cartland,  Haverhill. 

1S31-32. 

Langley  Boardman,'*  Portsmouth. 
Bradbury  Bartlett,  Nottingham. 
Frederick  G.  Stark,   Manchester. 
Aaron  Whittemore,  Pembroke. 
Henry  B.  Rust,  Wolfeborough. 
Benning  M.  Bean,   Moultonborough. 
Daniel  Abbott,  Dunstable. 
Nath'l  Knovvlton,  Hopkinton. 
Phineas  Handerson,  Chesterfield. 
Eleazer  Jackson,  Jr.,  Cornish. 
Robert  Burns,  Hebron. 
Samuel  Cartland,^  Haverhill. 

1832-33- 
Daniel  P.  Drown,  Portsmouth. 
Bradbury  Bartlett,  Nottingham. 
Jesse  Carr,  GotTstown. 
Aaron  Whittemore,  Pembroke. 
James  Farrington,  Rochester. 
Benning  M.  Bean,   Moultonborough. 
Peter  Woodbur\',  Francestown. 
Nath'l  Knowlton,  Hopkinton. 
Phineas  Handerson,  Chesterfield. 
Eleazer  Jackson,  Jr. ,  Cornish. 
Robert  Burns,  Hebron. 
Jared  W.  Williams,  Lancaster. 

1833-34- 

Daniel  P.  Drown,  Portsmouth. 

Abel  Brown,  South  Hampton. 
Jesse  Carr,  GofFstown. 

Cyrus  Barton,  Concord. 
James  Farrington,  Rochester. 

Warren  Lovell,  Meredith. 

Peter  Woodbury,  Francestown. 
Jacob  Tuttle,    Antrim. 

Nathan  Wild,  Chestei  field. 

Austin  Corbin,  Newport. 

Caleb  Blodgett,  Dorchester. 

Jared  W.  Williams,  Lancaster. 

1834-35- 

Tristram  Shaw,  Hampton. 

Abel  Brown,  South  Hampton. 
Jesse  Carr,  Goftstown. 

Cyrus  Barton,  Concord. 
James  Farrington,  Rochester. 

Warren  Lovell,  Meredith. 

Israel  Hunt,  Jr. ,  Dunstable. 


'  James  Poole  died  November  20.    James  Minot  elected  but  declined. 

2  Abner  Greenleaf  resigned. 

3  John  Chadwick  of  Middleton  resigned. 
*  Levi  Woodbury  elected  and  resigned. 

S  Resigned.     Benning  M.  Bean  elected. 


APPENDIX. 


721 


Ruben  Porter,  Sutton. 
Nathan  Wild,  Chesterfield. 
Austin  Corbin,  Newport. 
Caleb  Blodgett,  Dorchester. 
Jared  W.  Williams,  Lancaster. 

1835-36- 
Thomas  J.  Parsons,  Rye. 
Smith  Lamprey,  Kensing^ton. 
Charles  F.  Gove,  Gofistown. 
J-imes  Clark,  Franklin. 
.\oah  Martin,  Dover. 
Jonathan  T.  Chase,  Conwaw 
Israel  Hunt,  Jr.,  Dunstable. 
Ruben  Porter,  Sutton. 
Levi  Fisk,  JafTre\-. 
Samuel  Egerton,  Langdon. 
Nathaniel  S.  Berrv,  Bristol. 
Walter  Blair,  Plymouth. 

1836-37- 
Thomas  J.  Parsons,  Rye. 
Smith  Lamprey,  Kensington. 
John  Woodbin-y,  Salem. 
James  Clark,  l^'ranklin. 
Noah  Martin,  Dover. 
Jonathan  T.  Chase.  Conway. 
Israel  Hunt,  Jr. ,  Dunstable. 
Samuel  Jones,  Bradford. 
Levi  Fisk,  Jaffrey. 
Samuel  Egerton,  Langdon. 
Nath'l  S.  Berrv,  Bristol. 
Walter  Blair,  Plymouth. 

1S37-38. 
Thomas  B.  Leighton,  Portsmouth. 
Benj.  Jenness,  Deerfield. 
John  Woodbury,  Salem. 
Samuel  B.  Dyer,  Loudon. 
Ezekiel   liurd,  Dover. 
Neal  McGat^:e^■.  Sandwich. 
David  Stiles,   Lyndeborough. 
Samuel  Jones.  Bradford. 
Henrv  Cooledge.   Keene. 
John  Gove,  Jr. ,  Claremont. 
George  W.  Lang,  Hebron. 
Nath'l  P.  Melvin,  Bridgewater. 

1838-39- 
Samuel  Clears,  Portsmouth. 
Benj.  Jenne-.s.  Deerfield. 
lames  McK.  Wilkins.  Bedford. 
Amos  Cogswell.  Canterbury'. 
Ezekiel  Hurd,  Dover. 
Neal  McGaffey,  Sandwich. 
Daniel  Adams,  Mont  \'f  rnon. 
Samuel  Jones,  Bradford. 
John  Prentice.   Keene. 
Austin  Tyler,  Claremont. 


George  W.  Lang,  Hebron. 
Nath'l  P.  Melvin,  Plymouth. 

1839-40. 
Thomas  B.  Leighton,  Portsmouth. 
James  B.  Creighton,  Newmarket. 
J.  McK.  Wilkins.  Bedford. 
Am(}S  Cogswell,  Canterbury. 
George  Nutter,  Barnstead. 
John  Comerford.  Sanbornton. 
Daniel  Adams,  Mont  \'ernon. 
Abram  Brown,  Hopkinton. 
John  Prentice,  Keene. 
John  Gove,  Jr.,  Claremont. 
Converse  Goodhue,  Enfield. 
James  H.  Johnson,  Bath. 

1840-41. 
James  Pickering,  Ncwington. 
James  B.  Creighton.  Newmarket. 
David  A.  Gregg,  Derry. 
Peter  Renton,  Concord. 
Georg  i  Nutter,  Barnstead. 
John  C  )merford,  Sanbornton. 
Daniel  Adams,  Mont  \'ernon. 
Abram  Brown,  Hopkinton. 
Elijah  Beldins,  Swanzey. 
Jeremiah  I^.  Nettleton.  Newport. 
Converse  Goodhue,   Enfield. 
James  IL  Johnson,  Bath. 

:S4i-42. 
James  Pickering,  Newington. 
Samuel  Hatch,  Exeter. 
David  \.  Gregg,   Derry. 
Peter  Renton,  Concord. 
George  McDaniell,  Barrington. 
John  L.  Perley,  Meredith. 
Humphrev  Moore,  Milford. 
J  icob  Straw,   Henniker. 
Elijah  Belding,  Swanzey. 
Jeremiah  D.  Nettleton.  Newport. 
Josiah  Qj^iincy,  Rumney. 
Simeon  B.  Johnson,  Littleton. 

1S4--43- 
Thos.  l\  Treadwell.  Portsmouth. 
Samuel  Hatch,  Exeter. 
Simon  P.  Colby.  Weare. 
Isaac  Hale,  PVanklin. 
George  McDaniel,  Barrington. 
John  L.  Perley.  Meredith. 
Titus  Brown,  Francestown. 
Jacob  Straw,   Henniker. 
James  Batchelier,  Marlborough. 
Daniel  M.  Smith.  Lempster. 
Josiah  Qiiincy,  Runmev. 
Simeon  Warner.  Whitefield. 


722 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


1843-44. 

John  K.  Hatch,  Greenland. 
Jonathan  Morrill,  Brentwood. 
Simon  P.  Colbj,  Weare. 
Isaac  Hale,  Franklin. 
Andrew  Pierce,  Jr.,  Dover. 
Zebulon  Pease,  Freedom. 
Titus  Brown,  Francestown. 
T.  Hoskins,  Westmoreland. 
Elijah  Carpenter,  Swanzey. 
Daniel  M.  Smith,  Lempster. 
Joseph  Sweatt,  Andover. 
Simeon  Warner,  Whitefield. 

1S44-45. 

John  K.  Hatch,  Greenland. 
Jonathan  Morrill,  Brentwood. 
Jesse  Gibson,  Pelhnm. 
Asa  P.  Cate,  North  field. 
Joseph  II.  Smith,  Do\er. 
Zebulon  Pease,  Freedom. 
William  McKean,  Deering. 
T.  Hoskins,  Westmoreland. 
Benaiah  Cooke,  Keene. 
Reuben  Davis,   Cornish. 
Joseph  Sweatt,  Andover. 
Ephraim  Cross,  Lancaster. 

1845-46. 

Stephen  Demeritt,  Durham. 
Perlej  Robinson,  Poplin. 
Jesse  Gibson,  Pelham. 
Asa  P.  Cate,  Northfield. 
Joseph  H.  Smith,  Dover. 
Charles  Lane,  Meredith. 
Wm.  McKean,  Deering. 
David  Pat'en,  Hancock. 
Salma  Hale,  Keene. 
Reuben  Davis,  Cornish. 
Sylvanus  Hewes,  Lyme. 
Ephraim  Cross,  Lancaster. 

1846-47. 

G.  H.  Dodge,  Hampton  Falls. 
Abraham  Emerson,  Candia. 
James  U.  Parker,  Merrimack. 
Andrew  Taylor,  Canterbury. 
Wm.  W.  Rollins,  Somersworth. 
Artemus  Harmon,  Eaton. 
Timothy  Abbott.  Milton. 
David  Patten,   Hancock. 
Nath'l  Kingsbury,  Temple. 
Asa  Page,  Sutton. 
Irenus  Hamilton,  I^yme. 
Harrv  Hibbard,  Bath. 


1847-48. 

James  Pass,  Stratham. 
Abraham  Emmerson,  Candia. 
Noyes  Poor,  Goftstown. 
Wm.  H.  Gage,  Boscawen. 
James  Drake,'  Pittsfield. 
Charles  Lane,  Gilford. 
Ralph  E.  Tenney,'  Mollis. 
Frederick  Vose,  Walpole. 
Frederick  Boyden,'  Hinsdale. 
Asa  Page,  Sutton. 
Sylvanus  Hewes,  Lyme. 
Harry  Hibbard,  Bath. 

184S-49. 

James  Foss,  Stratham. 
Joseph  D.  Pindar,  Newmarket. 
Noyes  Poor,  GotTslown. 
Wm.  H.  Gage,  Boscawen. 
James  Drake,  Pittsfield. 
Jeremiah  Dame,  Farmington. 
Ralph  E.  Tenney,'  Hollis. 
Frederick  Vose,  Walpole. 
Frederick  Boyden,'  Hinsdale. 
Asa  Page,  Sutton. 
Sylvanus  Hewes,  Lyme. 
Harry  Hibbard,  Bath. 

1S49-50. 

James  Foss,  Stratham. 
Joseph  D.  Pindar,  Newmarket. 
Noyes  Poor,   Gofistown. 
Wm.  H.  Gage,  Boscawen. 
James  Drake,  Pittsfield. 
Jeremiah  Dame,  Farmington. 
Ralph  E.  Tenney,  Hollis. 
Frederick  Vose,  Walpole. 
Frederick  Boyden,  Hinsdale. 
Asa  Page,  Sutton. 
Sylvanus  Hewes,  Lyme. 
Harry  Hibbard,  Bath. 

1S50-51. 

Richard  Jenness,  Portsmouth. 
Chas.  Sanborn,  East  Kingston. 
Samuel  Marshall,  Derry. 
Joseph  Clough,  Loudon. 
S.  P.  Montgomery,   Straftbrd. 
Abel  Haley,   Tuttonborough. 
Daniel  Batchelder,  Wilton. 
Hiram  Monroe,   Hillsborough. 
James  Batchellor,    Marlborough. 
Daniel  N.  Adams,  Springfield. 
Abraham  P.  Hoit,  Bridgewater. 
William  Clark,  Campton. 


'  P'lected  bv  legislature. 


APPENDIX. 


723 


1851-52. 
Alfred  Hoit,'  Lee. 
John  S.  Wells,  Exeter. 
Peter  P.  Woodbury,  Bedford. 
John  S.  Shannon,  Gilmanton. 
Asa  Freeman,  Dover. 
Abel  Haley,  Tuftonborough. 
Albert  McKean,  Nashville. 
Jacob  Taylor,  Stoddard. 
James  Patcheller,  Marlborough. 
Daniel  N.  Adams,  Springfield. 
Abraham  Hoit,  Bridgewater. 
Joseph  Pitman,'  Bartlett. 

1S52-53. 
Alfred  Hoit,  Lee. 
John  S.  Wells,  Exeter. 
Peter  P.  Woodbury,  Bedford. 
John  P.  Shannon,  Gilmanton. 
Asa  Freeman,  Dover. 
Bradbury  C.  Tutlle,  Meredith. 
B.  B.  Whitemore,'  Nashua. 
Jacob  Tavlor,  Stoddard. 
Asahel  11.  Bennet,  Winchester. 

A.  B.  Williamson,    Claremont. 
Thomas  Merrill,  Enfield. 
James  M.  Rix,  Lancaster. 

1853-54- 
John  INL  Weare,  Seabrook. 
Josiah  Eastman,  Hampstead. 
Charles  Stark,  Manchester. 
Ebenezer  Symmes,  Hopkinton. 
I.  G.  Jordan,   Somersworth. 
Bradbury  C.  Tuttle,  Meredith. 

B.  B.  Whitemore,  Nashua. 
Leonard  Eaton,  Warner. 
A.  H.  Bennett,  Winchester. 
A.  B.  Williamson,  Claremont. 
Thomas  Merrill,  Enfield. 
James  M.  Rix,  Lancaster. 

1854-55- 
John  M-  Weare,  Seabrook. 
Josiah  C.  Eastman,  Hampstead. 
Nathan  Parker,  Bedford. 
Ebenezer  Symmes,  Concord. 
L  G.  Jordan,     Snmersworth. 
Obed  Hall,  Tamworth. 
Robert  B.  Cochran,'  N.  Boston. 
Leonard  Eaton,  Warner. 
William  Haile,  Hinsdale. 
Oliver  B.  Busvvell,   Grantham. 
J.  Everett  Sargent,  Wentworth. 
Jonas  D.  Sleeper,   Haverhill. 

1855-56. 
Marcellus  Bufford,  Portsmouth. 
Thomas  J.  Melvin,  Chester. 

1  Elected 


Nathan  Parker,  Manchester. 
William  P.  Rixford,  Concord. 
George  IVL  Herring,  Farmington. 
Lark  in  I).  Mason,'  Tamworth. 
Moody  Hobbs,   Pelham. 
George  ^\'.  Hammond,  Gilsum. 
Wm.  Haile,  Hinsdale. 
Nathan  Mudgett,  Newport. 
John  Clough,  Enfield. 
Jonas  D.  Sleeper,   Haverhill. 

1S56-57. 
Daniel  Marcy,  Portsmouth. 
Thomas  J.  Melvin,  Chester. 
Moody  Currier,  Manchester. 
Charles  Rowell,  Allenstown. 
George  M.  Herring,  Farmington. 
Obed  Hall,  Tamworth. 
Moody  Hobbs,  Pelham. 
Robert  B.  Cochran,  New  Boston. 
Geo.  W.  Hammond,  Gilsum. 
Nathan  Mudgett,  Newport. 
John  Clough,  Enfield. 
Wm.  Burns,  Lancaster. 

1S57-5S. 
Daniel  Marcy,  Portsmouth. 
John  Ordway,  Hampstead. 
Moody  Currier,  Manchester. 
Charles  Rowell,  Allenstown. 
M.  C.  Burleigh,  Somersworth. 
Robert  S.  Webster,  Barnstead. 
Aaron  W.  Sawyer,  Nashua. 
Daniel  Paige,  Weare. 
C.  F.  Brooks,  Westmoreland. 
John  P.  Chellis,  Plainfield. 
Austin  F.  Pike,  Franklin. 
Wm.  Burns,  Lancaster. 

1858-59- 
Samuel  P.  Dow,  Newmarket. 
John  Ordway,  Hampstead. 
John  M    Parker,  Goffstown. 
Joseph  A.  Gilmore,  Concord. 
M.  C.  Bm-leigh,  .Somersworth. 
Robert  S.  Webster,  Barnstead. 
Aaron  W.  Sawver,  Nashua. 
Daniel  Paige,  Weare. 
C.  F.  Brooks,  Westmoreland. 
John  P.  Chellis,  Plainfield. 
"Austin  F.  Pike,  Franklin. 
John  G.  Sinclair,  Bethlehem. 

1S59-60. 
John  S.  Bennett,  Newmarket. 
Joseph  Blake.  Raymond. 
John  M.  Parker,  Goffstown. 
Joseph  A.  Gilmore,  Concord. 

by  legislature. 


724 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


John  D.  Ljman,  Farmington. 
Saml.  Emmerson,  Moultonborough. 
Hosea  Eaton,  New  Ipswich. 
Walter  Harriman,  Warner. 
Thomas  Fisk,  Dublin. 
Jesse  Slader,  Acworth. 
George  S.  Towle,  Lebanon. 
John  G.  Sinclair,  Bethlehem. 

1 860-6 1. 
Clement  March,  Portsmouth. 
Joseph  Blake,  Raymond. 
Herman  Foster,  Manchester. 
David  Merrill,  Jr.,  Canterbury. 
John  D.  Lyman,  Farmington. 
Eli  Wentworth,  Milton. 
Hosea  Eaton,  New  Ipswich. 
Walter  Harriman,  Warner. 
Thomas  Fisk,  Dublin. 
Jesse  Slader,  Acworth. 
George  S.  Towle,  Lebanon. 
Wm.  A.  Burns,  Rumney. 

1 86 1 -62. 
W.  H.  Y.  Hackett,  Portsmouth. 
Wm.  C.  Patten,  Kingston. 
Herman  Foster,  Manchester. 
David  Morrill,  Ji-.,  Canterbury. 
Charles  A.  Tufis,  Dover. 
Eli  Wentworth,  Milton. 
I^eonard  Chase,  Milford. 
John  Burnham,  Hopkinton. 
John  J.  Allen,  Jr.,  Fitzwilliam. 
Lemuel  P.  Cooper,  Croydon. 
Cyrus  Adams,  Grafton. 
Wm.  A.  Burns,  Rumney. 

1862-63. 
W.  H.  Y.  Hackett,  Portsmouth. 
Wm.  C.  Patten,  Kingston. 
Isaac  W.  Smith,  Manchester. 
Onslow  Stearns,  Concord. 
Charles  A.  Tufts,  Dover. 
John  Wadleigh,  Meredith. 
Leonard  Chase,  Milford. 
John  Burnham,  Hopkinton. 
John  J.  Allen,  Jr.,  Fitzwilliam. 
Lemuel  P.  Cooper,  Croydon. 
Cyrus  Adams,  Grafton. 
Amos  W.  Drew,  Stewartstown. 

1863-64. 
Charles  W.  Hatch,  Greenland. 
Charles  H.  Bell,  Exeter. 
Isaac  W.  Smith,  Manchester. 
Onslow  Stearns,  Concord. 
C.  S.  Whitehouse,  Rochester. 
John  Wadleigh,  Meredith. 
Edward  P.  Emerson,  Nashua. 


Charles  J.  Smith,  Mont  Vernon. 
Milan  Harris,  Nelson. 
Amos  F.  Fiske,  Marlovv. 
Daniel  Blaisdell,  Hanover. 
Amos  W.  Drew,  Stewartstown. 

1864-65 
Charles  W.  Hatch,  Greenland. 
Charles  H.  Bell,  Exeter. 
Ezekiel  A.  Straw,  Manchester. 
Henry  L.  Burnham,  Dunbarton. 
C.  S.  Whitehouse,  Rochester. 
W.  H.  H.  Mason,  Moultonborough. 
Edward  P.  Emerson,  Nashua. 
Chas.  J.  Smith,  Mont  Vernon. 
Milan  Harris,  Nelson. 
Amos  F.  Fiske,  Marlow. 
Daniel  Blaisdell,  Hanover. 
George  A,  Bingham,  Littleton. 

1865-66. 
Darius  Frink,  Newington. 
Joseph  J.  Dearborn,  Deerfield. 
Ezekiel  A.  Straw,  Manchester. 
H.  L.  Burnham,  Dunbarton. 
G.    W.  Burleigh,  Somersworth. 
W.  H.  H.  Mason,  Moultonborough. 
Joseph  Newell,  Wilton. 
John  W.  Moi'se,  Bradford. 
Orrin  Perkins,   Winchester. 
John  M.  Glidden,  Charlestown. 
Daniel  Barnard,  Franklin. 
George  A.  Bingham,  Littleton. 

1866-67. 
Darius  Frink,  Newington. 
Joseph  J.  Dearborn,  Deerfield. 
Wm.  T.  Parker,  Merrimack. 
Henry  F.  Sanborn,  Epsom. 
G.  W.  Burleigh,  Somersworth. 
Orsino  A.  J.  Vaughan,  Laconia. 
Joseph  Newell,  Wilton. 
John  W.  Morse,  Bradford. 
Orrin  Perkins,  Winchester. 
John  M.  Glidden,  Charlestown. 
Daniel  Barnard,  Franklin. 
Thomas  J.  Smith,  Wentworth. 

1S67-68. 
Ezra  A.  Stevens,  Portsmouth. 
Isaiah  L.  Robinson,  Freemont. 
Wm.  T.  Parker,  Merrimack. 
Henry  F.  Sanborn,  Epsom. 
Alonzo  Nute,  Farmington. 
Orsino  A.  J.  Vaughan,  Laconia. 
Thomas  H.  Marshall.  Mason. 
John  M.  Hayes,  Salisbury. 
Benjamin  Read,  Swanzey. 
Levi  W.  Barton,  Newport. 


APPENDIX. 


725 


Henry  W.  Blair,  Plymouth. 
Thomas  J.  Smith,  Wentworth. 

1S6S-69. 
Ezra  A.  Stevens,  Portsmouth. 
Isaiah  L.  Robinson,  Freemont. 
Jos.  A.  Kennard,  Manchester. 
John  Y.  Mugridge,  Concord. 
Alonzo  Nute,  Farmington. 
Edwin  Pease,  Conway. 
Thomas  II.  Marshall,  Mason. 
John  M.  Hayes,  Salisbury. 
Benjamin  Read,  Swanzey. 
Levi  W.  Barton,  Newport. 
Henry  W.  Blair,  Plymouth. 
John  W.  Barney,  Lancaster. 

1S69-70. 
John  H.  Bailey,  Portsmouth. 
Nathaniel  Gordon,  Exeter. 
Jos.  A.  Kennard,  Manchester. 
John  Y.  Mugridge,  Concord. 
Geo.  C.  Peavey,  Straftbrd. 
Ezra  Gould,  Sandwich. 
Gilman  Scripture,  Nashua. 
Jonas  Livingston,  Peterborough. 
Ellery  Albee,  Winchester. 
Ira  Colby,  Jr.,  Claremont. 
Cyrus  Taylor,'  Bristol. 
John  W.  Barney,  Lancaster. 

1870-71. 
William  B.  Small,  Newmarket. 
Nathaniel  Gordon,  Exeter. 
George  Holbrook,  Manchester. 
Reuben  L.  French, ^  Pittsfield. 
George  C.  Peavey,  Straftbrd. 
William  N.  Blair,*  Laconia. 
Gilman  Scripture,  Nashua. 
A.  Whittemore,  Bennington. 
Ellery  Albee,  Winchester. 
Ira  Colby,  Jr.,*  Claremont. 
Cvrus  Taylor,  Bristol. 
Geo.  W.  M.  Pitman,  Bartlett. 

1871-72- 
Daniel  Marcy,-  Portsmouth. 
Matthew  H.  Taylor,  Salem. 
Geo.  Holbrook,  Manchester. 
Charles  T.  Cram.  Pittsfield. 
Joshua  G.  Hall,  Dover. 
John  C.  Moulton.  Laconia. 
Charles  H.  Campbell,  Nashua. 
George  Jones,  Warner. 
T.  A.  Barker,  Westmoreland. 
Alvah  Smith,-  Lempster. 
Lewis  W.  Fling,  Bristol. 
Geo.  W.  M.  Pitman,  Bartlett. 

I  Edwin  IJ.  Sanborn  elected  and  resigned 


iS72-73. 
Warren  Brown,  Hampton  Falls. 
Matthew  H.  Taylor,  Salem. 
Geo.  C.  Foster,  Bedford. 
David  A.  Warde,  Concord. 
Joshua  G.  Hall,  Do\er. 
John  C  Moulton,  Laconia. 
Charles  H.  Campbell,  Nashua. 
Geo.  Jones,  Warner. 
Tileston  A.  Barker,  Westmoreland. 
Henry  A.  Hitchcock,  Walpole. 
Lewis  W.  Fling,  Bristol. 
James  J.  Barrett,  Littleton. 

Warren  Brown,  Hampton  Falls. 
Charles  Sanborn,  Sandown. 
Geo.  Foster,  Bedford. 
David  A.  Warde,  Concord. 
Edwin  Wallace,  Rochester. 
Otis  G.  Hatch,  Tamworth. 
Charles  H.  Burns,  Wilton. 
William  H.  Gove,  Weare. 
Henrv  Abbott,  Winchester. 
Henry  A.  Hitchcock,  Walpole. 
Warren  F.  Daniell,  Franklin. 
Eleazer  B.  Parker,  Franconia. 

1S74-7.V 
Jeremiah  F.  Hall,  Portsmouth. 
James  Priest,'  Derry. 
G.  Bvron  Chandler,  Manchester. 
Geo.^E.  Todd,  Concord. 
Wm.  H.  Farrar,'  Somersworth. 
John  W.  Sanborn,  Wakefield. 
Thomas  P.  Pierce,'  Nashua. 
William  II.  Gove.'  Woare. 
Henrv  Abbott,  Winchester. 
Geo.Jl.  Stowell,  Claremont. 
Warren  F.  Daniell.  F'rankiin. 
Eleazer  B.  Parker,  Franconia. 

1S75-76. 

Jeremiah  F.  Hall,  Portsmouth. 
James  Priest,  Derry. 
Samuel  H.  Martin,  Manchester. 
John  Proctor.  Andoxer. 
Joshua  B.  Smith.  Durham. 
John  W.  Sanborn,  Wakefield. 
Charles  Holman,'  Nashua. 
Alonzo  F.  Carr,  Goffstown. 
Geo.  A.  Whitnev,  Rindge. 
Geo.  H.  Stowell",  Claremont.    . 
Joseph  D.  Weeks,  Canaan. 
Wayne  Cobleigh,  Northumberland. 

-  I'.lected  bv  legislature. 


•]26 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


1S76-77. 

Thomas  Leavitt,  Exeter. 
Natt  Head,  Hooksett. 
James  F.  Briggs,  Manchester. 
Geo.  E.  Todd,  Concord. 
Joshua  B.  Smith,  Durham. 
John  F.  Cloutman,  Farmington. 
Chas.  Holman,  Nashua. 
Alonzo  F.  Carr,  Goffstown. 
Royal  H.  Porter,  Keene. 
James  Burnap,  Marlow. 
James  \V.  Johnson,  Enfield. 
Wayne  Cobleigh,  Northumberland. 

1S77-7S. 

Marcellus  Eldridge,  Portsmouth. 
Jolin  W.  Wheeler,  Salem. 
Hiram  K.  Slavton,  Manchester. 
Natt  Head,  Hooksett. 
David  H.  Buffum,  Somersworth. 


John  E.  Cloutman,  Farmington. 
Harrison  Eaton,  Amherst. 
Oliver  H.  Noyes,  Henniker. 
Royal  H.  Porter,  Keene. 
James  Burnap,  Marlow. 
James  W.  Johnson,  Enfield. 
Wm.  H.  Cummings,  Lisbon. 

187S-79. 

Emmons  B.  Philbrick,  Rye. 
John  W.  Wheeler,  Salem. 
Hiram  K.  Slavton,  Manchester. 
Jacob  H.  Gallinger,  Concord. 
David  H.  Buft'um,  Somersworth. 
Thomas  Cogswell,  Gilmanton. 
John  A.  Spalding,  Nashua. 
Daniel  M.  White,  Peterborough. 
Charles  J.  Amidon,  Hinsdale. 
Albert  M.  Shaw,  Lebanon. 
Joseph  D.  Weeks,  Canaan. 
Wm.  H.  Cummings,  Lisbon. 


1S79-S1. 

1.  Coos.     Sherburne  R.  Merrill,  Colebrook. 

2.  Grafton.     Edward  F.  Mann,  Benton. 

3.  Lebanon.     Albert  M.  Shaw,  Lebanon. 

4.  Plymouth.     Hiram  Hodgdon,  Ashland. 

5.  Laconia.     Isaac  N.  Blodgett,  Franklin. 

6.  Winnipesaukee.     Dudley  C.  Coleman,  Brookfield. 

7.  Sullivan.     Albert  Pitts,  Charlestown. 

S.   Hillsborough.     Cornelius  Cooledge,  Hillsborough. 
9.   Merrimack.     Nehemiah  G.  Ordway,  Warner. 

10.  Concord.     Jacob  H.  Gallinger,  Concord. 

11.  Pittsfield.     Charles  F.  Cate,  Northwood. 

12.  Somersworth.     Luther  Hayes,  Milton. 

13.  Keene.     Edward  Gustine,  Keene. 

14.  Cheshire.     Charles  J.  Amidon,  Hinsdale. 

15.  Peterborough.     Charles  H.  Burns,  Wilton. 

16.  Amherst.     George  W.  Todd,  Mont  Vernon. 

17.  Nashua.     Orren  C.  Moore,  Nasiiua. 

18.  Manchester.     Elbridge  G.  Haynes,  Manchester. 

19.  Amoskeag.     William  G.  Perry,  Manchester. 

20.  Londonderry.     William  H.  Shepard,  Derry. 

21.  Rockingham.     Greanleaf  Clarke,  Atkinson. 

22.  Newmarket.     Emmons  G.  Philbrick,  Rye. 

23.  Dover.     Charles  E.  Smith,  Dover. 

24.  John  H.  Broughton,  Portsmouth. 


iSSi-83. 

1.  Sherburne  R.  Merrill,  Colebrook. 

2.  Edward  F.  Mann,  Benton. 

3.  Alfred  A.   Cox,  Enfield. 

4.  Joseph  M.  Clough,  New  London. 

5.  Richard  Gove,  Laconia. 

6.  Joseph  C.  Moore,  Lake  Village. 

7.  Geo.  IL  Fairbanks. 

8.  C.  Cooledge,   Hillsborough. 


9.  Grovener  A.  Curtice,  Hopkinton. 

10.  John  Kimball,  Concord. 

11.  Geo.  H.  Towle. 

12.  Chas.  W.  Talpey,  Farmington. 

13.  Edward  Gustine,  Keene. 

14.  Jolin  M.  Parker,  Fitzvvilliam. 

15.  G.  W.  Cummings,  Francestown. 

16.  Timothy  Keley,  Amherst. 
x-j.  Virgil  C.  Gilman,  Nashua. 
iS.  Geo.  B.  Gilmore,  Manchester. 


APPENDIX, 


19.  David  B.  Varney,  Manchester. 

20.  Silas  F.  Learned. 

21.  Amos  C.  Chise,  Kingston. 

22.  Samuel  A.  Haley,  Newmarket. 

23.  James  F.  Seavey,  Do\er. 

24.  Titus  S.  Tredick,  Portsmouth. 

1SS3-S5. 

1.  Irving  W.  Drew,  Lancaster. 

2.  Harrv  Bingham,  Littleton. 

3.  David  E.  iVillard,  Orford. 

4.  Bcnj.  F.  Perkins,  Bristol. 

5.  J.  NI.  Taylor,  Sanhornton. 

6.  Levi  K.  Haley,  Wolfeborough. 

7.  Chester  Pikt ,  Cornish. 

8.  Thomas  Dinsmoor.  Alstead. 

g.  Charles  H.  Amsden,  Penacook. 

10.  Henry  Robinson,  Concord. 

11.  Aaron  Whittemore,  Pittsfield. 

12.  Charles  W.  Folsom,  Rochester. 

13.  Geo.  K.  Harvey,  Surrev. 

14.  Geo.  G.  Davis,  Marlborough. 

15.  G.  W.  Cummings,   Francestown. 

16.  Geo.  A.  Wason,  New  Boston. 

17.  Amos  Webster,  Nashua. 

18.  Charles  H.  Bartlett.  Manchester. 

19.  Israel  Dow.  Manchester. 

20.  Benj.  R.  Wheeler.  Salem. 

21.  P^.  T.  French,  East  Kingston. 

22.  Lafayette  Hall,  Newmarket. 

23.  James  F.  Seavey,  Dover. 

24.  John  Laighton,  Portsmouth. 

1S85-87. 

1.  Henry  O.  Kent,  Lancaster. 

2.  Harr\'  Bingham,  Littleton. 

3.  Elias  H.  Chene\-,  Lebanon. 

4.  Manson  S.  Brown,  Plvmouth. 

5.  J.  F.  Taylor.  Tilton. 

6.  Asa  M.  Bi-ackett,  Wakefield. 

7.  Chester  Pike,  Cornish. 

8.  John  S.  Collins,  Gilsum. 


9.  Walters.  Davis,  Ilopkinton 

10.  Lyman  D.  Stevens,  Concord. 

11.  Jonathan   E.  Berry,  Barrington. 

12.  T.  Ci.  Jameson,  .Somersworth. 

13.  William  P.  Chamberlain,  Keene. 

14.  Murray  Davis.  Chesterfield. 
i,s.   Peter  H.  Clark,  New  Ipswich. 

16.  Wm.  H    W.  Hinds,  Milford. 

17.  Hiram  T.  Morrill,  Nashua. 
iS.   A.  P.  Olzendam.  Man  hester. 

19.  Edwin  II.  llobbs.  Manchester. 

20.  Jesse  Gault.  Hooksett. 

21.  Nathaniel  H.  Clarke,  Plaistow. 

22.  John  Hatch,  Greenland. 

23.  William   H.  Morton,  Rollinsford. 

24.  Moses  H.  Goodrich,  P'mouth. 

18S7-S9. 

1.  Samuel  E.  Paine,  Berlin. 

2.  Lycurgus  Pitman,  Conway. 

3.  Frank  D.  Currier,  Canaan. 

4.  J.  E.  French.  Moultonborough. 

5.  Robert  C.  Carr,  Andover. 

6.  Frank  M.  Rollins,  (iillord. 

7.  Dexter  Richards,  Newport. 

8.  Nathan  C.Jameson,  Antrim. 

9.  Edmund  E.  Truesdell,  Pembroke. 

10.  Enoch  Gerrish,  Concord. 

11.  Charles  S.  George,  Barnstead. 

12.  Charles  H.  Looney,  Milton. 

13.  Charles  H.  Hersey,  Keene. 

14.  Ezra  S.  .Stearns,  Rindge. 

15.  Franklin  Worcester.  Hollis. 

16.  Oliver  D.  Sawyer,  Weare. 

17.  Edward  O.  Blunt,  Nashua. 

18.  Geo.  S.  Eastman,  Manchester. 

19.  Henry  A.  Bailey,  Manchester. 

20.  L.  A.  Morri-on,  Windham. 

21.  Edward  II.  Gilman.  E.\eter. 

22.  David  Jenness.  Rye. 

23.  Benjamin  F.  Nealley.  Dover. 

24.  Francis  E.  Langdon,  P'mouth. 


SPEAKERS   OF   THE    HOUSE    SINCE   16S0. 


Richard  Waldron,  1684. 
John  Gilman,  1692. 
John  Pickering,  1693. 
Richard  Martin,  1696. 
Geo.  Jaffrey,  1696. 
John  Plaisted,  1696. 
John  Pickering.  1697. 
Geo.  Jaffrey,  1697. 
Samuel  Penhallow,  1099. 
Daniel  Tilton,  1702. 
Samuel  Penhallow.  1702. 
John  Pickering.  1702. 
John  Pinkerton,  1702. 


John  Pickering,  1703. 
Richard  Gerry,  1703. 
John  Pickering,  1704. 
T.  II.  Hanking,  1709. 
Richard  Gerrish,  1710. 
Thomas  Packer,  1719. 
Joshua  Pierce,  1724. 
Peter  Weare,  1725. 
John  Plaisted,  1727. 
Nath.  Weare,  1727. 
Andrew  Wiggin,  1728. 
Nath.  Noyes,  1744. 
Nathan  Rogers,  1745. 


728 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE, 


Ebenezer  Stevens,  1745. 
Meshech  Weare,  1752. 
Henry  Sherburne,  1752. 
Peter  Gilman,  1759. 
Henry  Sherburne.  1761. 
Peter  Gilman,  1766. 
John  Wentworth,  1771. 
Matthew  Thornton,  1776 
Phillips  White,  1776. 
John  Langdon,  1776. 
John  Dudley,  1782. 
George  Atkinson,  1784. 
John  Sullivan,  17S5. 
Thomas  Bartlett,  1789. 
Wm.  Plumer,  1791. 
Nathaniel  Peabody,  1793. 
John  Prentice,  1794- 
Russell  Freeman,  1795. 
Wm.  Plumer,  1797. 
John  Prentice,  1798. 
Samuel  Bell,  1805. 
Charles  Cutts,  1807. 
Geo.  B.  Upham,  1809. 
Charles  Cutts,  iSio. 
Clement  Storer,  181 1. 
Thomas  W.  Thompson,  1813. 
Geo.  B.  Upham,  iSiv 
David  L.  Morrii,  1S16. 
Henry  B.  Chase,  1817. 
Matthew  Harvey,  1818. 
Ichabod  Bartlett,  1821. 
Chas.  Woodman,  1822. 
Andrew  Pierce,  1823. 
Edmund  Parker,  1823. 
Levi  Woodbury,  1S25. 
Henry  Hubbard.  1825. 
James  Wilson,  Jr.,  182S. 


James  B.  Thornton,  1829. 
Samuel  C  Webster,  1830. 
Franklin  Pierce,  1831. 
C.  G.  Atherton,  1833. 
Ira  A.  Eastman,  1837. 
Moses  Norris,  Jr..  1S39. 
John  S.  WelU.  1841. 
Samuel  Swasey,  1842. 
Harry  Hibbard.  1S44. 
John  P.  Hale,  1846. 
Moses  Norris.  Jr  ,  1847. 
Sam.  H.  Ayer,  1848. 
N.  B.  Baker,  iS^o. 
G.  W.  Kittredge.  1852. 
J.  E.  Sargent,  1853. 
Francis  R.  Chase,  1854. 
John  J.  Prentiss.  1855. 
E.  H."  Rollins,  i8s6. 
N.  B.  Brvant.  1S5S. 
C.  H.  Be'll,  i860. 
E.  A.  Rollins.  1861. 
W.  E.  Chandler,  1863. 
A.  F.  Pike.  iS6v 
S.  G.  Griffin,  1867. 
S.  M.  Wheeler,  1869. 
Wm.  H.  Gove,  1871. 
Asa  Fowler,  1S72. 
James  W.  Emery,  1873. 
Albert  R.  Hatch,  1874. 
Chas.  P.  Sanborn,  1875. 
A.  A.  Woolson,  1877. 
Henrv  H.  Huse,  1879 
Chester  B.  Jordon.  1881. 
S.  C.  Eastman.  1883. 
E.  Aldrich.  iS8s. 
A.  Burleigh,  1887. 


CLERKS    OF  THE  SENATE. 


Ebenezer  Thompson,  1776. 
Joseph  Pearson,  1786. 
Nathaniel  Parker,  1803. 
John  A.  Harper.  1806. 
'Abiel  Foster,  1809. 
Henry  B.  Chase.  1810. 
Samuel  A.  Kimball.  1813. 
Levi   Woodbury,  1S16. 
Ichabod  Bartlett,  [817. 
Isaac  Hill,  1819. 
William  Claggett,  1820. 
Philip  Carrigain,  1821. 
Moses  Eastman,  1824. 
Isaac  Hill,  1825. 
Samuel  Dinsmoor,  Jr..  1826. 
W.  H.  Y.  Hackett,  1828. 
Samuel  Dinsmoor.  jr.,  1829. 
C.  G.  Atherton,  1831. 
Winthrop  A.  Marston,  1833. 


Asa  Fowler,  1835. 
Isaac  Folsom,  1841. 
Henry  E.  Baldwin,  1842. 
Moody  Currier..  1844. 
J.  A.  Richaidson,  1846. 
John  H.  George,  1S47. 
Francis  R.  Chase,  1S49. 
J.  H.  George,  1850. 
W.  L.  Foster.  1851. 
Geo.  C.  Williams,  1853. 
Geo.  S.  Barton,  1855. 
Calvin  May,  Jr.,  1857. 
Greanleaf  Cummings.  1859. 
William  A.  Preston,  1S61. 
C.  H.  Bartlett,  1863. 
Horace  S.  Cummings,  1865. 
Geo.  R.  Fowler,  1867. 
Tohn  W.  Currier,  i86q. 
William  M.  Chase,  1871. 


APPENDIX. 


729 


Luther  S.  Morrill,  1S72. 
Thomas  J.  Smith,  1874. 
Tjler  Westgate,  1S76. 
Calvin  Sanders,  1S7S. 

CLERKS 

Noah  Emery,  1776. 
John  Smith,  1781. 
John  Calfe,  1783. 
\Vm.  Pliimer,  1790. 
John  Calf.  1791. 
John  O.  Ballard,  1S09. 
Moses  L.  Neal   iSio. 
Henry  Hutchinson,  1S13. 
]\Ioses  L.  Neal,  1816. 
Samuel  D.  Bell,  1826. 
James  Clark,  1829. 
Charles  Lane,  1835- 
Jeremiah  Elkins,  1836. 
David  H.  Collins,  1S39. 
Harry  Hibbard,  1840. 
Albert  G.  Allen,  1842. 
Thomas  J.  Harris,  1S46. 
Lewis  Smith,  1847. 
Thomas  J.  Whipple,  1S-19. 
Ellery  A.  Hibbard,  1853. 


James  E.  Dodge,  1S79. 
Frank  D.  Currier,  1SS3. 
Ira  A.  Chase,  1SS7. 

OF    THE    HOUSE. 

John  II.  Goodale,  1S55. 
Henry  O.  Kent,  1857. 
Edward  Sawyer,  1S60. 
Samuel  D.  Lord,  1862. 
Benjamin  Gerrish,  Jr.,  1864. 
S.  D.  Lord,  1865. 
Charles  B.  Shackford,  1866. 
Wm.  R.  Patten,  1868. 
Josiah  H.  Benton,  Jr.,  1S70. 
James  R.  Jackson,  1871. 
Josiah  H.  Benton,  Jr.,  1872. 
Samuel  C.  Clark,  1873. 
Charles  H.  Smith,  1874. 
Samuel  C.  Clark,  1875. 
Charles  C.  Danrorth,'i876. 
Alpheus  W.  Baker,  1878. 
Chas.  G.  Emmons,  iSSi. 
E.  F.  Jones,  18S3. 
Geo.  A.  Dickey,  18S7. 


JUSTICES  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT  OF  THE  STATE. 

Richard  Mart\n,  C.  J.,  Portsmouth.  1693  to  1694. 

Robert  Wadleigh,  Exeter,  1693  to  1697. 

Joseph  Smith,  Hampton,  1693  to  1696. 

William  Partridge,  Portsmouth,  1693  to  1696. 

Nathaniel  Weare,  C.  J.,  Hampton,  1694  to  1696. 

Joseph  Smith,  C.  J.,  Hampton,  1696  to  1697. 

Kingsley  Hall,  Exeter,  1696  to  1697. 

Thomas  Packer,  Portsmouth,  1696  to  1697. 

Peter  Coffin,  C.  J.,  Dover,  1697  to  1698. 

John  Gerrish,  Dover,  1697  to  169S. 

Job  Alcock,  Portsmouth,  1697  to  1698. 

Joseph  Smith,  C.  J.,  Hampton,  1698  to  1699. 

Kingsley  Hall,  Exeter,  1698  to  1699. 

Shadrach  Walton,  Newcastle,  1698  to  1699. 

Richard  Hilton,  Newmarket,  1698  to  1699. 

John  Hinckes,  C.  J.,  Portsmouth,  1699  to  170S. 

John  Gerrish,  Dover,  1699  to  1714. 

Peter  Coffin,  Dover,  1699  to  1712. 

William  Vaughan,  C.  J.,  Portsmouth,  1708  to  1716. 

John  Plaisted,  Portsmouth,  1699  to  1719;    C.J.  171610  1717- 

Mark  Hunking,  Portsmouth,  1712  to  1729. 

Samuel  Penhallow,  Portsmouth,  1714  to  1717;  C  J.  1717  to  1726. 

George  Jaffrey,  Portsmouth,  1717  to  1726;    C.  J.  1726  to  1732,   1742  to  1749. 

Thomas  Packer,  Portsmouth,  1717  to  1724. 

Henry  Sherburne,  C  J.,  Portsmouth,  1732  to  1742. 

John  Frost,  Newcastle,  1724  to  1732. 

Nathaniel  Weare,  Hampton,  1730  to  173S. 

Peter  Weare,  Hampton  Falls,  1726  to  1730. 

Andrew  Wiggin,  Stratham,  1729  to  1732. 

Nicholas  Gilman,  Exeter,  1732  to  1740. 


730  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE, 

Benjamin  Gambling,  Portsmouth,  1733  to  1735. 

Ellis  Iluske,  Portsmouth,  1739  to  1749;  C  J.  1749  to  17^4. 

Joseph  Sherburne,  Portsmouth,  1739  to  1740. 

Samuel  Oilman,  Exeter,  1740  to  1747. 

Thomas  Millet,  Dover,  1740  to  1742. 

Jotham  OJiorne,  Newcastle,  1742  to  1747. 

Thomas  Wallingsford,  Somersworth,  1747  to  1771. 

Meshech  Weare,  Hampton  Falls,    747  to  1775. 

Joseph  Blanchard,  Dunstable,  1749  to  175S. 

Theodore  Atkinson.  C.  J.,  Newcastle,  1754  to  1775. 

Leverett  Hubbard,  Portsmouth,  1763  to  1775. 

William  Parker,  Portsmouth,  1771  to  1775. 

SUPERIOR  COURT  OF  JUDICATURE,   1776  to  1813. 

Meshech  Weare,  C.  J.,  Hampton  Falls,  Jan.  27,  1776,  to  June  19,  17S2. 

Leverett  Hubbard,  Portsmouth,  Jan.  27,  1776,  to  1785. 

Matthew  Thornton,  Londonderry,  Jan.  27,  1776,  to  1782. 

John  Wentworth,  Salmon  Falls,  Jan.  27,  1776,  to  May  14,  1781. 

Samuel  Livermore,  C.  J.,  Holderness,  June  21,  1782,  to  1790. 

Woodbury  Langdon,  Portsmouth,  June  22,  17S2,  to  1783;  1786  to  1791. 

Josiah  Bartlett,  Kingston,  17S2  to  1790;  C.J.Jan.  15,  1790,  to  June,  1790. 

William  Whipple,  Portsmouth,  June  20,  1783,  to  1785. 

John  Dudley,  Raymond,  Dec,  17S4,  to  Feb.  i,  1797. 

John  Pickering,  C.  J.,  Portsmouth,  July  7,  1790.  to  Feb.,  1795. 

Simeon  Olcott,  Charlestown,  Jan.  25,  1790,  to  1795;    C.  J.  1795,  to  1802. 

Timothy  Farrar,  New  Ipswich,  March  iS,  1791.  to  Jan.,  1S03. 

Ebenezer  Thompson,  Durham,  April  3,  1795.  to  1796. 

Daniel  Newcomb,  Keene,  April  6,  1796,  to  1798. 

Edward  St.  Loe  Livermore,  Portsmouth,  Feb.  6,  1797,  lo  1799. 

Paine  Wingate,  Stratham,  April  4,  179S,  to  1809. 

Jeremiah  Smith,  C.  J.,  Exeter,  May  17,  1802,  to  May,  1809. 

Arthur  Livermore,  Holderness,  Dec.  21,  1799,  to  1S09;  C.  J.,  1809,  to  June, 

1813. 
William  King  Atkinson,  Dover,  April  26,  1803.  to  1805. 
Richard  Evans,  Portsmouth,  June  5,  1809.  to  1813. 
Jonathan  Steele,  Durham,  Feb.  19,  1810.  to  1812. 
Clifton  Claggett,  Litchfield,  Aug.  10,  1812,  to  1813. 

SUPREME  JUDICIAL  COURT,   1813  to  1816. 

Jeremiah  Smith,  C.  J.,  Exeter,  J-ulv  12,  1813,  June,  1816. 
Caleb  Ellis,  Claremont,  July  12",  1813,  June,  1816. 
Arthur  Livermore,  Holderness,  July  12,  1813,  June,  1816. 

SUPREME  COURT  OF  JUDICATURE,   1816  to  1855. 

William  Merchant  Richardson,  C.  J.,  Chester,  1S16,  to  March  23,  183S. 

Samuel  Bell,  Chester,  July  5,  1816,"  to  June,  1819. 

Levi  Woodbury,  Francestown,  Dec.  9,  1816,  to  1823. 

Samuel  Green,  Concord,  June  26,  1819,  to  1S40. 

John  Harris,  Hopkinton,  Oct.  6,  1S23,  to  Jan.  5,  1S33. 

Joel  Parker,  Keene,  1S33  to  1838;  C.  J.  June  2^,  1838,  to  June  24,  1848. 

Nathaniel  Gookin  Upham,  Concord,  Jan.  8,  1833,  to  Dec.  i,  1842. 

Leonard  Wilcox,  Orford,  1838  to  1840;  June  26,  1848,  to  June  18,  1850. 

Johnjames  Gilchrist,  Charlestown,  1840  to  1848;  C  J.1848,  to  March  16,  1855. 

Andrew  Salter  Woods,  Bath,  1840  to  1S55;  C.  J.  1855,  to  Aug.  17,  1855. 


APPENDIX.  Jl. 

Ira  Allen  Eastman,  Gilmanton,  Aug.  31,  1S49,  ^o  Aug.  17,  1S55. 
Samuel  Dana  Bell,  Manchester,  Aug.  31,  1849,  ^°  A-ug.  17,  iSVs- 
Ira  Perley,  Concord,  June  28,  1850,  to  Oct.  i,  1852. 

SUPREME  JUDICIAL  COURT,   1855  t"  1S74. 

Ira  Perley,  Concord,  C.J.  1S55  to  1S59;  Aug.  i,  1S64,  to  Oct.  1,  1S64. 

Ira  Allen  Eastman,  Concord,  July  20,  1S55,  to  Dec.  i,  18^9. 

Asa  Fowler,  Concord,  July  20,  1S55,  to  Feb.  it,,  1S61. 

Geo.  Y.  Sawyer,  Nashua,  July  20,  1S55,  to  Nov.  i,  1859. 

Samuel  Dana  Bell,  Manchester,  1855  to  1859;  C.  J.  '1S59.  ^'^  Aug.  i.  1864. 

J.  Everett  Sargent,  Wentworth,  1S59  to  1873;  C.  J.  1S73,  to  Aug.  iS,  1S74. 

Henry  A.  Bellows,    Concord,  1859  ^^  1S69;  C.  J.  1869  to  1873. 

Charles  Doe,  RoUinsford,  Sept.  23,  1859. 

Geo.  W.  Nesmith,  Franklin,  Dec.  31,  1S59,  to  Oct.  31,  1870. 

William  H.  Bartlett,  Concord,  Feb.  23,  i'S6i.  to  Sept.  24,  1867. 

Jeremiah  Smith,  Dover,  Oct.  19,  1867,  to  Jan.  26,  1S74. 

William  L.  Foster,  Concord,  ()ct.  i.  1869. 

William  S.  Ladd,  Lancaster,  Oct.  31,  1870. 

Ellery  A.  Hibbard,  Laconia,  March  17,  1873,  July  22,  1874. 

Isaac  W.  Smith,  Manchester,  Feb.  10,  1874. 

SUPERIOR  COURT  OF  JUDICATURE,   1874  to  1S76. 

Edmund  L.  Cushing,  Charlestown,  C.  J.,  Aug.  iS,  1874,  to  July  22,  1876. 
William  S.  Ladd,  Lancaster,  Aug.  14,  1S74,  to  July  22,    1876. 
Isaac  W.  Smith,  Manchester,  Aug.  18,  1874,  to  July  22,  1S76. 

SUPREME  COURT,  1876. 

Charles  Doe,  RoUinsford,  C.  J.,  July  22,  1876. 

Clinton  W.  Stanley,  Manchester,  from  July  22,  1S76,  to  Dec.  i,  18S5. 

William  L.  Foster,  Concord,  July  22,  1876,  to  July  i,  1S81. 

Aaron  W.  Sawyer,  Nashua,  July  22,  1876,  to  June  18,  1S77. 

Geo.  A.  Bingham,  Littleton,  July  22,  1S76,  again  Dec,  1885. 

William  H.  II.  Allen,  Claremont,  July  22,   1876. 

Isaac  W.  Smith,  Manchester,  July  24,  1S77. 

Lewis  W.  Clark,  Manchester,  Aug.  13,  1877. 

Isaac  K.  Blodgett,  Franklin,  Nov.  30,  iSSo. 

Alonzo  P.  Carpenter,  Bath,  July  i,  1881. 

JUSTICES  OF  COURT  OF  COMMON  PLEAS. 
Eastern  Circuit,   1813  to  1S16. 
Timothy  Farrar,  New  Ipswich,  C.  J.,  July  13,  1813,  to  July,  1816. 
Oliver  Peabody,  Exeter,  July  13,  1813,  to  July,  1816. 
Samuel  Hale,  Barrington,  July  13,  1813,  to  July,  1816. 

Western  Circuit,   1S13  to   1816. 
William  H.  Woodward,  C.  J.,  Hanover,  July  13,  1813,  to  July,  1S16. 
Richard  C.  Everett,  Lancaster,  July  13,  1813,  to  July,  1816. 
Nahum  Parker,  Fitzwilliam,  July  13,  1S13,  to  July,  1816. 

First  District,   1816  to  1820. 
Daniel  M.  Durell,  C.  J.,  Dover,  July  5,  1816,  to  Dec,  1821. 

Second  District,   1816  to  1820. 
William  H.  Woodward,  C.  J.,  Hanover,  July  5,  1816,  to  June  30,  i8i8. 
Roger  Vose,  C  J.,  Walpole,  June  30,  1818,  to  Dec,  1820. 


71>^ 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


From  1825  to  1S32. 
Arthur  Livermore,  C.  J.,  Holderness,  Jan.  7,  1825,  to  December,  1S32. 
Timothy  Farrar,  Jr.,  Hanover,  Dec.  25,  1824,  to  Dec,  1832. 
Josiah  Butler,  Deerfield,  Jan.  7,  1825,  to  Dec,  1832. 

Circuit  Justices.' 
Charles  F.  Gove,  Nashua,  Jan.,  1843,  to  Dec,  1847. 
Noah  Tebbetts,  Rochester,  Jan.,  1843,  to  Dec,  1844. 
Ira  Allen  Eastman,  Gilmanion,  Sept.  26,  1844,  to  1849. 
Leonard  Wilcox,  Orford,  Dec,  1847,  to  1848. 
Samuel  Dana  Bell,  Manchester,  June  26,  1S48,  to  1S49. 

Circuit  Justices,   1851   to  1855. 
Geo.  Y.  Sawyer,  Nashua,  Sept.  15,  1851,  to  Aug.,  1854. 
Charles  R.  Morrison,  Haverhill,  Sept.  15,  1851,  to  August  18,1855. 
Josiah  Minot,  Concord,  Sept.  18,  1S52,  to  March  26,  1855. 
Charles  W.  Woodman,  Dover,  Aug.  26,  1854,  to  Aug.  18,  1S55. 
Edward  L.  Gushing,  Charlestown,  March  3,  1855,  to  Aug.  18,  1855. 

From  1855  to  1859. 
Jonathan  Kittredge,  C.  J.,  Canaan,  Aug.  18,  1855,  to  August  i,  1S59. 
J.  Everett  Sargent,  Wentworth,  Aug.  18,  1855,  to  Aug.  i,  1859. 
Henry  F.  French,  Exeter,  Aug.  18,  1855,  to  Aug.  i,  1859. 

Circuit  Court,   1S74  to  1876. 
William  L.  Foster,  Concord,  C.  J.,  Aug.  14,  1874. 
Edward  D.  Rand,  Lisbon,  Aug.  18,  1874,  to  July  22,  1876. 
Clinton  W.  Stanley,  Manchester,  Sept.  10,  1S74. 

ATTORNEY  GENERALS. 


Edward  Randolph,  16S3. 
Joseph  Ryan,  1684. 
James  Graham,  1687. 
John  Pickering,  1697. 

Matthew  Livermore,  1736. 
Wyseman  Claggett,  1765. 
Samuel  Livermore,  1769. 
Wyseman  Claggett,  1776. 
Samuel  Livermore,  1778. 
John  Sullivan,  1782. 
John  Pickering,  1786. 
Benjamin  West,  1786. 
John  Prentice,  1787. 
Joshua  Atherton,  1793. 


William  L.  Foster,  1850. 
George  G.  Fogg,  185  c. 
William  E.  Chandler,  1859. 
Amos  Hadley,  1865. 


William  Gordon,  1801. 
Jeremiah  Mason,  1802. 
George  Sullivan,  1805. 
Samuel  Bell,  1806. 
William  K.  Atkinson.  1807. 
Daniel  French,  1812. 
George  Sullivan,  1815. 
Chas.  F.  Gove,  1S35. 
Lyman  B.  Walker,  1843. 
John  Sullivan,  1848. 
William  C.  Clarke,  1863. 
Lewis  W.  Clark,  1868. 
Mason  W.  Tappan,  1872. 
Daniel  Barnard,  1886. 

LAW  REPORTERS. 

John  M.  Shirlev,  1871. 
Daniel  Hall,  1876. 
Edward  A.  Jenks,  1877. 
William  S.  Ladd,  1S80. 

SENATORS  TO  CONGRESS. 
Paine  Wingate,  Stratham,  Mar.,  1789,  Mar.,  1793. 
John  Langdon,  Portsmouth,  Mar.,  1789,  Mar.,  1795. 
Samuel  Livermore,  Holderness,  Mar.,  1793,  Mar.,  1799. 
John  Langdon,  Portsmouth,  Mar.,  1795,  Mar.,  1801. 
Samuel  Livermore,  Holderness.  Mar.,  1799.  June,  1801. 
Simeon  Olcott,  Charlestown,  June,  1801,  Mar.,  1S05. 


APPENDIX.  733 

James  Sheafe,  Portsmouth,  June,  iSoi,  June,  1802. 
William  Plumer,  Epping,  June  2,  iSoi,  Mar.,  1S07. 
Nicholas  Oilman,  Exeter,  Mar.,  1S05,  Mar.,  iSii. 
Nahum  Parker,  Fitzvvilliam,  Mar.,  1807,  June,  iSio. 
Charles  Cutts,  Portsmouth,  June,  1810,  June,  1S13. 
Nicholas  Oilman,  Exeter,  Mar.,  181 1,  May,  1814. 
Thos.  W.  Thompson,  Concord,  June,  1814,  Mar.,  1817. 
Jeremiah  Mason,  Portsmouth,  June,  1813,  June,  1817. 
Clement  Storer,  Portsmouth,  June,  1817,  Mar.,  1819. 
David  L.  Morril,  Ooffstown,  Mar.,  1817,  Mar.,  1823. 
John  F.  Parrott,  Portsmouth,  Mar.,  1819,  Mar.,  1825. 
Samuel  Bell,  Chester,  Mar.,  1823,  Mar.,  1829. 
Levi  Woodbury,  Portsmouth,  Mar.,  1825,  Mar.,  1831. 
Samuel  Bell,  Chester,  Mar.,  1829,  Mar.,  1835. 
Isaac  Hill,  Concord,  Mar.,  1831,  June,  1836. 
John  Page,  Haverhill,  June,  1S36,  Mar.,  1837. 
Henry  Hubbard,  Chaflestown,  Mar.,  1S35,  Mar.,  1841. 
Franklin  Pierce,  Hillsborough,  Mar.,  1S37,  Mar.,  1842. 
Leonard  Wilcox,  Orford,  Mar.,  1S42,  Mar.,  1843. 
Levi  Woodbury,  Portsmouth,  Mar.,  i84i,Nov.,  1845. 
Benning  W.  Jenness,  Strafford,  Nov.,  1845,  June,  1846. 
Joseph  Cilley,  Nottingham,  June,  1846,  Mar.,  1847. 
Chas.  G.  Atherton,  Nashua,  Mar.,  1843,  Mar.,  1849. 
John  P.  Hale,  Dover,  Mar.,  1847,  Mar.,  1853. 
Moses  Norris,  Manchester,  Mar.,  1849,  Jan.,  1855. 
John  S.  Wells,  Exeter,  Jan.,  1851;,  Mar.,  1855. 
Chas.  G.  Atherton,  Nashua,  Mar.,  1853,  Nov.,  1853. 
Jared  W.  Williams,  Lancaster,  Nov.,  1S53,  July,  1855. 
John  P.  Hale,  Dover,  July,  1855,  Mar.,  1859. 
James  Bell,  Laconia,  Mar.,  1855,  May,  1857. 
Daniel  Clark,  Manchester,  June,  1857,  Mar.,  i86i. 
John  P.  Hale,  Dover,  Mar.,  1859,  Mar.,  1865. 
Daniel  Clark,  Manchester,  Mar.,  1861,  Aug.,  1866. 
Oeo.  G.  Fogg,  Concord,  Aug.,  1866,  Mar.,  1867. 
Aaron  H.  Cragin,  Lebanon,  Mar.,  1S65,  Mar.,  1871. 
James  W.  Patterson,  Hanover,  Mar.,  1867,  Mar.,  1873. 
Aaron  H.  Cragin,  Lebanon,  Mar.,  1S71,  Mar.,  1877. 
Bainbridge  Wadleigh,  Milford,  Mar.,  1873,  Mar.,  1879. 
Edvk^ard  H.  Rollins,  Concord,  Mar.,  1877,  Mar.,  1883 
Charles  H.  Bell,  Exeter,  Mar.,  1879,  June,  ^^79- 
Henry  W.  Blair,  Plymouth,  June,  1S79,  Mar.,  1885. 
Austin  F.  Pike,  Franklin,  June,  1883,  to  18S6. 
Person  C.  Cheney,  Manchester,  1SS6  to  June,  1887. 
William  E.  Chandler,  Concord,  June,  1SS7,  to  Mar.,  1889. 
Henry  W.  Blair,  Mar.,  1885,  to  June,  1885. 
Henry  W.  Blair,  June,  1SS5,  to  Mar.,  1891. 

MEMBERS   OF  CONGRESS   FROM    1774   TO  1789. 

Josiah  Bartlett.  Pierce  Long.        / 

Jonathan  Blanchard.  John  Langdon. 

Nathaniel  Folsom.  Nathaniel  Peabody. 

George  Frost.  John  Sullivan. 

Abiel  Foster.  Matthevir  Thornton. 

John  Taylor  Oilman.  William  Whipple. 

Nicholas  Oilman.  John  Wentworth. 

Woodbury  Langdon.  Philip  White. 

Samuel  Livermore.  Paine  Wingate. 


734 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


REPRESENTATIVES   TO 

1ST   Congress. 
Nicholas  Gilman,  Exeter,  Merchant. 
Samuel  Livermore,  Holderness,  Law- 
yer. 
Abiel    Foster,    Canterbury,    Clergy- 
man. 

2ND  Congress. 
Nicholas  Gilman,  Exeter,  Merchant. 
Samuel  Livermore,  Holderness. 
Jeremiah  Smith,  Peterboro',  Lawyer. 

3RD  Congress. 
John      S.     Sherburne,     Portsmouth, 

Lawyer. 
Nicholas  Gilman,  Exeter,  Merchant. 
Paine    Wingate,    Stratham,    Clergy- 
man. 
Jeremiah  Smith,  Peterboro',  Lawyer. 

4TH   Congress. 
John  S.  Sherburne,  Portsmouth. 
Nicholas  Gilman,  Exeter,  Merchant. 
Abiel  Foster,  Canterbury,  Clergyman. 
Jeremiah  Smith,  Peterboro',  Lawyer. 

5TH  Congress. 
Abiel  Foster,  Canterbury,  Clergyman. 
William  Gordon,  Amherst,  Lawyer. 
Jeremiah  Smith,  Peterboro',        " 
Peleg  Sprague,  Keene,  " 

Jonathan  Freeman,  Hanover,  Farmer. 

6th  Congress,  1799. 
Peleg  Sprague,  Keene,  Lawyer. 
James  Sheate,  Portsmouth,  Merchant. 
William  Gordon,  Amherst,  Lawyer. 
Samuel  Tenney,  Exeter,  Physician. 
Abiel  Foster,  Canterbury,  Clergyman. 
Jonathan  Freeman,  Hanover,  Farmer. 

7TH  Congress,  1801. 
Samuel  Tenney,  Exeter,  Physician. 
Abiel  Foster,  Canterbury. 
Joseph  Pierce,  Alton,  Farmer. 
Samuel  Hunt,  Charlestown,'  Lawyer. 
Geo.  B.  Upham,  Claremont,        " 

8th  Congress,  1803. 
Samuel  Tenney,  Exeter,  Physician. 
Silas  Betton,  Salem,  Lawyer. 
Clifton  Claggett,  Litciifield,  Lawyer. 
Samuel  Hunt,  Charlestown,        " 
David  Hough,  Lebanon,  " 

9TH  Congress,  1805. 
Samuel  Tenney,  Exeter,  Physician. 
Silas  Betton,  Salem,  Lawyer. 
Thomas    W.    Thompson,     Concord, 

Lawyer. 
Caleb  Ellis,  Claremont,  Lawyer. 
David  Hough,  Lebanon,  Lawyer. 


CONGRESS,   FROM    1789. 

>       lOTH  Congress,  1807. 

Daniel  M.  Durell,  Dover,  Lawyer. 

Clement    Storer,    Portsmouth,   Mer- 
chant. 

Jedediah  K.  Smith,  Amherst,  Lawyer. 

Francis  Gardner,  Walpole,  " 

Peter  Carleton,  Landaff,  Farmer. 
iiTH  Congress,  1809. 

Nathaniel    H.     Haven,    Portsmouth, 
Merchant. 

William  Hale,  Dover,  Merchant. 

James  Wilson,  Peterboro',  Lawyer. 

John  C.   Chamberlain,  Charlestown, 
Lawyer. 

Daniel  Blaisdell,  Canaan,  Farmer. 
I2TH  Congress,  1811. 

Geo.  Sullivan,  Exeter,  Lawyer. 

Josiah  Bartlett,  Stratham,  Physician- 

John  A.  Harper,  Meredith,  Lawyer. 

Samuel  Dinsmoor,  Keene,         " 

Obed  Hall,  Bartlett,  Farmer. 
13TH  Congress,  1813. 

Daniel  Webster,Portsmouth,  Lawyer. 

Bradbury  Cilley,Nottingham, Farmer. 

William  Hale,  Dover,  Merchant. 

Samuel  Smith, ^Peterboro',  Merchant. 

Roger  Vose,  Walpole,  Lawyer. 

Jeduthun  Wilcox,  Orford,  " 

14TH  Congress,   1815. 

Daniel  Webster,  Portsmouth, Lawyer 

Bradbury   Cilley,    Nottingham,  Far- 
mer. 

Chas.  H.  Atherton,  Amherst,  Lawyer. 

Roger  Vose,  Walpole,  " 

Jeduthun  Wilcox,  Orford,  " 

15TH  Congress,  1817. 

John    F.    Parrott,    Portsmouth,   Mer- 
chant. 

Josiah  Butler,  Deerfield,  Lawyer. 

Nathaniel    Upham,    Rochester,  Mer- 
chant, 

Clifton  Claggett,  Litchfield,  Lawyer. 

Salma  Hale,  Keene,  " 

Arthur  Livermore,  Holderness,  '• 
i6th  Congress,  1819. 

Josiah  Butler,  Deerfield,  Lawyer. 

N.  Upham,  Rochester,  Merchant. 

Clifton  Claggett.  Litchfield,  LaAvyer. 

William  Plumer,  Jr.,  Epping,      " 

Joseph  Buffum,  Jr.,  Keene,  " 

Arthur  Livermore,  Holderness," 
17TH  Congress,  1S21. 

Josiah    Butler,    Deerfield,    Lawyer. 

William  Plumer,  Jr.,  Epping,      " 

N.  Upham,  Rochester,  Merchant. 


APPExXDIX. 


735 


Matthew  Harvey, Hopkinton, Lawyer. 

Aaron  Matson,  Stoddard,  Farmer. 

Thomas    Whipple,   Jr.,    Wentworth, 
Physician. 

iSth  Congress,  1S23. 

Ichabod  Bartlett,  Portsmouth,  Law- 
yer. 

William  Plumer,  Jr.,  Epping,  Lawyer. 

Matthew  Harvey. 

Aaron  Matson. 

Arthur  Livermore. 

Thomas  Whipple,  Jr. 

19TH  Congress,   1S25. 

I.  Bartlett,  Portsmouth,  Lawyer. 

Nehemiah      Eastman,     Farmington, 
Lawyer. 

Jonathan  Harvey,  Sutton,  Farmer. 

Titus  Brown,  Francestown,   Lawyer. 

Thomas    Whipple,  Jr.,    Wentworth, 
Physician. 

Joseph  Healey,  Washington,  P'armer. 
20TH  Congress,   1S27. 

I.  Bartlett,  Portsmouth,  Lawyer. 

David  Barker,  Jr.,  Rochester,  •' 

Jonathan  Harve3r,  Sutton,  Farmer. 

Titus  Brown,  Francestown,  Lawyer. 

Joseph  Healey,  Washington,  Farmer. 

Thomas  Whipple,  Jr.,  Wentworth. 
21ST  Congress,  1829. 

John  Broadhead,  Newmarket,  Clergy- 
man. 

Joseph  Hammons,  Farmington,  Phy- 
sician. 

Jonathan  Harvey,  Sutton,  Farmer. 

Thomas  Chandler,  Bedford,  Farmer. 

Henry  Hubbard,  Charlestown,  Law- 
yer. 

John  W.  Weeks,  Lancaster,  Farmer. 
22XD  Congress,  1S31. 

John    Broadhead,  Newmarket,    Cler- 
gyman. 

Joseph  Hammons,  Farmington,  Phy- 
sician. 

Joseph  M.   Harper,  Canterbury,  Far- 
mer. 

Thomas  Chandler,  Bedford,  Farmer. 

Henry  Hubbard,   Charlestown,  Law- 
yer. 

John  W.  Weeks,  Lancaster,  Farmer. 
23RD  Congress,  1S33. 

Benning    M.     Bean,     Moultonboro', 
Farmer. 

Joseph  M.  Harper,  Canterbury',   P"ar- 
mer. 

Franklin  Pierce,  Hillsboro',  Lawyer. 

Henry  Hubbard.  Charlestown,      " 

Robert  Burns,  Plymouth,  Physician. 


24TII    Congress,   1835. 

Samuel  Cushman,  Portsmouth,  Law- 
yer. 

B.  W.  Bean,  Moultonboro',  Farmer. 
F.  Pierce,  Hillsboro',  Lawyer. 
Joseph  Weeks,  Richmond,  Farmer. 
Robert  Burns,  Plymouth,  Physician. 

25TH  Congress,   1837. 

Samuel  Cushman,  Portsmouth,  Law- 
yer. 

James  Farrington,  Rochester,  Phy- 
sician. 

Chas.  G.  Atherton,  Nashua,  Lawyer. 

Joseph  Weeks.  Richmond,  Farmer. 

Jared  W.  Williams,  Lancaster,  Law- 
yer. 

26TH  Congress,  1839. 
Tristram  Shaw,  Exeter,  Farmer. 
Ira  A.  Eastman,  Gilnianton,  Lawver. 
Chas.  G.  Atherton,  Nashua,  Lawyer. 
Edmund  Burke,  Newport,  " 

J.  W.  Williams,  Lancaster,  " 

27TH  Congress,   1S41. 
Tristram  Shaw,  Exeter,  Farmer. 
Ira  A.  Eastman,  Gilinanton,  Lawver. 

C.  G.  Atherton,  Nashua,  Lawyer" 
E.  Burke,  Newport,  Lawyer. 

John  R.  Reding,  Haverhill,  Printer. 

28TH  Congress,   1S43. 
John  P.  Hale,  Dover,  Lawver. 
Moses  Morris,  Jr.,  Pittsfield,  Lawyer. 
Edmund  Burke,  Newport,  Lawver. 
J.  R.  Reding,  Haverhill,  Printer. 

29TH  Congress,   1845. 
Moses  Norris,  Jr.,  Pittsfield,  Lawyer. 
Mace  Moulton,  Manchester.  Sheriff. 
James  H.  Johnson,  Bath,  Merchant. 

30TH  Congress,  1S47. 
Amos  Tuck,  Exeter,  Lawver. 
Chas.   H.  Peaslee,  Concord,  Lawyer. 
James  Wilson,  Keene,  Lawyer. 
James  H.  Johnson,  Bath,  Merchant. 

31ST  Congress,  1849. 
Amos   Tuck,    Exeter,    Lawyer. 
C.  H.  Peaslee,  Concord,     '• 
J.  Wilson,  Keene,  " 

G.  W.  Morrison,  Manchester,  Lawver. 
Harry  Hibbard,  Bath,  Lawyer. 
32ND  Congress,   1851. 
Amos  Tuck,  Exeter,  Lawyer. 
C.  H.  Peaslee,  Concord,  " 
J.  Perkins,  Winchester,  Clergyman. 
Harry  Hibbard,  Bath,  Lawyer. 

33RD  Congress,  1S53. 
Geo.  W.  Kittredge,  Newmarket,  Phy- 
sician. 


736 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


Geo.  W.  Morrison,  Manchester,  Law- 
yer. 
Harry  Hibbard,  Bath,  Lawyer. 

34TH  Congress,   1855. 
James  Pike,  Newmarket,  Clergj'man. 
Mason  W.  Tappan,  Bradford,  Lawyer. 
Aaron  H.  Cragin,  Lebanon,         " 

35TH  Congress,  1857. 
J.  Pike,  Newmarket,  Clergyman. 
M.  W.  Tappan,  Bradford,  Lawyer. 
A.     H.  ragin,  Lebanon,  " 

36TH  Congress,   1859. 
Oilman  Marston,  Exeter,  Lawyer. 
M.  W.  Tappan,  Bradford, 
Thos.  M.  Edwards,  Keene,     " 

37TH  Congress,   1861. 
G.  Marston,  Exeter,  Lawyer. 
E.  H.  Rollins,  Concord,  "Merchant. 
T.  M.  Edwards,  Keene,  Lawyer. 

38TH  Congress,   1S63. 
Daniel  Marcy, Portsmouth,  Merchant 
E.  H.  Rollins,  Concord,  " 

J.  W.  Patterson,  Hanover,  Instructor. 

39TH  Congress,   1S65. 
Gilman  Marston,  Exeter,  Lawyer. 
E.  H.  Rollins,  Concord,  Merchant. 
J.  W.  Patterson,  Hanover,  Instructor. 

40TH  Congress,  1S67. 
Jacob  H.  Ela,  Rochester,  Lawyer. 
Aaron  F.  Stevens,  Nashua,      " 
Jacob  Benton,  Lancaster,         " 

41ST  Congress,  1869. 
J.  H.  Ela,  Rochester,  Lawyer. 
A.  F.  Stevens,  Nashua,     " 
J.  Benton,  Lancaster,         " 


42ND  Congress,  1871. 
EUery  A.  Hibbard,  Laconia,  Lawyer. 
Samuel  N.  Bell,  Manchester,        '■ 
HoseaW.  Parker,  Claremont,       " 

43RD  Congress,  1873. 
Wm.   P.    Small,  Newmarket,  Lawyer. 
Austin  F.  Pike,  Franklin,  Lawyer. 
H.  W.  Parker,  Claremont,       " 

44TH  Congress,   1875. 
Frank  Jones,  Portsmouth,  Merchant. 
Samuel  N.  Bell,  Manchester,  Lawyer. 
Henry  W.  Blair,  Plymouth,  Lawyer. 

45TH  Congress,   1877. 
Frank  Jones,  Portsmouth,  Alerchant. 
J.  F.  Briggs,  Manchester,  Lawyer. 
H.  W.  Blair,  Plymouth,  Lawyer. 

46TH  Congress,  1879. 
Joshua  G.  Hall,  Dover,  Lawyer. 
J.  F.  Briggs,  Manchester,     " 
E.  W.  Farr,  Littleton, 
Ossian  Ray,  Lancaster,         " 

47TH  Congress,   1881. 
J.  G.  Hall,  Dover,  Lawyer. 
J.  F.  Briggs,  Manchester,  Lawyer. 
Ossian  Ray,  Lancaster,  Lawyer. 

48TH  Congress,   1883. 
M.  A.  Haynes,  Lake  Village,  Editor. 
Ossian  Ray,  Lancaster,  Lawyer. 

49TH  Congress,  1885. 
M.  A.  Haynes,  Lake  Village,  Editor. 
J.  H.  Gallinger,  Concord,  Physician. 

50TH  Congress,  1887. 
L.  F.  McKinney,  Manchester,  Clergy- 
man. 
J.  H.  Gallinger,  Concord,  Physician 


TOWNS  IN  NEW  HAMPSHIRE,  AND  DATE  OF  INCORPORATION. 

Rockingham  County. 
Portsmouth  and  Exeter,  shire  towns.     Record  rolls  are  kept  at  Exeter. 
Atkinson,  formerly  of  Haverhill,  and  later  of  Plaistow,  was  incorporated  Sept. 

3,  1767.     The  territory  was  granted  by  the  Indians  Nov.  15,  1642. 
Auburn,  that  part  of  Chester   called   Long  Meadow,  incorporated  June  23, 

1845. 
Brentwood,  formerly  part  of  Exeter,  incorporated  June  26,  1742. 
Candia,  that  part  of  Chester  called  Charming  Fare,  incorporated  Dec.   17, 

1763- 
Chester,  once  called  Cheshire,  included  Auburn,  Candia,  Raymond,  and  part  of 

Hooksett  and  Manchester,  incorporated  May  S,  1722. 
Danville,  part  of  Kingston,  incorporated  by  the  name  of   Hawke,  Feb.   22, 

1760.     Name  changed  to  Danville  in  1836. 
Deerfield,  formerly  part  of  Nottingham,  incorporated  January  8,  1766. 
Derry,  formerly  part  of  Londonderry,  incorporated  July  2,  1S27. 
East  Kingston,  formerly  part  of  Kingston,  incorporated  Nov.  17,  1738. 
Epping,  formerly  part  of  Exeter,  incorporated  Feb.  23,  1741. 
Exeter,  settled  April  3,  1638.     It  comprised  the  territory  now  known  as  Exeter, 

Epping,  Newmarket,  So.  Newmarket,  Brentwood,  Fremont,  and  Stratham. 


APPENDIX.  "Jiy 

Fremont,  formed  from  Brentwood,  originally  a  part  of  Exeter,  incorporated 

June  22,  1764,  by  name  of  Poplin.     Mame  changed  July  S,  1854. 
Greenland,  incorporated  1703. 
Hampstead,  once  a  part  of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  and  Kingston,  incorporated  Jan. 

19,  1749. 
Hampton,  incorporated  May  22,  1639,  included  Hampton  Falls,  Kensington, 

North  Hampton,  South  Hampton,  and  Seabrook. 
Hampton  Falls,  once  a  part  of  Hampton,  incorporated  171 2. 
Kensington,  part  of  Hampton  Falls   and  earlier  of    Hampton,  incorporated 

April  I,  1737. 
Kingston,  incorporated  August  6,  1694,  included   territory  of  East  Kingston, 

Danville,  Sandown,  and  part  of  Hampstead. 
Londonderry,  once   called    Nuttield,  incorporated   June  21,   1722,   comprised 

Windham,  Derry,  and  part  of  Manchester. 
Newcastle,  part  of  Portsmouth  called  Great  Island,  incorporated  1693. 
Newington,  part  of  Dover  called  Bloody  Point  and  part  of  Portsmouth,  incor- 
porated July,  1764. 
Newmarket,  formed  from  Exeter,  incorporated  Dec.  17,  1727. 
Newton,  incorporated  Dec.  6,  1749- 

North  Hampton,  formerl}'  part  of  Hampton,  incorporated  Nov.  30,  1742. 
North  wood,  part  of  Nottingham,  incorporated  Feb.  6,  1773. 
Nottingham,  incorporated  ^lay  lo,  1722,  included  Deerfield  and  Northwood. 
Plaistow,  originally  part  of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  included  Atkinson,  incorporated 

Feb.  28,  1749. 
Portsmouth,  originally  called  Strawberry  Bank,  incorporated  as  a  town  1753, 

May  28,  included  Newington,  Greenland,  Newcastle,  and  Rye.     Adopted  a 

city  charter  1S49. 
Raymond,  that  part  of  Chester  called  Freetown,  incorporated  May  9,  1764. 
Rye,  part  of  Portsmouth  called  Sandy  Beach,  incorporated  April  20,   1726. 

Gosport  added  in  1S76. 
Salem,  originally  a  part  of  Methuen,  Mass.,  incorporated  May  11,  1750. 
Sandown,  part  of  Kingston,  incorporated  April  6,  1756. 
Seabrook,  part  of  Hampton  Falls  and  earlier  of  Hampton,  incorporated  June 

3,  1768. 
South  Hampton,  formed  ot  parts  of  Hampton  and    Kingston,  incorporated 

May  25,  1742. 
South  Newmarket,  part  of  Newmarket  and  earlier  of  Exeter,  incorporated  June 

27,  1849. 
Stratham,  originally  called  Winnicott,  part  of  Squamscott  Patent,  afterwards 

part  of  Exeter,  incorporated  March  14,  1816. 
Windham,  originally  part  of  Londonderry,  incorporated  Feb.  12,  1742. 

STR.A.FFORD    CoUXTY. 

Dover,  shire  town. 

Barrington,  including  Strafford,  incorporated  May  10,  1722. 

Dover,  originallv  included  Durham,  Lee,  Madbury,  part  of  Newington,  Roll- 

insford,  and  Somersworth,  once  called  Northam,  and  Cocheco,  was  incor- 

poratsd  Oct.  22,  1641  ;   adopted  city  charter,  Sept.  i,  1S55. 
Durham,  once  called  Oyster  River,  included  Lee,  and  was  incorporated  a  parish 

in  Maj',  1765,  and  a  town  May  15,  1732. 
Farmington.  part  of  Rochester,  incorporated  Dec.  i,  179S. 
Lee,  part  of  Durham,  and  earlier  of  Dover,  incorporated  Jan.  16,  1766. 
Madbury,  part  of  Dover,  incorporated  May  31,  1775. 
Middleton  included  Brookfield,  and  was  incorporated  March  4,  1778. 
Milton,  part  of  Rochester,  was  incorporated  June  11,  1S02 
New  Durham  was  incorporated  Dec.  7>  1762. 

Rochester,  including  Farmington  and  Milton,  was  incorporated  May  10,  1722. 
Rollinsford,  a  part  of  Dover,  and  later  of  Somersworth,  was  incorporated  July 

3'  1849- 


738  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 

Somersworth,  originally  part  of  Dover,  was  incorporated  April  22,  1754. 
Strafford,  part  of  Barrington,  was  incorporated  June  17,  1820. 

Belknap  County. 

Laconia,  the  shire  town,  was  incorporated  Dec.  22,  1840. 

Alton,  originally  New  Durham  Gore,  was  incorporated  June  16,  1796. 

Barnstead  was  incorporated  May  20,  1727. 

Belmont,  Gilmanton  divided,  was  incorporated  as  Upper  Gilmanton  June  28, 

1859,  ^"*^  ^^^'^  name  changed  to  Belmont  in  July,  1869. 
Center  Harbor,  formed  from  Moultonborough  Gore  and  part  of  New  Hampton 

was  incorporated  Dec  7,  1797. 
Gilford,  part  of  Gilmanton,  was  incorporated  June  16,  1S12. 
Gilmanton,  including  Gilford  and  Belmont,  was  incorporated  May  18,  1727. 
Laconia,  Meredith  divided  and  a  part  of  Gilford,  was  incorporated  in  July, 

1855- 
Meredith,  originally  New  Salem,  was  incorporated  Dec.  30,  176S. 
New  Hampton,  part  of  Moultonborough  Gore,  was  incorporated   Nov.  27, 

1777. 
Sanbornton,  including   part  of  Franklin,  was  incorporated  March   i,   1870. 

The  town  was  divided  in  July,  1869,  and  the  south  part  was  called  Tilton. 
Tilton,  Sanbornton  divided,  was  incorporated  in  July,  1869. 

Carroll  County. 

Originally  a  part  of  Strafford  county,  was  incorporated  Dec.  22,  1840.  Os- 
sipee  is  the  shire  town. 

Albany  was  incorporated  Nov.  10,  1766,  as  Burton.  The  name  was  changed 
in   1834. 

Bartlett  was  incorporated  June  16,  1790. 

Brookfield,  part  of  Middleton,  was  incorporated  Dec.  30,  1794. 

Chatham  was  incorporated  Feb.  7,  1767. 

Conway,  formerly  called  Pequakett,  was  incorporated  April  6,  1772. 

Eaton,  including  Madison,  was  incorporated  Nov.  7,  1766. 

Effingham,  including  part  of  Freedom,  formerly  called  Leavitt's  Town,  was 
incorporated  Aug.  8,  1788. 

Freedom,  formed  from  part  of  Effingham  and  Ossipee  Gore,  was  incor- 
porated June  16,  1831. 

Hart's  Location,  unincorporated. 

Jackson,  incorporated  as  Adams,  Dec.  4,  iSoo,  had  its  name  changed  in  1829. 

Madison,  Eaton  divided,  was  incorporated  in  June,  1853. 

Moultonborough  was  incorporated  Nov.  27,  1777. 

Ossipee,  formerly  called  New  Garden,  was  incorporated  Feb.  22,  1785. 

Sandwich  was  incorporated  Oct.  25,  1768. 

Tamworth  was  incorporated  Oct.  14,  1766. 

Tuftonborough  was  incorporated  Dec.  17,  1795. 

Wakefield,  originally  called  East  Town,  was  incorporated  Aug.  30,  1774. 

Wolfeborough  was  incorporated  July  9,  1770. 

Merrimack  County. 

Originally  part  of  Rockingham  and  Hillsborough  counties,  was  incorporated 
Jul}'  23,  1823.     Concord  is  the  shire  town. 

Allenstown  was  incorporated  July  2,  1831. 

Andover,  originally  called  Emerisstown,  afterwards,  in  1746,  New  Breton, 
was  incorporated  June  25,  1779. 

Boscawen,  formerly  Contoocook,  was  incorporated  April  22,  1760. 

Bow,  originallv  including  the  larger  part  of  Concord  and  Pembroke,  was  in- 
corporated May  20,  1727. 

Bradford,  once  called  New  Bradford,  was  incorporated  Sept.  27,  1787. 


APPENDIX. 


739 


Concord,    granted   as    Penacook   by   Massachusetts,   January    17,    1725;    and 

incorporated  as  Rumford  in   1730;  was  incorporated  as  Concord  in   1761;; 

became  the  capital  of  the  State  in  1S16,  and  adopted  a  city  charter  in  March, 

1853- 
Canterbury,  including  Loudon  and  Northfield,  was  incorporated  May  20,  1727. 
Chichester  was  incorporated  May  20,  1727. 

Danbury  was  incorporated  June  iS,  1795,  being  a  part  of  Alexandria. 
Dunbarton  was  incorporated  Aug.  10,  1765,  and  included  a  part  of  Hooksett. 

It  was  once  called  Stark's  Town. 
Epsom  was  incorporated  May  18,  1727. 
Franklin  was  incorporated  Dec.  24,  182S,  from  parts  of  Andover,  Salisbury, 

Northfield,  and  Sanbornton. 
Henniker  was  incorporated  Nov.  10,  176S.     It  was  originally  called  No.  6. 
Hill  was  incorporated  Nov.  10,  1778,  as  New  Chester;  Feb.  12,  17S8,  the  town 

of  Bridgewater  was  constituted  from  it;  June  24,   1819,  the  town  of  Bristol 

was   taken    from    Bridgewater  and   New  Chester;   in    1S36  the   name  was 

changed  to  Hill:  July  i,  1S6S,  the  town  was  severed  from  Grafton  county 

and  annexed  to  Merrimack  county. 
Hooksett,   formed    from    parts  of  Chester,  Goffstown,  and   Dunbarton,  was 

incorporated  July  3,  1S22. 
Hopkinton,  originally  New  Hopkinton,  was  incorporated  Jan.  11,  1765. 
Loudon,  part  of  Canterbury,  was  incorporated  January  23,  1773. 
Newbury,  incorporated  as  Fishersfield,  Nov.  27,  1778;   had  its  name  changed 

in  1836. 
New  London,  originally  called  Dantzic,  was  incorporated  Jan.  25,  1779. 
Northfield,  originally  a  part  of  Canterbury,  was  incorporated  June  19,  1780. 
Pembroke,  formed  of  a  part  of  Bow,  a  part  of  Allen's  grant  called  Buckstreet, 

and  an  ungranted   gore  called    Suncook,  was    incorporated    Nov.   i,   1759. 

The  Massachusetts  grant  of  Suncook  was  made  to  the  soldiers  of  Capt. 

John  Lovewell  in  May,  1727. 
Pittsfield,  a  part  ot  Chichester,  was  incorporated  March  27,  1782. 
Salisbury,  originally  granted  by  Massachusetts  and  called   Baker's-town  or 

Gerrish-town,  was  granted   afterwards  by  Masonian    proprietors,  Oct.  25, 

1749,  and  called  Steven's-town ;  was  incorporated  March  i,  176S. 
Sutton,  formerly  called  Perry's-town,  Avas  incorporated  April  13,  1784. 
Warner,   formerly  called  New  Amesbury  and  Jennistown,  was  incorporated 

Sept.  4,  1774. 
Webster,  the  west  part  of  Boscawen,  was  incorporated  July  3,  1S60. 
Wilmot,  originally  called  Kearsarge,  was  incorporated  June  18,  1807. 

Hillsborough  County. 

Amherst,  Manchester,  and  Nashua,  shire  towns.     Records  kept  at  Nashua. 
Amherst,    originally   Narragansett   No.  3,  or   Souhegan   West,    granted    by 

Massachusetts  in  1733,  was  incorporated  Jan.  18,  1760,  and  included  part  of 

Milford  and  Mont  Vernon. 
Antrim,  once  called  Society  Land,  was  incorporated  March  22,  1777. 
Bennington,  part  of  Society  Land,  was  incorporated  Dec.  15,  1S42. 
Bedford,  originally  Narragansett  No.  5,  or  Souhegan  East,  was  incorporated 

May  19,  1750,  and  included  part  of  Manchester. 
Brookline,  formerly  called  Raby,  was  incorporated  March  30,  1769. 
Deering,  another  portion  of  what  was  called  Society  Land,  was  incorporated 

Jan.  17,  1774. 
Francestown,  formerly  called  New  Boston  Addition,  was  incorporated  Jan. 

8,  1772. 
Goffstown,  including  part  of  Manchester  and  Hooksett,  was  incorporated  June 

16,  1761. 
Greenfield  was  incorporated  June  15,  1791- 
Greenville  was  incorporated 


740  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 

Hancock  was  incorporated  Nov.  5,  1779. 

Hillsborough  was  incorporated  Nov.  14,  1772. 

Hollis,  once  a  part  of  Dunstable  and  Munson,  Mass.,  was  incorporated  April 
3>  1746- 

Hudson,  formerly  part  of  Dunstable,  called  Nottingham  West,  was  incor- 
porated July  5,  1746. 

Litchfield,  once  called  Brenton's  Farm,  was  incorporated  June  5,  1749. 

Lyndeborough,  formerly  called  Salem  Canada,  was  incorporated  April  23, 
1764. 

Manchester,  formed  from  parts  of  Chester,  Londonderry,  Bedford,  and 
Goffstown,  and  a  tract  of  land  called  Harrytown,  was  incorporated  Sept.  3, 
1751,  as  Derryfield.  The  present  name  was  taken  in  iSio.  The  city  charter 
was  adopted  in  1846. 

Mason,  formerly  called  No.  i,  was  incorporated  August  26,  1768. 

Merrimack,  part  of  Dunstable  called  Souhegan  East,  was  incorporated  April 
2,  1746. 

Milford,  formerly  the  south-west  parish  of  Amherst,  and  a  tract  called 
Mile  Slip,  was  incorporated  January  11,  1794. 

Mont  Vernon,  originally  part  of  Amherst,  was  incorporated  Dec.   15,   1803. 

Nashua,  part  of  Dunstable,  Mass.,  which  was  incorporated  October  15, 
1673,  was  incorporated  by  New  Hampshire  as  Dunstable,  April  i,  1746.  In 
1837  the  name  was  changed  to  Nashua.  In  1842  the  town  was  divided  and 
the  north  part  was  incorporated  as  Nashville.  In  1853  Nashville  and 
Nashua  were  united  and  chartered  as  the  city  of  Nashua. 

New  Boston  was  incorporated  Feb.  18,  1763. 

New  Ipswich,  once  called  Ipswich  Canada,  was  incorporated  Sept.  9,  1762. 

Pelham,  part  of  Dracut,  Mass.,  was  incorporated  July  6,  1746. 

Peterborough  was  incorporated  Jan.  17,  1760. 

Sharon,  once  called  Peterborough  Slip,  was  incorporated  June  24,  1791. 

Temple  was  incorporated  August  26,    1768. 

Weare,  formerly  Halestown,  was  incorporated  Sept.  21,  1764. 

Wilton  was  incorporated  June  25,  1762. 

Windsor,  formerly  Campbell's  Gore,  was  incorporated  Dec.  27,  1798. 

Cheshire  County. 

Shire  town,  Keene. 

Alstead,  originally  called  Newton,  was  incorporated  Aug.  6,  1763. 

Chesterfield,  called  No.  i,  was  incorporated  Feb.  11,  1752. 

Dublin,  originally  Monadnock  No.  2,  was  incorporated  March  29,  1771.  It 
was  divided  July  2,  1870,  and  the  town  of  Harrisville  was  formed. 

Fitzwilliam,  originally  Monadnock  No.  4,  and  a  part  of  Troy,  was  incorpor- 
ated May  19,  1773. 

Gilsum,  originally  called  Boyle,  included  Surry,  and  was  incorporated  July 

13.  1763- 

Harrisville,  formed  from  Dublin  and  Nelson,  was  incorporated  July  2,  1870. 

Hinsdale,  originally  Fort  Dummer,  part  of  Northfield,  Mass.,  was  incor- 
porated Sept.  3,  1753. 

Jaffrey,  called  Monadnock  No.  2,  was  incorporated  Aug.  17,  1773- 

Keene,  called  Upper  Ashuelot,  was  incorporated  April  11,  1753- 

Marlborough,  called  Monadnock  No.  5,  was  incorporated  Dec.  13,  1776,  and 
included  parts  of  Roxbury  and  Troy. 

Marlow  was  incorporated  Oct.  7,  1761. 

Nelson  was  incorporated  as  Packersfield  Feb.  22  1774,  and  included  a  part 
of  Roxbury.     The  name  was  changed  in  June,  1S14. 

Richmond  was  incorporated  Feb.  28,  1752. 

Rindge,  called  Monadnock  No.  i,  was  incorporated  Feb.  21,  1768. 

Roxbury,  formed  of  parts  of  Nelson,  Keene,  and  Marlborough,  was  incor- 
porated Dec.  9,  1812. 


APPENDIX.  741 

Stoddard,  formerly  called  Limerick,  was  incorporated  Nov.  4,  1774. 

Sullivan  was  incorporated  Sept.  27,  1787. 

Surrj,  formed   from   parts    of  Gilsum  and  Westmoreland,  was  incorporated 

May  9,  1769. 
Swanzey,  called  Lower  Ashuelot,  was  incorporated  July  2,  1753. 
Troy,    formed    of   parts  of  Marlborough  and  Fitzwilliam,  was  incorporated 

June  23,  1S15. 
Walpole,  formerly   called   Great   Falls   or  Bellows'  Town,  was   incorporated 

Feb.  13,  1752. 
Westmoreland,  called  Great  Meadow,  was  incorporated  Feb.  11,  1753. 
Winchester,  called  Arlington,  was  incorporated  July  3,  1752. 

Sullivan  County, 
Originally  a  part  of  Cheshire  county,  was  incorporated  July  5,  1827.    Newport 

is  the  shire  town. 
Acworth  was  incorporated  Sept.  19,  1766. 
Charlestown,    originally   called    No.   4,    granted   by  Massachusetts  Dec.   31, 

1735,  including  part  of  Langdon,  was  incorporated  July  2,  1753. 
Claremont  was  incorporated  Oct.  26,  1764. 
Cornish  was  incorporated  June  21,  1763. 
Croydon  was  incorporated  May  31,  1763. 
Goshen  was  incorporated  Dec.  27,  1791- 
Grantham  was  incorporated  July  11,  1761  ;  name  changed  to  New  Grantham 

in  1786;  original  name  taken  in  iSiS. 
Langdon,  formed  from  parts  of  Charlestown  and  Walpole,  Avas  incorporated 

Jan.  II,  17S7. 
Lempster,  originally  called  Dupplin,  was  incorporated  Oct.  5,  1761. 
Newport  was  incorporated  Oct.  6,  1761. 
Plainfield  was  incorporated  Aug.  14,  1761. 
Springfield,  originally  granted  as    Protectworth,   was   incorporated  Jan.    24, 

1794. 
Sunapee,  originally  granted  as  Saville,  was    incorporated  April  4,   1781,  as 

Wendell;  the  name  was  changed  to  Sunapee  in  June.  1850. 
Unity  was  incorporated  July  13,  1764. 
Washington,  formerly  called  Camden,  was  incorporated  Dec.  13,  1776. 

Grafton  County. 

Haverhill  and  Plymouth  are  shire  towns.     The  records  are  kept  at  Haverhill. 

Alexandria,  including  Danbury,  was  incorporated  Nov.  23,  17S2. 

Ashland,  formed  from  the  southwest  portion  of  Holderness,  was  incorporated 

July  I,  1868. 
Bath  was  incorporated  Sept,  10,  1761. 
Benton  was  incorporated  Jan.  31,  1764,  as  Coventry.     The  name  was  changed 

in  1841. 
Bethlehem  was  incorporated  Dec.  27,  1799- 
Bridgewater  was  incorporated  Feb.  12,  1788.     It  was  originally  part  of  New 

Chester,  now  Hill. 
Bristol  was  incorporated  June  24,  1819,  from  parts  of  Bridgewater  and  New 

Chester,  now  Hill. 
Campton  was  incorporated  Jan.  5,  1767- 
Canaan  was  incorporated  July  9,  1761. 
Dorchester  was  incorporated  May  i,  I77^' 
Easton  was  incorporated  1876,  from  Landaff. 

Ellsworth  was  incorporated  June  16,  1S02  ;  it  was  granted  as  Trecothick. 
Enfield  was  incorporated  July  14,  1761  ;  it  was  formerly  called  Belham. 
Franconia,  formerly  called  Morristown,  was  incorporated  Feb.  14,  1764. 
Grafton  was  incorporated  Nov.  5,  1778- 
Groton,  granted  as  Cockermouth,  was  incorporated  Dec.  7.  1796. 


742  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 

Hanover  was  incorporated  July  4,  1761. 

Haverhill,  called  Lower  Cohos,  was  incorporated  May  18,  1763. 

Hebron,  part  of  Cockermouth  grant,  was  incorporated  June  15,  1792. 

Holderness  was  incorporated  October  24,  1761,  and  included  Ashland. 

Landaff  was  incorporated  Jan.  31,  1764,  and  included  Easton. 

Lebanon  was  incorporated  July  4,  1761. 

Lincoln  was  incorporated  Jan.  31,  1764. 

Lisbon,   called   Concord,  afterwards   Gunthwaite,  and   again    Concord,   was 

incorporated  October  20,  1768.     Its  name  was  changed  to  Lisbon  in  1817. 
Littleton,  called  Chiswick,  and  afterwards  Apthorp,  was  incorporated  Nov. 

4,  1784.     Apthorp  "/as  divided,  forming  Littleton  and  Dalton. 
Livermore  was  incorporated  in  i866. 

Lyman  was  incorporated  Nov.  10,  1761,  and  included  Monroe. 
Lyme  was  incorporated  July  8,  1761. 
Monroe  was  incorporated  July  13, 1854,  from  Lyman. 
Orange  was  granted  Feb.  6,  1769,  as  Cardigan,  and  was  incorporated  July  18, 

1781.     In  1820  a  third  of  the  township  was  annexed  to  Alexandria. 
Orford  was  incorporated  Sept.  25,  1761. 
Piermont  was  incorporated  Nov.  6,  1764. 
Plymouth,  embracing  a  part  of  Hebron  and  Alexandria,  was  incorporated  July 

15,  1763- 
Rumney  was  incorporated  March,  1767. 
Thornton  was  incorporated  Nov.  24,  1781.     It  was  divided  in  July,  1867,  and  a 

part  annexed  to  Campton. 
Warren  was  incorporated  July  14,  1763. 
Waterville  was  incorporated  July  i,  1829. 
Wentworth  was  incorporated  Nov.  i,  1776. 
Woodstock  was  incorpor.ited  Sept.  23,  1763,  as  Peeling.  The  namewas  changed 

to  Fairfield,  and  back  to  Peeling.     In  1840  it  took  the  name  of  Woodstock. 

Coos  County, 

Was  incorporated  Dec.  27,  1803.   Colebrook  and  Lancaster  are  the  shire  towns. 

The  records  are  kept  at  Lancaster. 
Berlin  was  granted  as  Maynesborough  July  i,  1771.   It  was  incorporated  July  i, 

1829. 
Carroll,  formerly  called  Breton  Woods,  was  incorporated  June  22,  1832. 
Clarksville  was  incorporated  June  30,  1853. 

Colebrook,  formerly  called  Colburne,  was  incorporated  June  11,  1796. 
Columbia,  formerly  called  Cockburne,  was  incorporated  Dec.  16,  1797. 
Dalton,  originally  part  of  Apthorp,  was  incorporated  Nov.  4,  1784. 
Dummer,  granted  March  8,  1773,  was  incorporated  Dec.  19,  1848. 
Errol  was  incorporated  Dec.  28,  1S36. 

Gorham,  called  Shelburne  Addition,  was  incorporated  June  18,  1S36. 
Jefferson,  granted  as  Dartmouth,  was  incorporated  Dec.  8,  1796. 
Lancaster,  originally  called  Upper  Coos,  was  incorporated  July  5,  1763. 
Milan,  originally  called  Paulsburg,  was  incorporated  Dec.  16,1824. 
Northumberland  was  incorporated  Nov.  16,  1779. 

Pittsburg,  formerly  called  Indian  Stream,  was  incorporated  Dec.  10,  1840. 
Randolph,  formerly  called  Durand,  was  incorporated  June  16,  1824. 
Shelburne  was  incorporated  Dec.  13,  1820. 

Stark  was  incorporated  Jan.  9,  1765,  as  Piercy.    The  name  was  changed  in  1S32. 
Stewartstownwas  incorporated  Dec.  24,  1799.     It  was  formerly  called  Stewart. 
Stratford  was  incorporated  Nov.  16,  1779. 
Whitefield  was  incorporated  Dec.  i,  1804. 


ERRATA. 

Page  264,  fourth  paragraph  from  bottom  of  page,/<?r  "1763" 
read  "June,  \y66]^'  for  "Jesse  Kelley  "  r.?«^  "  Jesse  Kel- 
sey  ;"  and  after  "Connecticut"  insert  "Ezra  Parmelee." 

Page  577,  Edmund  Burke  died  January  25,  1882. 

Page  630,  Hon,  E.  H.  Durell  was  candidate  for  Vice-President 
in  1868. 

Page  680,  second  line,  "read  law  with  Hon.  Daniel  Clark" 
s ho2i Id  read  ^' With.  Hon.  Daniel  Clark,  read  law." 


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